The Washington Capitals reached out to season-ticket holders on Thursday morning addressing the suspended 2019-20 season due to the coronavirus pandemic, per multiple messages and emails sent to RMNB by fans. The email comes nearly two months after the season was shuttered. The Capitals are offering season-ticket holders credits towards the 2020-21 season with a bonus three percent credit from the team. If that’s not satisfactory, the team is also offering refunds.
The news comes on the heels of the New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers announcing their own plans.
The email began by thanking Capitals season-ticket holders for their “patience and support as we all continue to navigate this unprecedented situation together.” It added that the goal for the NHL is to “complete the 2019-20 season and to play a full 2020-21 season.”
The email then addresses season tickets. If the 2019-20 season is completed, the NHL appears almost guaranteed to do so without any fans in attendance. Current plans being evaluated currently include playing the season out at multiple hub cities or a 24-team playoff. While these plans change almost daily, the one constant is no fans will be in attendance and the completed season could push late into the summer or fall. The 2020-21 season could start as late as December and with fans.
Realizing that reality, the Capitals focus their email heavily on credits towards next season and offer incentives.
[W]e want to offer our most loyal fans as much flexibility as possible while we await a determination on plans for the remainder of the 2019-20 season. As such, we are going to automatically apply all funds previously paid toward games scheduled for the remainder of the 2019-20 season as a credit to the balance of your 2020-21 Club Red 365 membership in order to help reduce the scheduled payment amounts for next season’s membership during these challenging times.If you have previously resold tickets via Ticketmaster.com for postponed games and received payment for those transactions, we will automatically deduct those proceeds from the value of your account credit, as all secondary market transactions would be reversed in the event that the original game is canceled. No action will be required on your part.
The remaining net ticket credit value after any deduction will automatically carry over to your seats for the 2020-21 Capitals season and be applied to the remaining balance due. Your 2020-21 payment plan will be adjusted to reflect the updated balance of your account after the credit has been applied, and your reduced payment amounts will be evenly distributed over the remaining installments of the payment plan.
Also, as a thank you for your loyalty, in addition to continuing to offer all membership benefits that you’ve become accustomed to, including our annual member gifts and exclusive events, we will apply a bonus credit toward your 2020-21 Club Red 365 Membership equal to 3% of the value of your net ticket credit. This bonus credit will be added immediately to the net ticket credit being applied to the balance of your 2020-21 membership as described above.
At the end of the email, the Capitals offer refunds to season-ticket holders “for any remaining 2019-20 ticket credit… [i]f a credit is not the best option for you.”
In the email, the Capitals also provided a link to a FAQ, which reveals more information. Fans who purchased (presumably individual game) tickets from Ticketmaster or the Capital One Arena box office can request refunds online.
Last week, ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski reported that the New Jersey Devils are offering refunds, gifts, and donation options to STH’ers.
Options for Devils fans included rolling their season-ticket balance into tickets for next season, and choosing one from the following incentives: parking for 10 home games, $100 toward the Devils Den Team Store, $150 in concession credit, an autographed stick or an upgrade to two all-inclusive club seats for a home game.
Partial season-ticket holders and individual game ticket holders were told that by transferring their “2019-20 postponed game balance” into a Devils ticket account credit, they could earn a “bonus game” that includes four lower-level seats to a 2020-21 game. They also had the option to apply the ticket value to a purchase of season tickets in 2020-21.
The Devils also partnered with RWJBarnabas Health to allow fans to donate tickets to front-line heroes of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Flyers’ plan is more in-line with the Capitals offering credits to the 2020-21 season and refunds.
For FAQ's on our updated ticket policies, click here: https://t.co/jG6wVdSa2E pic.twitter.com/ZSS2FcGUUz
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) May 5, 2020
With the coronavirus pandemic still raging on in North America, it’s unclear if the 2019-20 season will be able to be completed. Monday, the American Hockey League officially canceled its season.
