Krafts' Letter to ST Holders

[PatsWickedPissah]

http://l.onepatriotplace.com/C2L/er.aspx?k=crbcIkEC5ptqMPxxMT20hoj8Hvm-WqGC5Thj_yW5sKr6P9klvKI2hw$$


Not much information. Simply a statement spun to promote the owners' position.


Dear xxxxxxx:

As a Season Ticket Holder, you hold an elite position among Patriots fans, so we wanted to communicate directly with you regarding the recent expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement – the contract between the league and the labor union representing the players.

As you may know, for the past three weeks, the NFL and the players' union have been in mediation working to ensure a healthy future for the National Football League. Going into the negotiations, we remained very optimistic that an agreement could be reached if both sides were committed to negotiating.

Last week, the league and the owners presented the players' union with a comprehensive proposal that we believe was fair and benefited both parties. We hoped it would serve as a basis to continue negotiating in good faith toward a final agreement. This proposal gave the players many benefits and off-season scheduling changes that they had been seeking. It also offered a 14% increase in compensation, representing a total of $19-20 billion over the next four seasons. Unfortunately, the players' union walked away from mediation and the ongoing negotiations last Friday, without responding to this proposal. Rather than working collaboratively, they chose to initiate litigation against the clubs.

While disappointed by their action to decertify and file a lawsuit, we remain confident that an agreement will be reached and that the 2011 season will be played. The NFL, the owners and the New England Patriots organization remain committed to collective bargaining and reaching a new agreement with the players' union.

We know that many Season Ticket Holders are feeling frustrated by our inability to finalize a deal with the players' union. We apologize for any role we played in that. Please know that we are working diligently to assure that NFL operations get back to “normal” as soon as possible.

As always, we greatly appreciate your support of the Patriots and will continue to keep you informed of any developments as they arise. We encourage you to stay up-to-date on the progress of these negotiations via www.nfllabor.com. If you have any other questions, please contact the ticket office at 508-543-1776 or e-mail [email protected].

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Sincerely,


Robert K. Kraft Jonathan A. Kraft

 

[denverpatsfan]

We got the same letter. Where's the letter extending the deadline for the money due at the end of the month. I am not pleased with Krafty one bit right now. I guess he needs our season ticket money to survive the "tough times" during the lockout.

 

[TrueBeliever]

We got the same letter. Where's the letter extending the deadline for the money due at the end of the month. I am not pleased with Krafty one bit right now. I guess he needs our season ticket money to survive the "tough times" during the lockout.

Back when the NBA had its last lockout, I read in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel how a lot of the Bucks' season ticket holders got pyst because they didn't want to pay for tickets when there was a distinct possibility there might not be any games. In response, the club basically told them if they didn't make the payments on schedule, they would lose their tickets. (I don't recall if the club said it would refund the money for any missed games, or credit their accounts for the next season.)

I'd be pyst too, and I was hoping for something better from Kraft. Then again, maybe that's league policy and he has no choice in the matter.

 

[LetsGoPats36]

Pyst.... Interesting.

 

[xmarkd400x]

As a season ticket holder (I'm not) I would have wanted to see something to the effect of "Give us money. Any games not played in 2011 will be credited towards your 2012 tickets".

 

[BPF]

Everyone is always looking for a reason to complain about something these days. Kraft's statements have nothing to do with season tix, that info was already mailed out in the season ticket package in February. The Pats will refund w/in 30 days of knowing if or how many games missed +1% interest: http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/s...ads/2011/03/5_welcome-ticket-office-final.pdf

We understand that we enter the 2011 NFL season with some uncertainty surrounding the finalization of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
In the event that any games are cancelled in 2011 the NFL announced a League-wide policy for refunding ticket payments. The specifics of the
refund policy are detailed below:

1. We will provide you a full refund for any cancelled preseason or regular season home games.
2. If any games are missed, refunds will be paid no later than 30 days after final determination of how many games will actually be played
during the 2011 NFL season.
3. You may choose to receive your refund either in the form of a check or credit. We will contact you if any games are cancelled to determine
how you would like to receive your refund.
4. Simple interest, calculated at an annual rate of 1% will be paid on refunds.

 

[denverpatsfan]

Kraft is part of the reason things have gotten to the point they are at. So he should be held accountable. The fact that the guy was overseas on business tells me he was not very concerned about reaching a deal.

