By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
The Vegas Golden Knights “have canceled several hundred (season ticket) accounts and counting and will continue to do so” since spring after season ticket holders were “upset that there are too many tickets for resell or too many visiting team fans in the building,” according to an email from a VGK ticket rep to a fan who had his season ticket deal nixed by the team last week.
With thousands of fans on a season ticket wait list and ticket demand at a peak, the Golden Knights have the leverage to cancel ticket deals held by fans who are selling their tickets on non-verified third party sites. VGK tickets are a hot commodity. Witness the announced attendance of 17,567 for the VGK’s first home preseason game Sunday — a stunning number when you consider T-Mobile Arena’s capacity for VGK games is 17,367.
Golden Knights owner Bill Foley had told LVSportsBiz.com several months ago that he was concerned about the high number of opponent team fans in T-Mobile Arena, which hosted some games during season one where half of the fans were wearing the visiting team’s jersey. Large groups of Washington Capitals fans found their way into T-Mobile Arena for the Stanley Cup Final Game 5, when the Caps clinched the NHL championship on VGK home ice in early June.
Since spring, the Golden Knights have cracked down on account holders who are selling too many of their tickets through unauthorized third parties and through social media.
One of those cancelled accounts was held by Canadian businessman Justin Gaudry from northwest Ontario, who spent just under $7,500 for a year-to-year ticket membership with the VGK. Gaudry, who runs a resort and is a Las Vegas snowbird, said he attended five Golden Knights games at T-Mobile Arena last season. He bought two seats at $83 each per game for 45 games.
“I only did the deposit after speaking to my rep about my out of town status and was encouraged to pursue the waiting list and season membership multiple times,” Gaudry wrote to LVSportsBiz.com.
Gaudry wrote to his Golden Knights ticket rep Sept. 10 after he was notified that his season ticket account was cancelled: “Please tell me I am getting this email by mistake. How could my account possibly have been under review before tickets have even been sent out? You and I discussed my status as a Vegas snowbird and you encouraged me to get on the can’t wait list despite only being in town for December and January, which would necessitate selling a portion of the season. I have friends and family counting on some of my tickets for the season so this would be a real problem for more than just myself.
“I look forward to clearing this up as soon as possible.”
The next day, Golden Knights ticket rep Cole Miltenberger emailed Gaudry to explain the cancellation was no mistake.
“It was brought to our attention that you have been proactively reselling a large portion of your games online which is in violation of our non-broker policy. All of the money you’ve put into the tickets will be refunded.
“I certainly apologize for any miscommunication during the sales process but it is against our policy to proactively resell tickets on non-verified 3rd party sites (Vivid Seats, Craig’s List, Social Media..etc.). We also reserve the right to cancel membership if it is believed that you are reselling a large portion of your seats. The primary intent of purchasing season tickets must be to utilize them and to only sell as a last resort when you cannot attend or transferring them to friends, family, coworkers etc.”
Gaudry’s big beef is that he feels he was selectively picked out for his out-of-town address.
“The selective enforcement of this policy is going to the big issue. It’s a terrible way to go. These emails should be going out by the 100s a day if that is how things are going to work. Greed is the only reason for this to happen. The small amount of money I may have taken in over and above the cost of the seats will be dwarfed by what the team will get selling as single game tickets,” Gaudry wrote to his ticket rep.
But VGK ticket rep Miltenberger stood firm with the fan: “Like I said, I understand the frustration, however this policy is being enforced at the request of our members. This is the result of several surveys and conversations with our members from season one.
“You are not alone, we have canceled several hundred accounts and counting and will continue to do so but it is a manual process that has been carried out since last Spring. I’m sorry this affects you directly but as someone who has been on the other side of those season ticket members upset that there are too many tickets for resell or too many visiting team fans in the building.
“I’ve received several angry, upset and frustrated calls and emails just like this and I assure you, if it was related to greed or about the bottom line we wouldn’t try to resell what’s already sold. We are enforcing these rules for our members, not in spite of them.”
