A
personal seat license, or
PSL, gives the holder the right to buy season tickets for a certain seat in a stadium. This holder can sell the seat license to someone else if they no longer wish to purchase season tickets. However, if the seat license holder chooses not to sell the seat licenses and does not renew the season tickets, the holder forfeits the license back to the team. Most seat licenses are valid for as long as the team plays in the current venue.
Seat licenses have been given various names- the most common term in
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
is
Personal Seat License and in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
is
Debenture.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Personal Seat License' Start a new discussion about 'Personal Seat License' Answer questions from other users |
A
personal seat license, or
PSL, gives the holder the right to buy season tickets for a certain seat in a stadium. This holder can sell the seat license to someone else if they no longer wish to purchase season tickets. However, if the seat license holder chooses not to sell the seat licenses and does not renew the season tickets, the holder forfeits the license back to the team. Most seat licenses are valid for as long as the team plays in the current venue.
Seat licenses have been given various names- the most common term in
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
is
Personal Seat License and in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
is
Debenture. The primary reason sporting venues offer PSLs is that the proceeds are used to help pay the debt incurred during the construction of the stadium or arena. Opponents of PSLs see this as another way to extract money from the sports fans.
Origin of Seat Licenses
The permanent seat license was invented by a
Columbus, OhioColumbus is the capital and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. It is the county seat of Franklin County, although parts of the city also extend into Delaware and Fairfield counties...
architect, Rick Ohanian, in January 1987, rather than by Charlotte sports marketing agent, Max Muhleman, in 1993, as is commonly believed. The first appearance of a PSL can be seen in a
Letter to The Editor from Ohanian to the
Columbus Dispatch, published on March 2, 1987, entitled "Ticketbond is Answer to Financing Proposed Facility". However Muhleman is credited as the founder of the first PSL's at Charlotte's then
Carolinas StadiumBank of America Stadium is a 73,504-seat football stadium located on 33 acres of land in uptown Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. It is the home facility of the Carolina Panthers NFL franchise...
.
Those in disagreement with this claim cite that similar programs were in existence among many college fund raising activities prior to 1987. However, the difference here is the fact that these programs were tax-deductible donations to a scholarship fund, in which case the main "quid-pro-quo" was between the donation and the resultant deduction, not between the donation and the actual seating rights. The seating rights in all these cases were the "icing on the cake", not the cake itself, and it remains to be seen how many of these "College PSLs" would have sold, if any at all, had they not been tax-deductible.
Seat Licenses Across Teams and Leagues
Here is a list of some of the teams that have seat licenses:
NFL Seat Licenses
- Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. They compete in the AFC North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
PSL
- Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, representing North Carolina and South Carolina in the National Football League. They are currently members of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
PSL
- Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the NFC North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
PSL
- Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Their first two seasons, 1968 and 1969, were as an American Football League franchise...
COA (Charter Ownership Agreements)
- Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are an American football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They play in the AFC North division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . The original Cleveland Browns began play in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
PSL
- Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team that plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . They are headquartered in suburban Irving, Texas, which lies between Fort Worth and Dallas...
SL (Seat Licenses) (Effective at Cowboys Stadium only.)
- Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League and are the third-oldest franchise in the NFL.The Packers are the last vestige of "small town...
PSL
- New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The team plays its home games at Giants Stadium, which also serves as its headquarters, and trains at an adjacent practice facility within the Meadowlands Sports Complex...
PSL (Effective in the Meadowlands Stadium only. Buying Giants PSL does NOT give ticket rights for Jets.)
- New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the Northeastern New Jersey part of the tri-state New York metropolitan area. They are members of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays its home games in East...
PSL (Effective in the Meadowlands Stadium only. Policies differ from the Giants. Buying Jets PSL does NOT give ticket rights for Giants.)
- Houston Texans
The Houston Texans is a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . The Texans joined the NFL in 2002 as an expansion team after Houston's previous franchise,...
PSL
- Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
SBL (Stadium Builder Licenses)
- Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are currently a member of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
SL
- Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington, USA. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team, along with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, joined the NFL in 1976 as...
CSL (Charter Seat Licenses)
- St. Louis Rams
The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team has won three NFL Championships, including one Super Bowl.The Rams began...
PSL
- Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the then-Houston, Texas, team began play in 1960 as a...
PSL
MLB Seat Licenses
- Arizona Diamondbacks
The Arizona Diamondbacks are a professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They play in the West Division of Major League Baseball's National League. From 1998 to the present, they have played in Chase Field...
Legacy Club Seat Licenses
- Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. They have played in the Hubert H...
Legends Club Memberships (effective in Target FieldTarget Field is the future home ballpark for the Minnesota Twins, currently under construction in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and is on schedule to open in April 2010. It will be the franchise's sixth ballpark and third in Minnesota, replacing their ballpark of 28 years, the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome...
only)
- San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are a Major League Baseball team based in San Diego, California. They play in the National League Western Division. Founded in 1969, the Padres have won the National League Pennant twice, in 1984 and 1998, losing in the World Series both times.The Padres are one of four teams...
Founders Club Memberships
- San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California who currently play in the National League West Division. One of the oldest baseball teams, the Giants hold the honor of having won the most games of any team in the history of baseball...
CSL Charter Seat Licenses
- St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball...
Ballpark Founders Club Seat Licenses
Car Racing Seat Licenses
- California Speedway
The Auto Club Speedway of Southern California is a two-mile , low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in Fontana, California, similar to its "sister track" Michigan International Speedway...
PSL
- Kentucky Speedway
Kentucky Speedway is a motor speedway located in north-central Kentucky, near the community of Sparta, Kentucky; approximately halfway between Louisville, Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio, and is additionally from another fairly sizable market, Lexington, Kentucky...
PSL
- Texas Motor Speedway
Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas -- the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The track layout is very similar to Atlanta Motor Speedway and Lowe's Motor Speedway...
PSL
NHL Seat Licenses
- Columbus Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio, United States. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . Preceded in Ohio's capital by the Columbus Chill of the ECHL, the Blue Jackets were founded as an...
PSL
- Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
PSL
NBA Seat Licenses
- Toronto Raptors
The Toronto Raptors are a professional basketball team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1995, along with the Vancouver Grizzlies, as part of the NBA's expansion...
PSL
NRLThe National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL competition is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...
SL
- Gold Coast Titans
The Gold Coast Titans lead by captain Scott Prince, are an Australian professional rugby league football team based on the Gold Coast in Queensland...
PSR (Personal Seat Right)