"Packers Catching Flak Over New ADA-based Ticket Policy"

From Athletic Business

Review by Brad Newell in KIN 435 (section 1)

"Packers Catching Flak Over New ADA-based Ticket Policy" written by Paul Steinbach is an article that brings awareness to an issue regarding the ticket sales policy change of the Green Bay Packers. With the new Packers policy Green Bay will no longer sell single game tickets to people with disabilities. The main issue is that a previous handicap friendly policy is being changed and blamed on new regulations imposed by Americans with Disabilities Act which states that people with disabilities need to be treated in the same way of those without regarding sales. The Packers claim to interpret this as saying that their previous policy is in conflict with the ADA regulation thus forcing them to change their policy. The claim that this is in violation of the regulations by being unfair in favor of those who are handicap thus not being equal.

In my opinion, the Packers are using the new ADA regulation as a opportunity to change their policy. Knowing that handicap individuals wouldn't be happy with the change they blamed the change on ADA regulations. But, I don't see an ethical issue with this change. People with disabilities can still purchase single game tickets online that are being resold by handicap season ticket holders just like non-handicap people. The only issue could be that there are not enough handicap seats.

There could be a negative marketing and sales impact caused by people who believe the policy change is unethical. If a group of people feels strongly enough about the ethics of the change they could boycott Packers games and shine negative publicity on the organization. Boycotts and public opinions can have a big impact on how a company does business. For example in the 1970's Nestles made some questionable ethical decisions and caused a boycott that effected profits enough that forced the company to make business changes. And on the other side of the spectrum many companies make donations that shine positive light on the company and act as a marketing strategy to bring in new customers.

Regulations can also have a huge impact on companies. Companies spend millions of dollars to stay within state and national safety, health, and ethical regulations. While many regulations are necessary some believe that others force unnecessary spending that could be used to produce better products and more profits.

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Review by Adam Broughman in KIN 435 (section 1)

This article is about the Packers and their new ticketing policy regarding people with disabilities. Since there has been some changes made to the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Packers had to change their ticket policies to coincide with the new regulations. According to the article, ticket sales have to be the same for people with or without disabilities. Since the Packers don’t personally sell single game tickets to able-bodied fans, they also have to withhold single game tickets for disabled people as well. If disabled people want to purchase tickets to a game and not go through a secondary market, they have to buy season tickets, which carry a hefty price tag.

While this may sound like it will hurt ticket sales, representatives from the Packers feel that they will sell all of the tickets reserved for disabled people. I feel like this is a lofty goal and that it will be harder to sell the tickets than they think. While the Packers are abiding within the confines of the law, I feel like they are in a moral grey area. The purpose of the ADA is to help people with disabilities, but I feel like these new changes have hindered them. I think that buying single game tickets would be more cost efficient for disabled people and would allow them to come out to more games. With this new policy in place, I feel like less disabled people will be able to come out to the games. I think this new policy will not only anger disabled fans, but their families as well. It will now be more difficult to obtain tickets for disabled people and that might also keep able-bodied fans with disabled family members from coming out to games. Overall, I think this change will affect ticket sales in a negative way.