International Series Season Ticket Holders left unable to buy tickets after broken promises and “lack of loyalty” from NFL UK

2019 will see London hosting NFL regular season fixtures for the 13th year in a row as part of the NFL International Series. This year controversy has marred the occasion thanks to the way ticketing has been managed for the 4 games that will be played at Wembley Stadium and the new Tottenham Hotspur ground. Wembley will host the Cincinnati Bengals @ Los Angeles Rams on the 27th of October, then the Houston Texans @ Jacksonville Jaguars the following Sunday (3rd of November), whilst Tottenham’s new purpose build stadium will host the Chicago Bears @ Oakland Raiders (6th of October) and the Caroline Panthers @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (13th of October). UK fans had once again been excited to see another 4 games brought over to London, however NFL UK’s decision to not allow London Game Season Ticket holders to have first priority on tickets for the 2 fixtures at the new Tottenham ground has caused uproar amongst UK fans and displays a clear lack of understanding between NFL UK and it’s British fan base.

Trouble Brews Around Tottenham Stadium Delay

To fully understand the frustrations of thousands of Season Ticket holders we must rewind to last year’s games and the events that transpired around them. In 2018 London was scheduled to play host to 3 NFL fixtures- 2 to be played at Wembley and a 3rd contest to be the inaugural NFL game to be played at Tottenham Hotspur stadium following the signing of a 10 year deal between Spurs and the NFL. The two Wembley fixtures were ticketed as normal- Season ticket holders were given a first-priority opportunity to renew their tickets, change the number of tickets they wanted and the location of the seat before tickets were released publicly for general sale. For fans that had consistently supported NFL UK through years of attendance at the International Series games, this was considered a fair reward for their loyalty; and the same system has also been used when different stadiums have hosted the games (such as for the games played at Twickenham Stadium in 2016 and ’17). However due to the smaller capacity of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (62,062 compared to 86,000 for Wembley), Season Ticket holders were limited to purchasing a maximum of 4 tickets; an annoyance, but an understandable necessity for the smaller venue.

The new Tottenham ground certainly looks the part- but has been the centre of ticket controversy with NFL UK and its fan base

The trouble started when it was revealed that Tottenham’s new stadium would not be finished in time to host it’s NFL game. With Twickenham no longer an option due to the ending of it’s 3-game hosting contract this forced NFL UK to move the third game to Wembley. This meant that NFL UK now had around 20,000 tickets to sell in a finite amount of time. NFL UK contacted it’s Season Ticket holders and offered them the opportunity to purchase these spare tickets following their original cap of 4 tickets per holder. Despite their previous frustrations, the Season Ticket holders bailed out NFL UK by snapping up the spare tickets and allowed the organisers to avoid a ticketing disaster that would have reflected poorly on both Tottenham and NFL UK.

Season Ticket Holders Outraged as Priority Ticketing Inexplicably Removed

Fast Forward to June 2019…

Season Ticket holders found out that they will not be receiving priority for the Tottenham Fixtures

NFL UK added to their Games FAQs that Season Ticket holders would not be receiving priority for the fixtures at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and would have to try their luck through the general sale instead- a move that enraged the fan base. Ticket holders took to social media to blast NFL UK for a “lack of loyalty” and for “broken promises” in regard to previous assurances that renewing a Wembley Season Ticket would give the holder first shot at new tickets.

One fan told The Drop Back :

When Tottenham changed stadium their season ticket holders got first priority to RENEW, same with Arsenal- so why is it different for nfl uk? I have renewed 8 season tickets every year for these games- nfl uk WOULDN’T still be able to do games here if it wasn’t for the loyal season ticket holders that supported them for the last 13 years- the same fans they no longer care about.

NFL UK alluded that the decision to remove priority to Season Ticket holders came following discussions with fan representatives; an idea that perplexed many, following how unpopular the subsequent decision was and the fact that there is no evidence of the fan base being given an opportunity to contest this plan.

