A personal seat license 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 he no longer wishes 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 America is Personal Seat License and in Europe 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. Also, many supporters feel that such licenses essentially give fans ownership of the seat. 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, Ohio architect, Rick Ohanian, in January of 1987, not seven years thereafter by Charlotte sports marketing agent, Max Muhleman, in 1993, as is commonly believed. The first appearance of the product can be seen in a "Letter to The Editor" from Mr. Ohanian to the Columbus Dispatch, published on March 2, 1987, entitled "Ticketbond is Answer to Financing Proposed Facility". Those in disagreement with this claim, cite that similar program(s) 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 PSL Permanent Seat Licenses
- Carolina Panthers PSL Personal Seat Licenses
- Chicago Bears PSL Permanent Seat Licenses
- Cincinnati Bengals COA Charter Ownership Agreements
- Cleveland Browns PSL Permanent Seat Licenses
- Dallas Cowboys SL Seat Licenses (Effective in the new stadium only. No seat licenses in Texas Stadium)
- Houston Texans PSL Personal Seat Licenses
- Philadelphia Eagles SBL Stadium Builder Licenses
- Pittsburgh Steelers SL Seat Licenses
- Seattle Seahawks CSL Charter Seat Licenses
- St. Louis Rams PSL Personal Seat Licenses
- Tennessee Titans PSL Personal Seat Licenses
MLB Seat Licenses
- Arizona Diamondbacks Legacy Club Seat Licenses
- San Diego Padres Founders Club Memberships
- San Francisco Giants CSL Charter Seat Licenses
- St. Louis Cardinals Ballpark Founders Club Seat Licenses
Car Racing Seat Licenses
- California Speedway Personal Seat Licenses
- Kentucky Speedway Personal Seat Licenses
- Texas Motor Speedway Preferred Seat Licenses
NHL Seat Licenses
- Columbus Blue Jackets Personal Seat Licenses
- Toronto Maple Leafs Personal Seat Licenses
NBA Seat Licenses
- Toronto Raptors Personal Seat Licenses
