Though the Redskins haven’t had trouble selling out FedEx Field, they possibly have provided inspiration to teams that struggle to sell every ticket to every non-premium seat.
Remove the seats that don’t sell, and replace them with platforms on which folks who choose to show up will stand.
According to Mike Jones of the Washington Post, the Redskins have informed season-ticket holders that standing-room “party deck” tickets are available, at $290 for the full season.
Per Jones, the Redskins have between 4,000 and 5,000 standing-room tickets available. Those extra spots replace roughly 12,000 seats that were removed last year from FedEx Field, to facilitate the construction of the party decks.
In other cities, this becomes a possible strategy for ensuring sellouts while still having extra capacity for big games. In Miami, for example, where the Dolphins have the largest upper deck in the league, seats that don’t sell now can be replaced with standing areas that wouldn’t count toward lifting the local blackout, but that would give the team the ability to add more bodies when the demand catches up with the supply.
And if it works, teams can also begin selling Personal Standing Licenses. Which could be supplemented by Personal Breathing Licenses. And maybe an annual fee for access to the restrooms, the one place in the stadium where it will make sense to not use the Personal Breathing License.