Ilitch Holdings, the entity that owns the Tigers and a host of other sports and entertainment ventures, has announced the creation of a $1MM fund to assist part-time employees, as Tony Paul of the Detroit News first reported. Precise details aren’t yet known, but Paul provides many key facets of the initial effort.
The fund will go to a wide range of workers employed by the Ilitch empire, not just those whose jobs relate to the staging of Tigers games. At least initially, the fund will cover cancelled Spring Training contests but not any games that had been scheduled at Comerica Park.
While there seems to be some room for this effort to expand, it is a welcome first step in the baseball world towards assisting those whose livelihood depends upon the staging of contests that have been postponed (and may end up being canceled in some part). As the Ilitch announcement notes, “reassurance” of this kind is important in such a “time of uncertainty.”
We have previously seen some efforts on the ownership and player levels in the NBA, which just suspended its regular season. MLB Opening Day had been scheduled to begin later in March, so the immediate impact was felt at Spring Training sites in Florida and Arizona.
Good. It is the right thing to do. These people depend on these jobs.
Great, but where is the fund for fans who lost hundreds or thousands due to MLB electively cancelling spring training events in FL and AZ at the last moment despite no edict from the municipalities, states, and federal government.
You lost thousands of dollars just for spring training events?
Fans travel from all around the country for spring training events. Airfare, hotel, rental cars, and a great deal of other expenses. Most of them not covered by the travel industry’s current coronavirus policies because they are not coming from China, South Korea, Iran, or Italy.
Furthermore secondary market ticket sellers are taking a huge bath on this decision. Resellers who made money on StubHub for example are being charged to their personal accounts in order to refund buyers. And they are losing the difference by only being refunded face value by the venue.
So yes people are losing hundreds and thousands of dollars just on spring training games.
You’ve had some of the most god awful takes on this whole scenario.
Would you like me to explain why, or do you want to try thinking about it some more?
@raisinsss No, maybe you can think about it and explain to me why this response wasn’t undertaken when a global public health emergency was announced many weeks ago. And instead why all of these actions are being taken now when we know the virus is not contained and cannot be contained. The virus is out and cycling in the population. There is nothing at all that can be done to contain it
Well selling tickets over face value is illegal in many places, but even so I say tough luck. They take good with the bad
Sorry, troll.
Best of luck in your future internet arguments.
Perhaps consider some self-reflection next time.
But the resellers paid face value for the tickets. They may not be making a profit but they are not losing the difference.
@94yankees Resellers are being recharged money they likely already spent. Don’t you see the problem there for normal people?
beisbolista – This is terrible for MOST OF THE WORLD, but your tickets and travel were about entertainment. That’s truly a shame, and I sympathize. But HOLY SHIT, show a little compassion for those whose very livelihood depends on these contests—especially as they will need supplies that they may no longer be able to afford. I salute the Ilitch Foundation.
boohoo your ENTERTAINMENT was cancelled. this is a serious situation.
what a terrible take
So you are saying fans should partake in the funds and take money away from people depending on it?
Look Bozo you are pathetic
‘Furthermore secondary market ticket sellers are taking a huge bath on this decision.’
Won’t someone PLEASE think of the scalpers?!?
lmao your take is quite bad. As for the ‘thousands of dollars’ people are out due to lost airfare, rental cars, hotels, etc., maybe contact those companies directly for refunds.
As for supposedly being blindsided by all of this (‘despite no edict. . .’) maybe you should have stopped watching cable news and listening to politicians and started listening to medical doctors and scientists. COVID has been a thing for almost 5 months now. If you’ve chosen to ignore it or downplay its severity, you’re at least partially to blame. So suck it up.
I 100% agree with your first argument, I was lucky enough to experience Spring Training down in Lakeland/Tampa/Dunedin this year while using ALL the amenities you mentioned(Car rentals, AirBnB, Air Travel, etc). But I highly disagree with the sorrow for secondary ticket markets. I, as any other TRUE fan, not Corporate, HOPE that this burns the hands of secondary ticket “Scalpers”. They have been cleaning out Stadiums and Venues at second priority(only behind Long-standing senior season ticket holders and Corporations) for the better part of 2 decades since the .com bubble. This makes it hard for the average Joe to take his little boy or girl without having to either pay either HIGHER premiums on the same seats or having to choose nosebleeds or corners/end zones. Personally I think it should be outlawed, but that’s just IMO. It sucks seeing premium seats go empty, though there was a ticket bought(but not sold in secondary market), and the premium you paid for your seat was so that empty one was hedged as a loss.
