Thursday, January 11, 2018

THE CHARGERS AND THE PSL THAT AWAIT THEIR FANS! "MUST READ"

If you don't understand how PSL work and all the risks-benefits that are involved in such an "investment" along with how this big of a purchase will affect yourself and your family. I urge you to look into it and educate yourself before just committing to such a big decision. San Diego has no real experience in PSL except for the Padres briefly tried it unsuccessfully at Petco Park. Here the facts of the Lease in Inglewood and the PSL that will be involved in every seat at Inglewood when it opens in 2020. The Rams are rumored to be one of the most expensive PSL in  NFL history.


 Upon reviewing the lease between the Chargers and the Rams one thing stood out to me. What an amazing deal Stan gave Dean Spanos. Any assumption that the NFL is about to move the chargers or that league owners are "freaking out" over the below expectations of the interest in the Rams and Chargers in LA is false. The NFL in this for the long haul and each team is going to make 21 million dollars from the 3 teams that relocated for years to come. While you think the NFL owners are freaking out over the response or lack thereof, they are actually at the bank cashing checks.

The Chargers to Inglewood is going to make the Spanos family a  truck load of millions of dollars. It also makes no sense at all. 

But as you will learn this isn't the old NFL. This is the new NFL who markets to accomplish one thing and one thing only. To make the owners more revenue even if  it means selling their soul to the devil. That is assuming that the NFL owners have a soul.

                                                                   THE LEASE

 1. The Chargers will pay $1.00 a year annually to be a tenant in Inglewood. The lease is for 20 years and then and only then does the option for four five year options to extend take affect.

2. Each team keeps the gameday revenue etc.. Parking, Concessions, Tickets, Advertising and Sponsorships.

3. Each team has a 200 million dollar loan from the NFL G4 loans. That loan goes into the construction cost for the stadium. 

4. PSL and naming rights are sold jointly. Neither team is required to sell PSL and there is no price guidelines at all whatsoever. After making 18.75% each team will deposit the remaining profits into Stank Kroenke entity Stadco LA ,LLC.

5. All non game day revenue goes to Stan Kroenke. The Chargers are not responsible for cost overruns on the project or anything similar.  The Chargers have no role in the mixed development on the 298 acre site. 
                                                          OVER VIEW
Regardless of whether the Stubhub Center was empty or not on Sundays, the Stubhub seats at the Center sold every single ticket to the 27,000 seat soccer palace every week. If the ticket brokers bought the tickets but then the brokers could not resell them on the secondary market. That is their problem. Dean profits the same amount no matter who buys them. Whether you are a Charger fan or opposing teams fans does not matter. The money is still green and has already been deposited into Dean Spanos bank account.

Estimations from experts that know the sports market in LA believe the team can make $75 million more in local revenue in LA then they would have if they had a new stadium in San Diego. Remembering that 2/3rds of each team revenue is fixed from National TV contracts. The local revenue generated should easily account for the 550 million in relocation fees that will began in 2019. Each team in the NFL gets 21 million from the Rams, Chargers and Raiders.

 The lease agreement has Stan taking all the risks and all the debts in regards to the  Inglewood project. Dean Spanos gets a great lease for his contributions to the construction of the stadium. The Rams were worth $1.4 billion in St. Louis. The team value doubled with just moving into the LA market to $2.6 billion. The Chargers value is not yet fully accumulated yet to this point. The latest from Forbes Magazine in 2017 had the Chargers with an increase in value from $2.08 billion in San Diego in 2016 to $2.23 billion in 2017..

Now onto something much more serious. Gone are the days of the old NFL and the way fans could purchase tickets to the games. The new NFL has what is called a Personal Seat License  PSL). Every seat is expected to have some kind of a PSL structure at the new stadium in Inglewood. If you think you can just go up to the ticket counter and drop a $100.00 for a ticket to the game, you are in for quite a shock my friend.

 You now have to spend money just for the rights to purchase season tickets to the games at the 298 acre mixed use development complex. THEN you have earned the right to purchase season tickets for the Chargers. This is the new reality for Charger fans. It has replaced the taxpayers investments to the construction of new stadiums that have proven to have no return on investment for tax payers.

Is this a investment that you and your family can afford? Are you going to be priced out of being a fan that goes and see your team play in person? If you followed the team to LA from San Diego then your reward maybe thanks, but we're looking for a higher end of fans in LA.  The new richer younger girl on the block. This is the new NFL folks.

 PSL first started in 1995 by the St. Louis Rams. It has since caught on and is currently used by MLB, NBA, NHL, and other NFL teams. First you put down a $100.00 deposit then you purchase the rights to a seat. You do have to purchase season tickets for a certain seat. This process may not work out for you but it works for ticket brokers who can resell them on the secondary market for profits. The compassion of a teams fan base in the stands might have been traded for a wealthy businessman who would rather check his stocks on his phone then pay attention to the game in front of them.

ONE THING!!! It's not up to me if a PSL is affordable to you and your family. No one can assure you it will have value nor can anyone claim it won't raise in value over time. It's very risky and you should consult other people whom you trust before making a decision to spend thousands of dollars on a PSL then hundreds more for season tickets. I will explain how it works and the benefits and risks that I have learned in speaking with many in the process. Then you can do what is best for you.

                                            WHAT IS A PERSONAL SEAT LICENSE?
It licenses the entitles the holder to the right to buy season tickets to a certain seat in the stadium. The holder can sell the seat license to someone else if they no longer wish to purchase season tickets. HOWEVER, If you do not sell the license and you do not renew the holder forfeits the license back to the team and whatever costs you spent. You first purchase the right to the seat THEN you can buy the season tickets. Most are valid as long as that teams plays at that venue. You can pay this off as a 1 time payment or you can finance it over a period of time. Prices depend on where you want your seat to be along with other factors. It is a very risky investment and sometimes very hefty to the holder. The license could double in value or it could lose all its value altogether. Both teams have set out surveys to Gage how much interest and how much they can charge for the PSL. Projections are the Rams will have the most expensive PSL in the NFL. The Chargers have not yet released their costs for the license in Inglewood. 
                                                
                                                  WHO SELLING THEM FOR THE TEAM?

