With the holiday season rapidly approaching, the Preds believe it's their turn to pay it forward by skipping November's Power Pay payment for Season-Ticket Citizens, and it's not just being deferred to a later date. STCs will not pay the November installment - ever - no matter what the 2020-21 season brings.
"The reason why we're doing it is because these Season-Ticket Citizens have been loyal and making monthly payments through a lot of uncertainty in a pandemic," Predators Senior Vice President of Tickets, Premium Sales and Youth Hockey Nat Harden said. "We wanted to do something and essentially give back to our base, so that's what we're going to do."
Answers about the timing or other details of the 2020-21 season are not yet available, but the organization is still optimistic to host 41 regular-season home games at full capacity inside Bridgestone Arena in 2021.
If the Preds are able to execute their plan, the November skipped payment will be their gift to STCs. However, if the season takes a form that doesn't allow for 41 home games with complete sellouts, this skipped payment will represent the initial credit off the full price for STCs in order to arrive at the reduced price of each individual season-ticket package based on the number of games played in front of fans.
Either way, all Season-Ticket Citizens will receive this benefit, and there is no action required.
Harden says even through all of the uncertainty, the Predators have seen a 90 percent renewal rate from STCs, an impressive number considering the circumstances. Even so, there have been some who have had to drop their seats, but the Preds aren't passing on those fans either.
The team has agreed to not only hang onto their seats until the 2021-22 season, they'll still allow those fans to receive the full benefits that come with being a Season-Ticket Citizen.
There are also approximately 900 accounts, Harden says, that the team has worked with to allow those fans to create their own custom payment during this time.
In addition to skipping November's Power Pay payment, the Preds are continuing to offer a number of benefits to their Season-Ticket Citizens. Those include renewal deadlines being deferred indefinitely, seats remaining on accounts until there is a clear plan for the 2020-21 season, allowing STCs the ability to relocate seats, add seats and alter their ticket plan and STCs continuing to receive 20 percent off merchandise at
Nashville Locker Room
.
Even with all of the uncertainty, getting back to the normalcy we all long for will be back one day soon. The Predators are planning on coming out of this stronger than ever, and the relationship that has been built for over two decades with its fanbase is an imperative portion of that goal.
The support from Season-Ticket Citizens is particularly important now more than ever before, and it hasn't gone unnoticed in the front office.
"We're extremely proud to be able to do this, and when we went into this time, the whole concept centered around how we were going to take care of our Season-Ticket Citizens," Harden said. "We were going to do whatever we could to make sure that they feel like we're taking care of them and staying connected with them. We want to stay engaged, we want to stay flexible and we want to make sure that their wellbeing is our top priority."
