'Skins Season-Ticket Waiting List a Myth

Redskins owner Dan Snyder (no relation) likes to brag about how the Washington Redskins' waiting list for season tickets is over 200,000 people strong. If a local Washington paper is correct, though, that list is either a figment of Snyder's imagination or has dwindled all the way down to less than zero.

Apparently, the Redskins have gone to direct mail in soliciting Washington area folks, in an attempt to provide fans with the "once in a lifetime opportunity" of having up to eight tickets per game. The best part is, these mailing aren't even going to people from the waiting list (I mean, how could they if it's fictional?).

"I have no idea why we got this," said a recipient of the offer, which was addressed to a generic official of the organization he works for. "Nobody here ever signed up for the waiting list. They even misspelled our name."

A note to Snyder and the Redskins: It doesn't make you less of a person to admit you are having trouble selling as many season tickets as you'd like -- especially in this economic climate. This could have even been another case of self-sabotage -- which Snyder should know plenty about when it comes to the Redskins -- where he pontificated about how it was so impossible to get tickets that many people didn't even try.

Well, Redskins fans, you can start trying now. Apparently they are desperate enough to start sending out mass mailings.

Here's a copy of the letter, courtesy of Washington City Paper.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

4-30-2009 @ 4:56PM

Alfie said...

Might be a "myth" since Norv Turner & Dan Snyder came along but the Washington Redskins, along with other notorious franchises such as the Green Bay Packers, have always held the record for the longest waiting list's in the NFL.

Here's a great read from the SI Vault that gives you a glimpse into the Washington Redskins waiting list (yes, it's from '87 but this continued until Gibbs first retirement in 1992):

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1066417/1/index.htm

4-30-2009 @ 5:16PM

Stoney said...

Hey Nipplehead, the pic 8 is for the "Redskins Club Seats" and those are usually promoted to companies not Bob, Ted, Carol, & Alice. Why is it that everybody likes to take shots at the Skins. What is up with that?

Is everyone just envious of the Burgundy & Gold?
We sign Albert Haynesworth and draft Orakpo and all the talking heads yapped about is all of the picks the Pats had stockpiled (in a weak draft) and how the Baltannapolis Colts are brain surgeons (Payton has one title) and how the Cowboys did on day 2 (because they slept in Saturday and missed the first day). Whats up with that?

4-30-2009 @ 8:26PM

Adam said...

The media loves to hate on the Redskins for some reason. We signed Haynesworth and D Hall for a lot of money, and people say we overspent and blah blah. If Tampa Bay or the Giants did it, they would have said how great it was they were willing to invest so much in a great player.

The Cowboys had the biggest disaster of an offseason of any team with their best player being cut, and one of, if not the worst drafts in the league. It's pretty much ignored, but if the Skins did that, we would have been panned.

I don't know why, but the media just doesn't like the Skins, and everything they do or don't do will be looked at in the worst possible way.

4-30-2009 @ 7:48PM

coltbrennan5 said...

i interned with the redskins with this past fall. this is for club tickets like the guy above me wrote. how about doing some research, smart ass?

4-30-2009 @ 8:28PM

Thanx for the props! I get tired of the salvos aimed at the Skins. Hey, we're not perfect. The Dan is young and does act like a puppy on your leg sometimes but I just get fed up with the freek'n disrespect from these idiots and mini GMs.

4-30-2009 @ 8:20PM

BlindJacka said...

Yes Stoney - Everybody is envious of the Redskins winning ways....

Honestly bro - nobody wants to be the Skins-

4-30-2009 @ 8:34PM

Are you ashamed of your team, blindjack. I put my shit out there , cause I'm not. We have Hardware in the house. Three matter of fact. Now make up some garbage about team.

4-30-2009 @ 8:39PM

The waiting list is still going strong. Like I said, I was an intern with the 'skins and I witnessed the monster that is the actual waiting list. I myself probably signed 1,000 to 2,000 people. When you sign up for the waiting list, you get two things. 1) Calls about signing up for club seats, and 2) offers about tickets which the Redskins have to sell last minute due to away team returns. This article is a piece of crap written by someone too lazy to do research or actual reporting. Why hasn't this been rescinded yet?

4-30-2009 @ 8:55PM

Matt Snyder said...

