Detroit Lions Revoke Superfan’s Season Tickets After They Say He Violated Policy
A Detroit Lions superfan who we Lions fans have seen at games many times has announced that his season tickets have been revoked by the team.
He says he understands, but he doesn't agree with the decision.
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I first became aware of this story via a Facebook post from The Detroit Line.
In its post, Detroit Line also hinted that it doesn't agree with the decision by the Lions organization.
We aren't sure if there is a perfect way to navigate this, but certainly not allowing for a conversation before revoking tickets is not the way to go. - The Detroit Line
But, as has been pointed out, the Lions have every right to revoke them based on this single line in the Season Ticket Policies on their website:
The opportunity to establish Season Ticket Accounts and purchase Season Tickets from year-to-year is a privilege granted by DLI in its sole discretion and which may be revoked by DLI at any time with or without cause. - Detroit Lions Season Ticket Account Policies
This story goes a little deeper, though.
Detroit Lions Superfan Paul Jan Gorzelewski's Season Tickets Revoked
So, what happened here? According to Gorzelewski, known by other fans as "Polka Boy", his season tickets were revoked without so much as a phone call from the Lions organization.
Gorzelewski says that he's been a season ticket holder for 25 years, but a violation of the team's rule regarding the resale of tickets is what led to that 25-season streak ending.
The Lions have a rule that as a season ticket holder you can’t sell over a certain percentage of your tickets on the secondary market. Did I sell over that number? Yes—I broke the rule. - Paul Jan Gorzelewski via Instagram
But he also said that this isn't exactly a new thing. Lions season ticket holders have been reselling their tickets for years, especially during the Lions' less-than-stellar seasons.
Why wasn’t there any issue when I had 8 tickets back when the Lions were averaging only 5 wins a season? - Paul Jan Gorzelewski via Instagram
Prior to them being revoked, Paul Jan had eight tickets in the corner of the endzone in row 16 at Ford Field. But, often when we saw him at games, he was in the front row. How did that happen? Well, that's part of what the Lions seem to be upset about.
According to Gorzelewski,
For anyone who doesn’t know how I always end up in row 1: I use my extra tickets to help cover the cost of that premium seat. - Paul Jan Gorzelewski via Instagram
Gorzelewski first began purchasing season tickets when he was still living in Michigan, but he has since relocated to Philadelphia. That doesn't exactly make it easy to make the trip to Ford Field every time that the Lions have a home game.
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He was able to attend the majority of the Lions' home games in the 2024 season, but at what cost? According to his post on Instagram, it was over $55,000.
That hefty bill included his travel, lodging, meals, Ubers, merch, and more.
While he's upset that his tickets have been revoked, he's more so disappointed by how it was handled by the Lions. He says that he received nothing but a "curt email" informing him that his tickets were no longer his. On the flip side, he says that recently when he missed a payment for his tickets, someone from the organization called him immediately to find out what had happened.
He ended his post by saying simply,
The Lions essentially gave me the middle finger. Greed is a dangerous game to play.
Lions Season Ticket Holders' Tickets Being Revoked
While Gorzelewski's story was the first I had read of this happening, it seems that the Lions are cracking down on season ticket holders who have been reselling their tickets.
Another former season ticket holder, Laura, commented on Gorzelewski's Instagram post saying,
The same thing happened to us! I was literally instructed by my ticket agent when I signed up that it was okay to transfer or sell on the exchange for games we could not attend since we live out of state. We had to miss more games than normal this year due to a cancer diagnosis. No phone call from our rep to inquire about the change in attendance. - lauralou52 via Instagram
A user by the name of GoHard_Brown posted on the Detroit Lions subreddit that their tickets were also revoked. That person says that they purchased their season tickets during the first season of the Dan Campbell era, but then relocated to the East Coast and was unable to attend as many games. When they couldn't attend a game, they sold their tickets to family or friends.
I get that tickets have become super expensive because of fees and resellers, but this was really disheartening to receive. There was no notice of expectation prior to my purchase years ago. Maybe I missed some fine print, I don’t know. - GoHard-Brown via Reddit
While Reddit users weren't particularly sympathetic to that individual, it seems that everyone involved sees all sides when it comes to this situation.
They see the side of the Lions who have a policy in place about reselling tickets. They see the side of the diehard fans who have been with the Lions season after season but are now having their season tickets revoked. And they see the side of the fans who aren't season ticket holders who have had difficulty getting tickets to games during these past few hugely successful seasons.
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Gallery Credit: JR
