The Columbus Blue Jackets' letter to ticket package holders

You may have seen the official statement of Columbus Blue Jackets president Mike Priest on the lockout, but here's the official word from the ticket office to ticket holders.

September 16, 2012 Dear [DBJ], As you may be aware, the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players' Association expired on September 15 and unfortunately, a new agreement has yet to be reached. It is the League's objective to successfully conclude negotiations for the new Agreement as soon as possible and avoid any delay in starting the 2012-13 NHL season. However, in the event a new Agreement is not reached in this timeframe and the work stoppage causes games to be officially cancelled by the National Hockey League, the Blue Jackets have established the following options for payments related to games cancelled. IF YOUR ACCOUNT FOR THE 2012-13 SEASON IS PAID IN FULL YOU WILL HAVE TWO (2) OPTIONS TO CHOOSE FROM: Option 1: Keep Money on Account and Receive a Credit of 4% Toward Future Ticket Purchases Season ticket payments can be left on your account with the Blue Jackets and applied towards future ticket purchases such as remaining payments towards additional tickets for the 2012-13 season (i.e. single game tickets, group tickets, suite rentals, additional season tickets or playoff tickets) and/ or the renewal of your season tickets for the 2013-14 season. Season Ticket Holders electing this option will be provided a credit of 4% calculated using simple interest. Interest will be calculated from the point at which a particular game is cancelled to the last day of the month for which the credit is owed. Option 2: Request a Refund For Payments Related to Games Officially Cancelled Season Ticket Holders requesting this option will be provided a full refund for any games officially cancelled. Refunds will be processed within ten (10) business days of the last day of each month beginning in November and will be based upon the number of games officially cancelled in the applicable month. Refunds will be processed using the same method of original payment (i.e. if you purchased your Blue Jackets ticket package using a credit card we will issue a credit to that same credit card). If you paid for your tickets with cash or check, we will issue a check made payable to the Season Ticket Holder of Record and mailed to the address we have on file. Please log on to www.MyBlueJacketsAccount.com to verify that we have your current address on file. IF YOU ARE ON OUR MONTHLY PAYMENT PLAN (OR NOT CURRENT ON YOUR ACCOUNT) WE WILL PROCEED AS FOLLOWS: We will credit the payments we have received to date against the last regular season home game (Home Game 45) and work backwards (Games 44, 43, 42, etc.). For example if under your payment plan you've only paid 60% of the total amount due for your tickets, your credit will be applied against the final 60% of the scheduled games (Home Games 19-45). For those on monthly payment plans, we will continue to process the automatic payments you have authorized your bank or credit card company to make to us until we have received payment equivalent to the value of two-thirds of the games in your package. For example, this would be 30 games (i.e. Home Games 16-45) for a full season ticket holder. In the event the work stoppage extends into the season, this plan is designed to keep your account current until games resume. When games resume, if the number of home games scheduled exceeds the number we have received payment for, we will reinstitute the automatic payments you have authorized your bank or credit card company to make to us. The remaining payments will be determined by taking the balance due and dividing the amount by the number of months remaining between the point the work stoppage ends and February 20 which is the last date we accept payments for the 2012-13 season. This plan also refunds your money if the number of cancelled games exceeds the percentage of the season you paid for. If we reach the point where the percentage of the season cancelled exceeds the percentage of your payments, we will offer you the same options outlined above for customers who are already paid in full - i.e. option to receive a refund or keep your money on your account and receive a credit of 4% calculated using simple interest that you may use in a variety of ways as outlined earlier in this letter. With regards to your Blue Jacket Season Pass(es), you will receive your new digital ticket cards shortly after the conclusion of the work stoppage. Also, if you are interested in purchasing pre-paid parking in the parking lots surrounding Nationwide Arena, we will send you an email with the appropriate links to purchase parking following the conclusion of the work stoppage. Again, it is the hope of all involved that agreement on the terms of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement will be reached quickly and that there will be no interruption or change in the original schedule of games for this season. However, as a valued season ticket holder we wanted to make sure you are aware that contingency plans are in place should any pre-season and /or regular season games be missed. Your support and loyalty is not something we take lightly or for granted. It is important to us that you remain an integral part of our team for many seasons to come. In the near future, you will be contacted by your personal Blue Jackets representative [name inserted] to answer any questions you may have regarding the options outlined above. If you would like to discuss your options before then, please feel free to contact [name] at [phone]. We also have answers to a number of Frequently Asked Questions posted on our website. Please click here to see the Frequently Asked Questions related to the NHL Work Stoppage. Again, thank you very much for your passion, loyalty and support. We hope to see you at Nationwide Arena soon. Sincerely, [signed] Bob Sivik Vice President, Ticket Sales & Service

By the way of comparison, here's a list of what teams are offering different percentages of interest for not cashing out:

• 10 percent: Minnesota Wild
• 5 percent: Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs
• 4 percent: Buffalo Sabres, Columbus Blue Jackets
• 3 percent: Carolina Hurricanes, Winnipeg Jets
• 2 percent: Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Blackhawks
• 1.5 percent: Pittsburgh Penguins
• 1 percent: Washington Capitals

I also was informed that the Blue Jackets offered 6 percent in the last lockout.

If more teams' policies become available, I'll update.