Some promises outlive the people who made them, and the Milwaukee Brewers have found that a decade-old pledge can return with its meaning intact. Holders of Timeless Tickets, sold in 2015 with the understanding that they would sit near the front of the line, arrived at this October's World Series to find that the team's offer of seats was a far more modest thing than they had been led to expect. Rick Schlesinger, speaking for the club, acknowledged internal errors and admitted the spirit of the program had not been honored, even though every applicant was given something. The team's answer, wh
Brewers Fans Fume Over World Series Seats Despite $1,000 'Timeless Ticket' Promise
Better seats were available than the ones offered to him
Mark
Why does this small dispute matter? It's a ticket promotion.
Mimi
Because people paid $1,000 in 2015 and waited more than ten years for this moment. For Danny Fochesato the whole point was the World Series.
Mark
What exactly did the offer promise?
Mimi
Redemption for the best available seats, subject to availability at the time. Holders could also buy three more tickets at full price.
Luke
Worth separating the written terms from the sales pitch. The written offer has that availability caveat. The line about priority just behind season ticket holders is Fochesato's recollection of what salespeople said.
Mark
So the team may have technically stayed within the terms?
Mimi
Maybe, but Schlesinger himself said they didn't live up to the spirit of the program. That's a notable admission.
Luke
And we only have one fan's account of the form having just 400-level or standing-room options, and of better seats being on public sale. The team hasn't disputed it in what we have, but it hasn't confirmed it either.
Mark
How many people are affected?
Luke
Schlesinger said several hundred indicated they wanted to redeem. We don't know how many were unhappy. He said only that some were.
Mimi
The resolution is concrete, though: keep the World Series seats and keep the Timeless Ticket for a future game.
Luke
Whether that satisfies people is unknown. We don't yet have reactions to the fix.
O Pulso
- Brewers Timeless Ticket holders who paid $1,000 a decade ago were handed 400-level and standing-room World Series options instead of the priority seats they were promised.
- Fans like Danny Fochesato, who had planned to cash in the day Milwaukee reached the Series, watched better seats go on public sale after receiving their own assignments.
- Team president Rick Schlesinger admitted internal communication errors and conceded the club fell short of the program's spirit, despite seating every applicant.
- The navigation toward resolution: holders who applied before the deadline keep their assigned World Series tickets and retain the Timeless Ticket for a future game.
- The outcome is still unfolding, as holders weigh whether a second redemption truly makes up for the first.
Some promises outlive the people who made them, and the Milwaukee Brewers have found that a decade-old pledge can return with its meaning intact. Holders of Timeless Tickets, sold in 2015 with the understanding that they would sit near the front of the line, arrived at this October's World Series to find that the team's offer of seats was a far more modest thing than they had been led to expect. Rick Schlesinger, speaking for the club, acknowledged internal errors and admitted the spirit of the program had not been honored, even though every applicant was given something. The team's answer, which lets holders keep both their World Series seats and their Timeless Ticket for a future game, suggests that a fair debt can sometimes be repaid by letting someone keep what they already believed was theirs.
Danny Fochesato bought his Brewers Timeless Ticket on his 27th birthday in 2015 with a clear plan: he would use it the day the team reached the World Series. This week, with Milwaukee in the Series for the first time since 1982, that day arrived, and he was disappointed by what he was offered.
The program, more than a decade old, charged $1,000 for admission to any future game, with the promise of the best available seats subject to availability. Fochesato remembers the sales pitch promising more: priority just behind season ticket holders, first choice of whatever they left unclaimed. That, he says, was the story the team sold.
His experience in 2018 had matched that promise. When Milwaukee reached the NL Championship Series, he redeemed for a hypothetical World Series game and received four seats behind home plate. This time the form offered only 400-level or standing-room options, and holders couldn't even see which game they'd be assigned. Fochesato bargained his way to three upper-deck seats for Game 2 and one lower-level corner seat for Game 1, then saw better seats go on public sale.
On Tuesday, Schlesinger acknowledged that several hundred fans had requested World Series seats and that the team had erred in its internal logistics. Every holder received seats, he said, but the club did not honor the spirit of the program. The fix allows any holder who applied before the deadline to keep the World Series tickets and keep the Timeless Ticket for a future season.
Whether holders accept that offer, and whether fans like Fochesato consider a second redemption a fair exchange for the first, remains to be seen.
Danny Fochesato bought his Milwaukee Brewers Timeless Ticket on his 27th birthday in 2015, and he had a specific plan for it: he would cash it in the day the team reached the World Series. This week, with the Brewers there for the first time since 1982, he got his chance. He wasn't happy with what he was offered.
The promotion, run more than a decade ago, charged fans $1,000 for admission to any future game. A holder who redeemed the ticket also became eligible to buy three more tickets to that game at full retail price. The offer said the tickets could be redeemed for the best available seat locations, subject to availability at the time of redemption.
Fochesato says the sales pitch back in 2015 went further than that. He recalls salespeople stressing that holders would have priority just behind season ticket holders, with first dibs on anything the season ticket holders didn't take. That, he said, was the story the team sold.
It had worked in 2018, when the Brewers reached the NL Championship Series and he tried redeeming for a hypothetical World Series game. He got four tickets in the 100 level behind home plate, seats he could have used had Milwaukee advanced. The team instead lost Game 7 of that series to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
This time the process looked different. Fochesato says the form offered only 400-level or standing-room options. Holders couldn't even see which game they would get; they listed preferences, submitted the form and waited. His reaction, he said, was immediate: that was bogus. He bargained his way to three 400-level seats for Saturday's Game 2 against the Tampa Bay Rays and one lower-level seat in the right-field corner for Friday's Game 1. Then he stood in line for the public ticket sale and saw that better seats were available than the ones offered to him under the program.
On Tuesday, Brewers president of business operations Rick Schlesinger addressed the complaints. He said several hundred fans had indicated they wanted to redeem Timeless Tickets for a World Series game. The team, he acknowledged, had erred in its internal communications on the logistics of fulfilling those requests. All of the holders were given seats, he said, but some reported being unhappy with their locations. Even with extraordinarily limited seat availability, he said, the team did not live up to the spirit of the program.
The fix: any Timeless Ticket holder who applied before the deadline keeps the World Series tickets already assigned and also keeps the Timeless Ticket itself, which can be redeemed for another game in any future season. Schlesinger said the team regrets the mistake and looks forward to welcoming those fans to American Family Field.
What remains to be seen is how holders respond to the offer, and whether fans like Fochesato, who watched better seats go on public sale, consider a second redemption a fair trade for the first.
Citações Notáveis
We regret our mistake and look forward to welcoming them to American Family Field for their World Series experience.— Rick Schlesinger, Brewers president of business operations
Even with extraordinary limitations on available seats, we did not live up to the spirit of the program.— Rick Schlesinger, Brewers president of business operations
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