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The VGK ticket rep also told Gaudry that he was not being singled out: “This isn’t an individual attack, I promise. I’ve had to cancel several of my members, many of whom took a lot of work during the sales process and it does suck, I won’t lie. I totally understand where you’re coming from but I was already informed it is done. The best I could offer is a partial plan which are not eligible for resale at all, would be different seats and I didn’t think that would really work for what you need.”
Another fan who had her season ticket deal cancelled was Cheryl Rosso-Streitz, a retired dietitian-nutritionist who lives in St. George, Utah and had two season tickets for terrific seats for her husband and herself behind the Golden Knights bench.
Back in June, Rosso-Streitz learned her account was cancelled when she received a VGK email, which said in part: “To improve the experience of our fans, as an organization we have set standards regarding individuals and companies purchasing tickets with the sole purpose of reselling on the secondary market. We have put much thought and time into this decision. Looking at the standards, your account has been identified as an account used for this purpose . . . Only accounts that are not affiliated ticket brokers may purchase tickets. Your account will not be eligible to purchase 2018-19 tickets.”
In a phone interview with LVSportsBiz.com Monday, Rosso-Streitz said her ailing husband could not attend some of the Golden Knights games. So in those cases, she moved over a seat and bought it to watch the game with a friend on that same row or with a friend in a row behind her and then sold her two seats to friends. She noted that sometimes she would even give her two seats for free to her friends. She said each of her seats cost about $110 each.
“There was no intent to profit,” Rosso-Streitz told LVSportsBiz.com. She said she made friends with her row-mates and some of them even invited her to stay over at their homes because Rosso-Streitz was driving from St. George, Utah for the games. Rosso-Streitz said she attended 30 of the 41 home games and all the home playoff games and can’t believe she was singled out as a ticket broker.
In a June 13 email to her ticket rep, Rosso-Streitz said she was committed to attending VGK games.
“I truly had no idea I was creating a red flag by sitting in the seat next to mine, instead of my own seat number that I would put friends and family in,” Rosso-Streitz wrote in her June email to the VGK ticket rep.
She even told her friends in her section that the Golden Knights cancelled her season tickets and one of them responded in an email to her, “Wow, that’s a slap in the face. I’m sorry to hear that Cheryl. I looked forward to going to the games and cheering with you.”
VGK President Kerry Bubolz declined to comment on specific account holders or former season ticket holders.
During Season One, Bubolz and the VGK welcomed visiting team fans to T-Mobile Arena, saying opponents’ supporters created a fun atmosphere in the building. Former Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) chief Rossi Ralenkotter had told LVSportsBiz.com that, on average, about 25 percent of the fans at VGK games were visitors.
But during the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Golden Knights changed their tune and wanted as many VGK fans in the arena as possible. The team tried to motivate season ticket holders to not re-sell their tickets by allowing them to buy postseason tickets at a lower price point if they promised to not re-sell their playoff tickets.
A wrinkle in this “Knight Vow” playoff ticket program is that the initiative ticked off the Golden Knights’ secondary ticket partner, StubHub, which did not appreciate the two-tier playoff ticket price system and allegedly kept more than $1 million in playoff ticket revenue from the VGK, according to a June lawsuit filed by the Golden Knights.
In the end, Gaudry understands “full well that the team has unmitigated powers to revoke season ticket memberships. I also know full well that my situation will not garner much sympathy because I am not #VegasBorn and there are 6000 people on the waiting list for season tickets happy to move up with my seats now up for grabs this year or next.
“I one hundred percent support the removal of anyone using their accounts strictly for resale. It’s hard to accept when so many are being ignored or allowed, but my tickets were pulled despite my best intentions and full disclosure of my actual game availability to my ticket rep prior to even getting on the waiting list in January. This feels like an abuse of power and I can’t help but feel like my out of town billing address left me an easy target.”
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