EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - New York Giants president and CEO John Mara remains optimistic that there will be an NFL season in 2011. But, to keep Giants fans at ease, he said on Wednesday that season ticketholders won’t have to make payments until the lockout ends.
Speaking on WFAN-AM in New York, Mara told listeners that a letter will go out to season ticketholders next week that will give them the option of paying in full by May 1, or waiting until there is a new collective bargaining agreement in place with the players.
“We’ve tried to assure people that there will be a complete season,” Mara said. “We’re only in March. We have a lot of time to work this out.”
For the third consecutive season, the Giants will not raise ticket prices either.
New York is coming off a 10-6 season _ its first in New Meadowlands Stadium _ in which it lost out on the NFC playoffs by way of a tiebreaker.
Mara, not surprisingly, expressed his disappointment in the work stoppage, which went into effect last week.
“We have never claimed that teams are not making money. We’re just not making as much of it,” he said. “We need to recalculate this deal a little bit. And that was our message to them.”
Mara was adamant about profitability among the owners, as well.
“Record money has been made,” he said, “but not record profits.”
The Giants are among the teams with the most loyal fan bases in the league. However, the team did take a public relations hit when they required personal seat licenses to be bought prior to the opening of the new stadium last year.
When asked about the two sides and where they stand now, Mara again was optimistic.
“I don’t think,” he said, “it’s all that far (apart).”
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