Atlanta

Following outcry, Falcons respond to long-time fans shut out of Super Bowl

By Berndt Petersen, WSB-TV
By Berndt Petersen, WSB-TV

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Falcons responded Thursday to long-time Atlanta Falcons season-ticket holders upset about not getting a first shot at Super Bowl seats.

Some of the ticket owners say they’re disappointed; others say they’re flat-out angry.

[HEADED 2 HOUSTON: Special Falcons Super Bowl section]

“I’m not gonna beat up on Arthur Blank, but I felt very bad when I got that phone call,” season-ticket holder Paul Player said.

Player says he received the call earlier this week telling him that he did not win a drawing that would have given him a chance to buy tickets to the Super Bowl at face value.

Through the team, the Falcons have rights to just over 12,000 seats.

Another man told Channel 2’s Nicole Carr on Wednesday that he didn’t win the drawing despite being a season-ticket holder since 1969.

“I guess I was more disappointed than surprised,” Johnny Googe said.

Player’s wife, Susan, said she knows the feeling. She and her husband have been to nearly every home game since 1970.

"I felt sorry for both of us because we were in the same situation,” she said.

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Luckily for the Players, that all changed when they received an email from the Falcons on Thursday morning, offering them tickets to the Super Bowl after all.

"’We would like to extend the opportunity for you to purchase two Super Bowl tickets at face value. The location is section 635, 637, and 639,’ which I'm sure is up in the nosebleed seats,” Paul Player said as he read the email.

He said they are excited and will be going to the game, but they still believe the way Super Bowl tickets are handled needs to change.

“The first people getting tickets are the people that have had tickets the longest time and work down to the people who had tickets the least amount of time,” Susan Player said.

During a news conference Thursday, team owner Arthur Blank tackled the controversy.

"I think the most important thing is we've tried to respond to all of our fans as best as we possibly can,” he said.

A team spokesperson sent Channel 2 Action News a statement saying, “Like all other participating teams, we conducted a drawing from the allotment of Super Bowl 51 tickets for our season ticket holders. We added weight in the drawing for consideration to our longer tenured season ticket holders … We have thousands of season ticket holders that have maintained their loyalty since day one, many for 51 years. Unfortunately, we could not promise each of those accounts a ticket.”

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