Other issues caused outrage too:

Many fans who were unable to secure tickets upon general release despite spending hours frustratingly refreshing and waiting in the Ticketmaster website queues (which frequently crashed and kicked people out of their queue position due to technical issues) where shocked to find that ticket resale companies like Stubhub and Viagogo where able to secure large quantities of tickets within the first hour of general release. These tickets were then put up for resale at triple the original price. Loyal UK fans were left in a lose-lose position; fans who have been going for years were no longer given priority to secure tickets and attend the games, and after the lightning-fast sell out fans were held at the mercy of the resale market where tickets with an original value of £40 skyrocketed to over £200.

Fans were left unimpressed when tickets appeared on Stubhub minutes after general release at astronomical prices

Resale prices skyrocketed following their the sell-out of the NFL UK general sale

So why did it happen?

Perhaps it is a case of differing sporting cultures and allegiances- The NFL has a history of Franchises moving locations and abandoning whole fan bases in search of more lucrative markets. The Oakland Raiders will be moving to Las Vegas in 2020 following on from the Chargers and Rams moving to LA. American Sports Franchises tend to chop and change and as a result, hold less of a tethered connection to locations and fan identities. This obviously massively juxtaposes with the position Sports teams in the UK fill within their isolated communities and cultures. To put it into perspective: it would be unheard of for Liverpool FC to move across the country and establish in a new city, whereas for NFL Franchises in smaller markets it is a constant background possibility that their team may move if bigger market opportunities surface.

We only need to look at the topic of a potential NFL team in the UK to see this in practice. The most likely scenario where a UK Franchise becomes a reality would be one where an existing NFL franchise (most likely the Jaguars) is severed from their current community and placed in London. When you consider these differing ideas over the fluidity of sporting constructs its easy to see how NFL UK can be so ruthless in who they prioritise, and their argument holds value too- why should the London Games be watched by the same old faces? why can’t new fans be given opportunities to experience the International Series?

After-all if a Franchise does end up in the UK then it will need young blood to survive- the next generation of NFL fans who will grow up with and fall in love with a UK team. NFL UK arent worried about selling to the fans from the last 10 years- it is the fans who will be attending for the next 5,10,20 years that will make or break a UK expansion.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers against The New England Patriots at Wembley in 2009/ by Rob Crowther

NFL UK Need New Faces in the Crowd to Facilitate a UK Franchise- but They Could Achieve This Without Alienating Its Day-Ones…

The reality of the situation is that instead of building up excitement for the first NFL games to be played in the immensely impressive Tottenham Hotspur Stadium the ticket controversy has turned the occasion into a PR nightmare for NFL UK. The real kicker? – it could have so easily been avoided…

It should come as no surprise that with the aim to have a franchise in the UK by 2021, NFL UK were going to need to prioritise new fans to ensure a continuity of support and interest; however, NFL UK seriously fumbled its strategy and delivery. Firstly the organisation misjudged how its decision to remove Season Ticket holder priority would be perceived by a non-US fan base who take matters such as loyalty and rewards for dedication very seriously. The multiple issues with the TicketMaster online system only stoked the fire and NFL UK’s lack of control over ticket resale resulted in many of the “new fans” they wanted to recruit being priced out of the games altogether!

A better solution could have been allowing Season Ticket holders first priority (as promised) but capping the number of tickets they could buy to make room for new fans. As well as this, retaining resale rights to keep tickets on general sale for lower prices to try and stop non-fans buying up tickets to resell for a fast profit would have helped too. In the past we have seen events require tickets to be assigned to individual names and be presented at the stadium alongside a form of ID to stop opportunistic re-sellers; a tactic NFL UK could have considered.

What Will the Impact Be?

NFL UK became embroiled in a PR mess entirely of their own making, but ultimately it is not a position of no-return and the company can count itself incredibly fortunate that the UK fans base has proven to be amongst the most dedicated and invested NFL fan bases in the world.

The fallout from this controversy will mean that the grand unveiling of the NFL at Tottenham on the 6th of October will be dampened slightly by the unpleasantness that has surrounded it, but ultimately still promises to be a fantastic occasion. Going forward the best thing NFL UK can do is to learn from this mess and find a way to win back the trust of Season Ticket holders in time for next year.