The Legendary Redskins Ticket "Waiting List" That Doesn't Exist

Dan Snyder likes to brag that the waiting list for Redskins season tickets has over 200,000 names on it. Then why is the team begging people who aren't on the list to buy seats?

An excellent article in the Washington City Paper last week took a look at this vaunted list and the legend surrounding it—how it started with a few thousand fans turned away in the 1970s, then grew to 10,000, then 50,000, then 100,000, even after building the larger and fancier Jack Kent Cooke Stadium. In 2006, owner Dan Snyder pegged the number at over 200,000 names. (Probably because they keep begging people to join it even though they theoretically have no hope of ever moving to the top within their lifetime.) It's also a list that has no apparent order or rules as anyone with enough money and the right strings to pull can skip the whole charade anyway. Washington Bullets/Wizards superfan Robin Ficker once sued the team over the unfairness of the list and eventually got his two seats after almost 20 years of waiting.

But if the line for the exclusive club is so damn long, why is Washington sending direct mail offers of up to eight season tickets each to people who aren't even on the list? You even get a $25 dollar gift card when you send in your deposit. If so many people are so eager to buy them up, why even put on a sales job at all? Does the list even exist or did everyone on it suddenly die of swine flu?

At least the Redskins did identify the most attractive feature of the tickets—you never have to use them!

"Resell your tickets at a profit via StubHub for any game you are unable to attend!"

Unable or unwilling? (Ficker gave his tickets up this year.)

Wait Service + Redskins Waiting List Totally Gone to Hell? Are Blackouts Coming to a TV Near You? [Washington City Paper] All Hail Redskins Super Fan Superskin [Stet Sports] [ Pic via]