But that’s Big Business and Corporate America, the Owners don’t care, they made their revenue from the initial ticket sale.
Just my opinion…
beisbolista…. these fans spent money on pleasure at their choice… sucks they are out some expenses but there are people who depend on baseball for a living and to pay bills. thats more important than a pleasure reimbursement. you are a moron.
Are they not refunding the price of tickets? That would be theft.
They are.
Guy is talking about resellers who buy tix at face value, sell for a markup, then have to refund the total purchase price while only getting reimbursed for the face value, thereby losing their profit made on the sale.
Or I’m talking about regular people who couldnt make games, sold their tickets, and are now having their checking accounts charged back with no notice. Do you know how the secondary ticket market works?
the secondary market that in some states say scalping is considered a misdemeanor, which carries a fine as high as $1,000 and imprisonment up to one year for the first offense. Subsequent offenses have higher fines and more prison time? Tat secondary market?
So basically if they didnt scalp the ticket they would get back what they paid and lost nothing.
That’s the one!
But if they did scalp the ticket (or tickets), they would probably be upset enough to have very strong opinions about it on a certain baseball site about trade rumors.
Most ticket scalping laws only apply to people who are standing within a certain number of feet of the stadium. This is hardly relevant to the discussion we are having
I’m so sorry and sad the great Beisbolista lost some money from his planned spring training vacation! Very upsetting that you lost some disposable income. Cry me a river!
What state are you in? Let’s get relevant :)
Not sure if serious, or sociopath…
So someone could not make the game. Sold their inexpensive spring training tickets that cost them less than $100 and are being charged back? Who cares.
Man beisbolista you are pathetic
Actually, many municipalities and states are mandating limited gatherings. Here in Michigan, our governor has barred gatherings of >250 people through April 6. So there would not have been any Tiger games had the league played. Seattle is under a similar ban, as is San Fransisco. California is considering a state wide edict (may have by now). So MLB was right to do what they are doing.
As for fans, your tickets will eventually either be refunded or given credit for future games.
This is serious business, it is not overblown or some conspiracy. This is about avoiding what happened in China and Italy. It is about making sure we can care for those who are ill, reducing the overall number who get this virus, and avoiding a public health nightmare. Even the great cheetolini is getting on board declaring this a national emergency. I am even being pulled from my normal job to work in my hospital system’s COVID-19 clinic.
Kwitcherbitchin!
Hey Doc! Yes, the Governor is banning gatherings of greater than 250 people, but Tiger home games should fit under that threshold!
I rarely use this term, but the occasion calls for it. You are truly a moron.
Very classy in the spirit of the now-departed Mr. I (Mike Illitch). I may be embarrassed by the Tigers’ play on the field, but at least I can be proud they are leading the way by helping their workers. For what it’s worth, I told my employees that they would be paid even if the government forces all businesses to shut down (we don’t have public traffic in our offices and are at a low risk). I think they call that “doing the right thing.”
It’s a very honourable gesture, one Mr.I would be proud of. Makes me feel that Chris is following in the same footsteps. I wasn’t too keen on how he was doing after originally taking over, but he listened to the NEW age(Sabremetrics/Stats Dept), and this team is WELL positioned from here on in…
We all know Mr.I didn’t want it out, but it came out after passing, that he put Rosa Parks up in a penthouse apartment and paid for everything from the 90’s til she passed in 2005. She was in an unsafe environment previously, and he didn’t want an Icon like Rosa to live in fear.
Good news for their employees, families, and Detroit. And a great example for other owners to follow.
How can anyone blame the economic pain of this on
very nice of them, bit im sure someone will complain they arent doing enough, as is usual
Kudos for the fund, but odd to use a 3-4+ year photo with Justin Upton as a Tiger.
They want people too remember when they were good.
Then they need to use that Kirk Gibson homerun photo.
Mr. I would be proud