MILWAUKEE, WI — More than a decade ago, the Milwaukee Brewers made a bold pitch to their most optimistic fans: pay $1,000 now, and you'd have a ticket to any future home game, even Game 7 of the World Series.
Now that the Brewers are actually in the World Series for the first time since 1982, some of those fans say the team isn't holding up its end of the deal.
The Brewers sold 1,000 of the "Timeless Tickets," which came as brass keepsakes bearing each buyer's engraved name.
The team's original announcement said the ticket could be redeemed for any game "whether it's in 2015 or 2050 or whether it is Opening Day or the 7th game of the World Series." Holders can also buy up to three additional tickets for the same game.
The catch, according to the team's redemption rules, is that every redemption is subject to ticket availability.
Kevin and Kyle Deaton, brothers from Kenosha, told TMJ4 they were shocked by what Timeless Ticket holders were offered for the World Series last week.
Their only choices were standing room or seats on the terrace level, the ballpark's top deck, and those seats cost no more than the $1,000 each brother paid back in 2015.
The card that came with the tickets promises the "best available seat locations," subject to availability.
Kevin Deaton said he never expected the front row, but figured he'd land somewhere in the first 10 rows.
Instead, the brothers turned the seats down on principle and say they'll cheer from home unless the Brewers improve the offer.
Danny Fochesato, another holder, told FOX6 the team sent him a redemption form just one day ahead of the public on-sale, and nearly everything on it was terrace or standing room.
He ended up with a single Game 1 seat tucked in the right-field corner, then paid for terrace seats to Game 2 so his sister and 76-year-old father could come along. Things went differently in 2018, Fochesato said. When the Brewers made their deep playoff run that year, he used the ticket to get a seat right behind home plate, and the team gave him a refund after Milwaukee fell short of the World Series.
Fochesato isn't alone in remembering better options in 2018, Sportico reported, and one fan who says they own a Timeless Ticket described the process as "beyond frustrating" in a post on X.
Not every holder is upset. TMJ4 also profiled a longtime fan who is cashing in her Timeless Ticket for Game 1 and bringing her family along, after holding onto it since 2015.
The World Series opens Friday at American Family Field, where the Brewers host the Tampa Bay Rays.
Oddsmakers have Milwaukee favored to win its first championship, but they don't expect a quick series.
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