Notes: Lions offer statement after revoking season tickets from reselling fans

After supporting the Detroit Lions through the tough years (decades), this fan says he feels he deserves more. The Lions have offered their response.

The Detroit Lions are revoking season tickets from people who are reportedly violating their ticket policy and reselling tickets, according to a few fans.

Now former season ticket holder Paul Jan Gorzelewski posted on his Instagram last week that the Lions revoked his season tickets for breaking the rules regarding tickets.

Per their policy , season tickets are intended for personal use and the Lions reserve the right to revoke them for “the purchase of tickets for the primary purpose of resale on the secondary market or excessive electronic ticket transfers inconsistent with personal use.”

In his post, Gorzelewski admits to breaking the rules.

“But this isn’t new,” he writes. “It’s been in place for a while, even during the tough years, yet it was never enforced then.”

He went on to explain that he sells his extra tickets to pay for the costs of getting to both home and away games as he now lives in Philadelphia.

“Sure, some say I’m holding up other fans from getting tickets, and I’m not denying that completely. But why wasn’t there any issue when I had 8 tickets back when the Lions were averaging only five wings a season? Why revoke my tickets now, after I’ve lost thousands every year? I understand all three sides here — my perspective, the Lions’ business side, and the fans who can’t get tickets,” he wrote.

Gorzelewski, who can be seen shaking a flag in the front row of Ford Field in videos posted by the Lions, says it should have been more of a discussion, and he feels like he got a middle finger from the team he’s supported for so many years.

When contacted by Pride of Detroit, the Detroit Lions offered this official statement regarding the ticket revocations:

“Through our internal reviews we have determined that the accounts in question are primarily used for resale and do not operate in a manner consistent with personal use. In an effort to prioritize our fan’s access to tickets we have cancelled these accounts and reimbursed the account holders. We encourage anyone who believes we have made a mistake to contact us directly for clarification or reinstatement.”

A Lions source said that they have received several ticket reinstatement requests and have accepted about half of them. Reinstatement is taken on a case-by-case basis and determined by several factors, including a fan’s history of selling vs. keeping the tickets beyond just the 2024 season. Tickets that are not reinstated are going to a pre-screened pool of season ticket applicants currently on a waitlist.

If you feel your season tickets have been unfairly revoked, the Lions urge you to contact your ticket representative.

And onto the rest of your notes.

• HBD, Legatron!

• Justin Rogers of Detroit Football Network sat down with Lions assistant head coach Scottie Montgomery to discuss switching from working with running backs to wide receivers this upcoming season.

• If you haven’t seen it yet, this Sports Illustrated interview with David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs is pretty funny.

• This is fun. It seems like the Amon-Ra St. Brown ‘za should be a lot spicier though.

• Mike Payton out here setting the record straight.

• Just before he was franchise tagged, Tee Higgins was the subject of conversation over on “Up and Adams.” Calvin Johnson said the Lions should consider signing him. Again, pre-tagging.

• A little history lesson.