Flyers Fans Unhappy With Winter Classic Ticket Fees, Requirements

Flyers season-ticket holders “are unhappy because, in order to attend the Winter Classic against the New York Rangers on Jan. 2, they must also purchase tickets to an alumni game and an AHL contest, all of which will be at Citizens Bank Park,” according to Sam Carchidi of the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. Non-season-ticket holders “are miffed because they won't get a chance to purchase Winter Classic tickets unless they want to pay inflated prices on Internet sites.” Flyers Senior VP/Business Operations Shawn Tilger said, “The demand for tickets is overwhelming.” He noted that the NHL allotted the Flyers “about 19,000 tickets to the Winter Classic.” Citizens Bank Park is “expected to hold about 45,000 for the game.” Tilger said because of the number of tickets the Flyers were allotted, "we don't expect to have a public sale." He said, "We were given just enough to cover our season-ticket base and some partial season-ticket (holders)." John Bakley is among the many season-ticket holders "upset with the handling fees for his tickets." Bakley purchased two tickets “that were just below the mid-level price for the Winter Classic at $149 each.” But he said that the “fees for the tickets totaled $67.50.” All told, Bakley had to pay “$508 for two tickets to each of the three games.” He said that “he would not have purchased the tickets to the Dec. 31 alumni game or Jan. 6 AHL game if it wasn't mandatory.” His total “fees for the tickets: $105.50.” Tilger "defended the fees," saying that they were “almost the same as those that were charged for the Winter Classic in Boston two years ago.” He added, “The difference is $5 more because we're mailing them. ... If you compare them to other major events, they are not outrageous" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 10/24).

LIMITED INVENTORY: YAHOO SPORTS' Greg Wyshynski noted the Rangers "finally got around to informing their fans about Winter Classic ticket protocol." The Rangers in an e-mail yesterday wrote, "As the visiting team and with limited inventory we have the opportunity for a limited number of Season Subscribers to purchase tickets through the Rangers organization" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 10/24).