While a handful of NFL teams have postponed its season ticket payment deadline due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Bears will only push back the deadline for select individuals.
According to 670 The Score, many season ticket holders who called the ticket office said the organization was able to work with them on an individual account basis. Earlier this week, the Bears senior vice president of marketing and communications, Scott Hagel, joined the Mully & Haugh Show to share the Bears’ thought process on season ticket holders’ deadlines amid fans’ confusion.
He noted that while the deadline was this past Friday, the team talked about the potential of pushing the deadline back, but felt that “we didn’t feel that would solve the ultimate problem because none of know the fluidity of the situation.”
“What we’ve always encouraged people to do, our season-ticket holders, is call our ticket office,” Hagel said. “Our IT infrastructure that we have in place allows all of our customer service representatives to be available remotely to our season-ticket holders.
“We’ve been trying to customize programs to the individual season-ticket holders based on their circumstances. We felt like that was the best route for us to take to truly solve the problem. So, we’ve been doing that over the course of the last two weeks. We’ll continue to do so.”
Ahead of the deadline, Hagel said about two percent of the Bears’ season-ticket holders requested relief in some form. Although other teams – including the Dolphins, Packers, Giants, and Patriots – have extended their deadline, Hagel noted that every season ticket holder is unique, so the team wants to cater to each person individually.
“We’d rather talk to you each individually and say, ‘Help us understand what you’re dealing with and let us help you remain a season-ticket holder,'” he said. “And honestly, this is nothing that’s different from what we’ve done in the past. Obviously these circumstances are extraordinary and unique. We’ll be dealing with a few more of them this year.”