He is more concerned with getting the check by 3/31 or we lose our tickets. I would have liked to have seen a letter with the statement above instead of a bunch of BS about how they are disappointed in the players etc.

Thanks for posting this. It is however harder to get a refund vs. a credit towards 2012.

 

[BPF]

Kraft is part of the reason things have gotten to the point they are at. So he should be held accountable. The fact that the guy was overseas on business tells me he was not very concerned about reaching a deal.

He is more concerned with getting the check by 3/31 or we lose our tickets. I would have liked to have seen a letter with the statement above instead of a bunch of BS about how they are disappointed in the players etc.

Thanks for posting this. It is however harder to get a refund vs. a credit towards 2012.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion but your view on Kraft is misguided. His trip to Israel/UK had two simultaneous missions: (1.) 10-day international trade mission with Gov Patrick and (2.) Combined Jewish Philanthropies mission. He did say he may have to leave early if he is needed to help resolve the labor dispute. Kraft gave his word he would attend the mission quite a while ago and with many prominent Massachusetts business people attending it was an event he could simply not back out of.

He probably thought the labor situation would be resolved at the time he gave his word to attend the two tiered mission, as you may remember he was pushing to resolve the labor talks by December and then again before the SB.

Karft:

“We’re on the phone daily, e-mail daily, and, if necessary, I might have to leave early,” he said. “It’s a high priority. I made a commitment here, so we’re going to finish the important things we’re doing here.”

The owners probably got word out to him that he wasn't needed if this was the belief: John Mara thinks two sides at one point were close to “tentative agreement” | ProFootballTalk

In an appearance on ESPN 1050, Giants co-owner John Mara disputed Drew’s characterization of the offer. In so doing, Mara hinted that, at one point in the past two weeks, he believed the parties were close to getting a deal done.

“Is splitting the difference financially all for show?” Mara said. “Is walking away from the 18-game season, which a lot of owners were very much in favor of, is that all for show? Is improving their benefits all for show? There were a lot of parts of that proposal that would have provided some significant benefits — significant improvements for the players. And they chose to walk away from it. So I’m not sure what he means by that. I felt we made a very substantial offer on that last Friday. And they chose not to offer so much as a counter — they just chose to walk away and say, ‘We are going to decertify.’

“We were talking the week before,” Mara said. “During the first week that I was there, which was the second week of the mediation process, there was one day where I started to sense that we were getting close to some sort of tentative agreement. And the numbers that were going back and forth were in that same ballpark. So that is absolutely not true. And again, we had some pretty healthy discussion on that particular day, but at the end of the day their response was, ‘No, this is not acceptable’ or ‘We are sticking to our numbers.’ They did not offer any kind of counter.”

 

[cmasspatsfan]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion but your view on Kraft is misguided. His trip to Israel/UK had two simultaneous missions: (1.) 10-day international trade mission with Gov Patrick and (2.) Combined Jewish Philanthropies mission. He did say he may have to leave early if he is needed to help resolve the labor dispute. Kraft gave his word he would attend the mission quite a while ago and with many prominent Massachusetts business people attending it was an event he could simply not back out of.

He probably thought the labor situation would be resolved at the time he gave his word to attend the two tiered mission, as you may remember he was pushing to resolve the labor talks by December and then again before the SB.

I remember when he bought the team he promised his wife football would not take away from his philanthropy, money or time wise before she would be ok with him buying the team.

 

[Fencer]

There's a negotiation going on. Of course everybody will BS. Given that reality, Kraft's letter looks fine to me.

 

[denverpatsfan]

I just looked at the folder the Kraft's mailed us. Yes it did include a note about the team's policy in the event of missed games. I appreciate that note. I just didn't have time to sort thru the propaganda. So thanks again for pointing that out.

 

[BPF]

I just looked at the folder the Kraft's mailed us. Yes it did include a note about the team's policy in the event of missed games. I appreciate that note. I just didn't have time to sort thru the propaganda. So thanks again for pointing that out.

It's not propoganda, they're not trying to persuade you to do anything you didn't ask for. They are supplying you with info for season tickets you are going to purchase. That word implies they are lying by omitting some facts when exactly the opposite is happening, they are trying to give you the most amount of information you need to make a decision on whether you want your season tickets or not. If you had read the info they sent you would probably have less questions.

 

[denverpatsfan]

In my world marketing/advertising=propaganda.

Have a great day.