Global Legends is the company that markets selling suites and PSL for teams like the 49ERS, Yankees, Falcons, Cowboys and the Rams and Chargers. Suites have been selling from anywhere between $350,000 to $800,000 for the 125 suites at the new stadium starting with 10 year terms. Global Legends knows the NFL market and they are very good at what they do. Chris Hibbs is the account executive for the Chargers and the Rams in Inglewood. PSL are projected to generate 1 billion dollars for the construction of the stadium and the Rams are accounting for 60% of that cost.

 The Lease states that the Chargers can help with the construction costs of the stadium but there is no expectations nor guidelines in if they have too (they will) or what kind of structure they have to abide by. There is no quota for the Chargers to sell PSL. Large businesses and major corporations have replaced the normal average football fan when marketing PSL. Mark Fabiani has said San Diego is not the market for selling PSL. However, LA does have the market? Yes, I will explain that as well later. Remember who they are marketing to mostly when trying to judge how successful they will be. Ticket Brokers and businesses are their clientele now not the average tailgating football fan as in the past. Although the average fan will still be marketed as well as Corporate America.

                                               HOW DOES THE PROCESS WORK?

  Both teams are taking a $100.00 refundable deposit for the 2020 opening of the stadium in Inglewood. The tickets are valid as long as the team you purchased it for plays at that venue. You can use the PSL or you can sell it to someone else. However, if you do not sell the ticket or renew then the seat license goes back to the team and any money deposited will be lost. Both teams can keep up to 18.75% from the sells of the PSL. The rest gets deposited into Stan Kroenke entity that is reserved for the construction of the stadium. Fans have to renew each year and they have to buy season tickets along with 2 preseason games or they will forfeit their rights back to the team.

The last module in California used was Levi Stadium. The PSL ranged from $2,000.00 to $80,000.00. The average price was estimated at $8,000.00. Then you have earned the right to then purchase for an extra amount your season tickets. I repeat the expectations are EVERY seat in the stadium will require a PSL and a season ticket.

 It is a major expense and often it does not profit the holder of the license. So much that the SEC has prohibited teams from advertising the license as a investment in the language. The holder will acknowledge that there are no expectations to profit from this purchase. In Pittsburgh and Baltimore, the license has doubled its value. Those fans can profit if they choose to resell their tickets. In San Francisco at Levi Stadium those fans have resold 900 tickets in the past year. Almost all of them have lost their value.

                                               WHAT KIND OF MONEY IS INVOLVED?

The most expensive PSL to date is the Dallas Cowboys who sold their PSL for $150,000. The 49ERS are 2nd with $80,000 for Levi Stadium in Santa Clara. The Giants came in 3rd (as usual) with $20,000 for the right to purchase season tickets. The Rams have made it known through back channels that people can expect the Rams to be the most expensive PSL prices ever sold on the market. The 298 acre mixed development complex of hotels, restaurants, movie theatre and a central heaven for the NFL and the NFL network to establish a home base. Estimated value has the fans losing money from the original purchase. How a team performs on the field and how much demand that team is in demand can increase or decrease a seat licenses value. No LA team has ever sold a PSL so the Rams and Chargers are entering uncharted waters.

 The prices involved just to attend a NFL game is going to leave a lot of Charger fans in sticker shock some who have never been in a position that they simply can't afford to go to games anymore.The move to LA was about money for the owners. Trust me they are not crying in the beer over your struggles. The suites which have already been selling are going to be a big part of the teams revenue as well. The Q had 113 suites which brought in $14.1 million for the Chargers. The Rams at Edward James Dome had 122 suites = $12.2 million. Inglewood has 275 suites which brings each team $56.3 Million. LA has no invested interest in either team so the consumer is basically adopting a team. How will the Rams and Chargers continue to sell such high priced tickets when the novelty goes away is something to watch.

                            THE FUTURE OF THE CHARGERS AND THE NEW NFL

  The Chargers and the Rams have mentioned they wanted to lure a higher income bracket of fans. In doing so ya just hope then don't abandoned the one base that has stuck with them all along. To price those fans out of attending Charger games would be severely misguided. The demand for the Rams PSL deposits were so massive it exceeded the Rams website capabilities. Also in June of 2017 in a private letter ruling the Rams were cleared by the IRS to sell the PSL as a loan. That means the Rams have decades to repay the loan with 0% interest rate. They can also produce digital content to merchandise and give perks to select participants available exclusively to PSL holders.

 The corporate base is in place for the market to buy up the PSL. The businesses will most likely want in on the new novelty that Inglewood will attract.

San Diego has 3.1 million people and 468 large employers. 316,352 households make over $100,000 with the average household averaging $84,889.

LA has 18 million with surrounding areas and a massive 2,083 large employers. 12 million households make over $100,000 and average of $86,061.

 With no structure or guidelines to follow the Chargers can also add several perks to the PSL license. Discounted parking fees, discounts to only Charger games as well as non NFL related events. They could offer a fixed season ticket rate to their customers to bring them in as well.

Both teams will sell a very good amount of PSL to just businesses and ticket brokers alone. The question is how can they exceed that amount as the novelty wears off and what will happen to the value of the PSL after the original purchase? The second yet biggest question is in seeking the fame and fortune in LA will they price out the most loyal fans that have stuck with them through the transition?


Thanks for reading!


                                                   


                                                      

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