Hi so my family have had these tickets since Wrigley in the 1960s. My mom inherited them in the mid 90s and I've been buying the seats from her for years. At some point it seems like her tickets were converted maybe during the remodel in the early 2000s we went to see about transferring into my name but they said I have to potentially convert them to PSLs which they also clarified will only be valid while they play at soldier field. I've been looking through my moms bears files and can't find anything about the tickets not being transferrable, she also can't remember.
My question is did the Bears change the terms when they remodeled and do I have any options or as my mom is getting up there are our family tickets just going to revert to the bears at some point?
I had a couple conversations with Bears STH personnel on this subject.
Standard season tickets cannot be passed down to other family members via inheritance or any other means. Once the person whose name is in the invoice passes, the Bears have a right to take those seats back.
If you want to pass on your season tickets to your family via inheritance, you can only do so with a PSL. At any time, you can pay a fee to convert your non-PSL season tickets to PSL. This is not cheap but will ensure the tickets stay in the family for years to come.
Edit: Based on my conversations, the Bears do closely monitor who is paying vs. name on the invoice so it can definitely happen where Bears pull season tickets if the original owner passed away.
Im just curious if they ever specifically reached out to my mom to explain the new terms after she inherited them she was confused that they wont just pass down to me, but i mean its possible it was in the fine print or something when the remodel happened? We just can't find anything and she had letters about her PSLs as recently as 2011 but the tickets according to our account rep are standard season tickets.
I think it was in one of those annual letters to season ticket holders. It was pretty clearly communicated, and not in fine print, but totally easy for someone to ignore it.
Is there any reason you are concerned with finding what they shared given them that you now know what the rule is?
More of a curiosity I thought it was odd
OK. Yeah, it was pretty widely communicated (‘05ish?) - enough that my brother-in-law chose to go PSL, but I had no intention of paying that kind of money for seats I wanted to keep upgrading. But I could also see how somebody would miss it if they were used to just throwing that kind of mail in the trash.
As others have said, should something happen to your mother, don’t ever communicate that to the Bears. You are sure to lose your seats once they know for certain she has passed.
It sounds like you should just change your name to your moms name
Being a STH doesn't mean you essentially get to own a part of the Bears for eternity (in the sense you're entitled season tickets for the rest of time which you can transfer). If that was the case no one would ever move up on the waitlist.
There's no "well in the fine print...our lawyers will be looking over this!" you can say that will make them care (and I very much doubt you're the only person who's asked, there are plenty of online FAQs explaining non-PSL aren't transferable) . Only way to "own" a seat is through a PSL, and even that only lasts while they're at Soldier Field. If you're dead-set on inheriting, you have to go through the PSL process to either turn your seats into PSLs or purchase PSLs for sale on the PSL marketplace.
With a new stadium a 100% probability this shouldn't be an issue for you, but you have to decide whether to go PSL at the new place. I have the same type of seats, and frankly if I kicked the bucket my kids would probably just keep answering the emails from the Bears and buying the tickets until the PSL info for the new place comes out. The Bears aren't scrubbing the obituaries to see if someone on their list died.
Same situation my dad has had them since Wrigley. If we move them to me, they have to be converted to PSL. And actually, with the seat relocation process each Spring, I've managed to move them right on the 50-yard like row 6 in 400 level like 4 years ago (previously they were like row 25 on Bears 25-yard line each both end zones over the years).
Do you know if they specifically made him aware the tickets wouldn't be transferable when the remodel at soldier field happened? My mom was pretty confused when i told her they weren't transferable, i mean its possible she was informed way back then and just doesn't remember as well.
Not that I'm aware of. You had the option to keep your current general area seat location (pay the PSL) with the remodel or get moved. He chose to get moved (we were lower section at old Soldier Field then moved with remodel). I asked about transferring them to me few years ago they said only through PSL.
I have non PSL season tickets. The Bears have offered me multiple times to convert to PSL, but I couldn’t see the value in paying an extra $26k or so for seats I already have. Section 437
I believe the whole PSL thing came about when the stadium was remodeled, so around 2003
They will have priority… of course, like everything else, this is subject to $$…. Stadium renovation or new build packages always have a “grandfather clause” … this info is from highest level of Bears organization… doubt me right now then bow down when it’s done 🤣
Where are the seats? That will determine whether they are PSL seats or plain old season tickets.
They were 430 row 14 seats 1-4 we switched seats at some point now it's 121 row 15 1-4
I see evidence of the seats changing a couple times in 2008, and 2011 and then in 2021.
Similar situation here. My grandfather has had them since wrigley days. They used to be transferable until they remodeled soldier field. My grandfather had passed so they were in my parents name at that time. I remember discussing buying a psl, with one of the main selling points being they could be transferred. Otherwise they could not be. So your assumption aligns with my understanding.
I’m just going to keep my parents alive for as long as possible before I start freaking out. lol.
Kinda what my plan is I'm also not sure I want to spring for a PSL if they are gonna move stadiums but I wonder if they will offer Season Ticket purchasing to current STHs or just PSL holders
Definitely wait for new stadium. Current PSLs won’t transfer and they’ll definitely want STHs to have PSLs. They might give priority to current PSL holders but we won’t know for sure until they announce it.
having the PSL will almost assuredly give you an opportunity to buy one in the new stadium, they would get pitchforks if that wasn't the case.
I’m sure that’s true.
I would imagine they would try to keep as many season ticket holders as possible. But it might be PSL->STH->waiting list for the new stadium for seat selection.
New stadium will be bigger so i hope they get all season ticker holders an opportunity. Im non psl south endzone so it may price me out. But i would at least like to see my options first
It’s barely going to be any bigger. Nearly the same size.
No way they build in Arlington and make it the same size. At least an extra 20k
That’s not what the reporting has been so far. I found it surprising too.
Huh. Weird
Basically, new stadium is to optimize suites and boxes that are sold to corporations, as opposed to maximizing regular seasons, which is a shame.
NFL rules cause this. Teams get to keep 100% profit from these boxes. They have to share a portion of the rest of the tickets.
What I read is that the price to build those upper sections goes up massively with each section you add. And those are the cheapest priced tickets so a lot of teams opt to not build the stadiums as large as they can. I also think the Bears financial situation may be a factor. We don’t have a billionaire owner with the money to pay for a stadium on their own, so the huge expense to add cheaper seats may not happen. They’d most likely keep selling out games and would be able to open more seats for PSL/STH, but the return on investment in those seats is a long time.
Just join the list for your own now. Use your parents to buy their tickets for like 10 years until you get moved up the list