It wasn't a research piece. I drew from the linked source:

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2009/04/29/redskins-waiting-list-totally-gone-to-hell-are-blackouts-coming-to-a-tv-near-you/

And put a spin on it quickly. If you can show me proof that the list really is over 200,000 people, I'll admit my error. Saying you interned there and estimate you signed up 1,000 people is hardly proof the list is what Snyder says it is. I don't understand why you think the blog post should be taken down because you don't think the claims of the Washington City Paper are true. Are we supposed to delete everything people object to? If so, there wouldn't be many posts left. If some proof is provided as to the actual number of people on the waiting list, and it's above, say, 100,000, I'll gladly run a post praising how great the organization is. Deal?

And, by the way, I don't hate the Redskins. I care about them the same way I care about the other 31 non-Chicago Bears teams in the NFL (I'm a Bears fan). The self-importance of so many NFL fans is hilarious. I will grant you that it's not only Redskins fans. It's ALL fan bases who think the media hates them or doesn't pay enough attention or is jealous or something else.

4-30-2009 @ 9:14PM

sunstpools said...

there is truth to the story I am not even on the redskins waiting list and i recieved a letter in the mail 2 days ago offering me season tickets at any level (lower, club, upper)

5-01-2009 @ 1:37AM

djdank said...

I'm on the waiting list and they haven't gotten to me yet, so I'll take that as evidence of the list actually being that long. Either that or they just throw the names away when people sign up, meaning they have no list at all, which would make no sense whatsoever, so we can just eliminate that possibility.

Really though, you can't find any better news than to attack the Redskins waiting list? Isn't Cutler on your team now? Can't you write about how the Chicago style pizza may affect his diabetes or something?

5-01-2009 @ 4:32PM

Josh said...

Hey Matt Snyder -

First off, there is no media bias against the skins? Riiigggghhhhtttt, you gonna tell us next that the media LOVES Republicans too?

c'mon man. Daniel Snyder has won more playoff games in the last decade than "America's Owner" Jerry Jones, but yet he is horrible and JJ is the man.

And just for the record, I joined the season ticket waiting list when I was 12 and did not get the opportunity to purchase season seats until after I graduated College at the age of 25...but yeah, I guess the waiting list is "fictional" - they were just screwing with me all those years to perpetuate the Great Lie.

when did actual research take a back seat to "cut and paste" journalism?

5-01-2009 @ 9:04PM

RobInMD said...

Dude? Matt? Whats you problem? Every time I check this site out to see whats going on,it always seems to be your worthless self bashing the Skins or the DC sports scene. Do you really not have anything else to write about? Most of what you do write about is just plain GARBAGE.Im really suprised they keep your sorry ass on the payroll still.Find someone or something else to write about for a change.Your envy to the area is obvious and your just a pathetic loser that is really starting to piss me off with all your hate.Stay out of the DC area if you know whats good for you. And ADAM that comments on here seems to always speak the truth and knows what he is talking about,so keep up the good work ADAM! Matt go f yourself!

5-03-2009 @ 12:26PM

shadydaze7 said...

Matt Snyder has proven time and time again he is willing to spend money but he has no clue who to give it to. He may be a good business man but he if this is true he is a straight up liar.

5-03-2009 @ 12:28PM

Sorry I wrote Matt Snyder I meant to write Dan Snyder in my comment #14.

5-12-2009 @ 6:58AM

slam68 said...

I am a Skins season ticket holder.I was on the list for 7 years. In those 7 years I got offered club seats which range from regular club seats to touchdown club seats to what were called hall of fame club seats. What this means is that if I wanted to pony up a minimum of almost $3000 per seat as an initial fee that I could have either the lower bowl seats and have to purchase tailgate(all you can eat buffet tickets at $70 a piece per seat?)passes for the entire season. The other option was the club seats that cost a little more and have waitress service and access to the Joe Gibbs Club, etc... No way I could afford either option so I waited it out and now I sit in the last row of the stadium on the 20 with a big fed ex sign to bang on all game. Would I like better seats? Only if they were closer to the 50 other wise I will not paying a crazy fee to sit in the lower bowl from the end zone to the 15 yard line.Anyone who ever goes to a game knows that the club seats in the mezzanine are never filled unless it is a game that really counts.