NFL turns to Disney to avoid another Super Bowl fan fiasco

By Michael McCarthy, USA TODAY

The NFL is offering a mea culpa for the fiasco that left about 475 paying customers without seats for Super Bowl XLV.
http://i.usatoday.net/communitymanag...-community.jpg Seats deemed unsafe at Cowboys Stadium for Super Bowl XLV

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By Al Bello, Getty Images

The league is working with Walt Disney on a Fans First initiative to train 20,000 executives and employees who will work Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis, says Frank Supovitz, senior vice president of events.
About 3,275 fans who showed up at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Super Sunday were told their seats either were not ready or had been deemed unsafe. About 2,800 finally made it to their seats or were relocated to other sections before kickoff. But nearly 500 watched the game on TV inside stadium club areas.
The NFL offered refunds of three times their tickets' face value, $5,000 in cash and other compensation. But some angry fans sued. The NFL says most claims were dismissed; one is in court.
"We continue to believe our offers meet or exceed what the fans are entitled to under the law," spokesman Brian McCarthy says.
The league has hit the reset button, Supovitz says.
The Disney Institute is training workers in the customer-friendly ways of Disney parks. The goal: make all fans feel like VIPs, consultant Tom Thomson says.