In a letter to the team’s season ticket holders, the Detroit Lions indicated they do expect to have at least some fans in the seats for Lions home games in 2020.
Friday’s letter to Season Ticket Members (STMs) offered optimism that local regulations will permit fans to attend Ford Field events despite the current COVID-19 pandemic. That optimism is hedged with uncertainty, however.
From the letter, which was also distributed to the Lions media,
The organization is preparing to host fans at all eight regular season home games, but there is still uncertainty surrounding how many fans, if any, will be allowed to attend games during the 2020 season or under what conditions.
Despite these uncertainties, the Lions intend to offer STMs an opportunity to purchase tickets on a multi-game plan basis. Once it has been established how many fans can be accommodated, a final determination will be made regarding how to fairly allocate seating options among the Lions’ STMs. Currently, the team is not planning an on-sale opportunity for single-game buyers.
The last sentence there effectively rules out any non-season ticket holders from having the chance to purchase tickets for any Lions home game.
STMs were also given the opportunity to opt-out of their tickets in 2020 without penalty.
Additionally, the Lions are providing STMs an opportunity to opt-out of the 2020 season with incentives to defer 2020 payments to the purchase of 2021 season ticket memberships. All STMs will retain their current 2020 seat location(s) for the 2021 season as well as current account seniority, regardless of whether they opt-out or elect to purchase tickets for the 2020 season.
Some of the benefits include a price freeze guarantee on ticket prices and food/beverage credits.
The city of Detroit and the state of Michigan have yet to formally rule out fans from attending Lions games.
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