Many teams around the NFL pushed back their respective deadlines to pay for season tickets in order to provide financial relief during the uncertain times of a national emergency. The Bears didn't implement that protocol across the board, but some season-ticket holders who called the ticket office did report that the organization was willing to work with them and push the deadline back on an individual account basis.
On Monday morning, Bears senior vice president of marketing and communications Scott Hagel joined the Mully & Haugh Show to share the organization's thought process, explaining that the Bears hoped to cater and customize plans for each individual.
"So, our deadline was this past Friday," Hagel said. "What we have been doing, and we talked about the potential of pushing that deadline back, but frankly in terms of the discussions we were having with some of our season-ticket holders, we didn't feel that would solve the ultimate problem because none of us know the fluidity of the situation.
"What we've always encouraged people to do, our season-ticket holders, is call our ticket office. Our IT infrastructure that we have in place allows all of our customer service representatives to be available remotely to our season-ticket holders.
"We've been trying to customize programs to the individual season-ticket holders based on their circumstances. We felt like that was the best route for us to take to truly solve the problem. So, we've been doing that over the course of the last two weeks. We'll continue to do so.
"We're working on ways to provide that relief to them."
About two percent of the Bears' season-ticket holders requested relief in some form ahead of the deadline Friday, Hagel said.
Last week, the Packers pushed their deadline for payment on season tickets until June 1. On Sunday, the Patriots moved their deadline to June 30.
"What we didn't want to do is place a singular point," Hagel said. "We'd rather to talk you each individually and say, 'Help us understand what you're dealing with and let us help you remain a season-ticket holder.' And honestly, this is nothing that's different from what we've done in the past. Obviously these circumstances are extraordinary and unique. We will be dealing with a few more of them this year.
"The No. 1 goal is we want people who want to remain season-ticket holders to have that ability to do so, and we're willing to work with them to make that happen."