The Jets are trying to entice their crowd to get loud.
As part of a new “Jets Rewards” program, the team’s season-ticket holders can earn points every time a visiting opponent is penalized for jumping offsides, gives up a sack or calls a timeout before the final two minutes of each half. The Jets call these “fan assists.”
The Jets just introduced this program for their season-ticket holders for this season. They have done away with paper tickets and have given them wallet-sized cards that will be scanned for entry into MetLife Stadium. They will accumulate rewards points, similar to hotel and airline loyalty programs, that can be used to redeem everything from autographed memorabilia to the chance to travel with the team to a road game.
“It was really born from feedback from our fans more than anything else,” senior vice president of marketing and fan engagement Seth Rabinowitz said. “This is what our fans have consistently told us in different ways — in focus groups, surveys, lots of different interactions — they’ve told us they want us to acknowledge their loyalty, their passion, their support, the number of years they’ve supported the team. That was really the genesis of the idea.”
When it comes to the “fan assists” aspect of the program, Rabinowitz said it is not because they feel MetLife is too quiet.
“We really want to make it true that one of the great reasons to come to a game is you can really influence the outcome,” he said. “I think that’s more true in football than any other sport. Everyone likes to talk now about what’s the reason to still come to the game with HDTV and that kind of stuff. There’s a million reasons, but that’s one of them. When you’re yelling at the quarterback at MetLife Stadium, it matters. When you’re yelling from your sofa, your neighbors think you’re a little whacky.”
Rabinowitz said the team also planned to move away from paper tickets and combined that idea with creating a fan loyalty program.
Besides earning points for the “fan assists,” fans will be given points for every game they attend, entering a game early (at least 15 minutes before kickoff) and watching and listening to Jets-related programming on TV, radio and the team’s website.
Fans also will earn bonus points for the number of games attended — including the preseason— beginning with the seventh. There also are bonuses for the number of years the person has had season tickets and the area of the stadium they sit in.
Rabinowitz said the team is going to paperless tickets as a way to streamline entry into the building. They found paper tickets sometimes ended up damaged, which caused delays at the gates.
The Jets are not the first team to do this. Rabinowitz said there are 10-12 other NFL teams also going this route. Teams in other sports also have done it, including the Brooklyn Nets. The Giants have explored digital options, but will continue to have paper tickets this season, a team spokesman said.
As far as the rewards program, the Jets are not alone, but Rabinowitz said they are one of the early teams to try it.
Season-ticket holders still can resell their tickets through all third-party platforms. People buying tickets through a third party will not earn the rewards. If people share tickets, the Jets allow the season-ticket holder to designate “share partners” who can also earn points.
The initial reaction to the program seems mixed on a Jets message board.
“In general I like this,” someone using the username “Jetstream23” posted to the Jets Insider message board. “It rewards true fans and season ticket holders rather than scalpers and resellers. It’s not perfect and I do wish that I could get the printed tickets which can be cool keepsakes from certain games, but again, on the whole this is a good move that increases value for fans that buy season tickets and actually go to the games.”
Others are not as positive.
“Great,” user “JumbaylayJet” wrote. “It’s bad enough I have to redeem miles for flights and hotels. Now I get to track my sports entertainment incentives. I never even remember to bring the Men’s Wearhouse coupons. Football is now like shopping.”