NFL TV ratings soared in 2009 while ticket sales were sluggish, which raises a question: Do fans prefer watching games at home to watching games in person?
As someone who has multiple high-definition televisions, DirecTV with the NFL Sunday Ticket Superfan package, a comfortable couch and a wife who brings me snacks, I don’t particularly see going to a game as improving my football-watching experience.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell acknowledged at the annual league meetings that plenty of fans feel that way, although he stressed the importance of the in-stadium experience to the league’s long-term health, and he insisted that the coziness of home can’t match the thrill of the stadium.
“It may be more comfortable, but it’s not more exciting,” Goodell said, per the Florida Times-Union.
The Times-Union article is headlined, “Are broadcasts too good? Roger Goodell admits it’s a concern as blackouts loom.” It notes that among the Jacksonville Jaguars’ problems in selling out their stadium is the fact that even if the Jaguars are blacked out eight Sundays a year, fans in Jacksonville can still have a great day of watching football from their living rooms, especially if they have DirecTV or a cable system that offers the RedZone Channel.
That’s why Goodell says he’s so concerned with making the experience of going to a game better.
“We as a league are focused on it, and it’s one of our priorities,” Goodell said. “Our challenge is to continue to make it exciting for people who come to our facility. And that comes from a lot of different perspectives. You start with fan conduct. We talk about making sure people feel safe and they have a positive experience when they come to our stadiums. You talk about how to entertain them when they come to our stadiums. We have to do more with technology.”
At some stadiums, that technology will involve giving fans hand-held TVs showing the RedZone Channel. Just like they can watch at home.
T.V.’s for the stadium…
If your on-field product LIVE is not as inciting as a 6inch portable T.V. showing clips from other games, you have a problem.
Lets make football played to the death, or throw in some exotic animals, like the gladiators of old…
Well, s**t, you think of a better idea.
It amazes me how some businesses just dont get it. The NBA has the same exact problem with being naive. Its really simple. We are in a recession, and people are hurting. So what do these clowns do? They raise ticket prices. Simple economics. Price goes up, demand goes down. Personally I have the same deal Michael David Smith does at home. Its warm in my house in the winter and I dont have to pay for parking obviously. Theres no way im dropping $500 plus to go to a football game in this economy
I’m not concerned about safety or entertainment or making sure to have a positive experience when I go to games. I’m concerned about the dent in my wallet. When are these rich bastards going to realize that average Joe football can’t afford to go to games on a regular basis. They want to eliminate blackouts? Lower the damn costs, by a lot.
I would definately cut short my tailgating to go watch the Red Zone in the Stadium if the Giants were playing a late game. It would actually increase concessions revenues for teams getting the fans into the stadium earlier.
How bout some $1 beers, a good selection of domestics and a private shitter for every fan within 10ft of their seat? Maybe have some eye candy delivering beers / food at a regular interval?
Instead, we’ll probably get a ban on signs and any fan uttering a curse word will be automatically ejected from the stadium. Oh, and beers will now be $11.50 instead of $6. For Miller Lite.
Hmmm… if they want to improve the stadium experience, figure out a way for the stadiums to serve me alcohol whenever I want, at a reasonable price, and then not have to stand up everytime a fan walks by me to get to the aisle. Oh, and if I buy a bottle of water, they will not give me the cap. REALLY?
Seriously, I think they’re very naive to approach from the angle of improving the game-day experience, vice lowering the prices. I know that they’ll never lower prices, but how much do they seriously think they can improve the gameday experience??? HOW do they think they can improve the gameday experience?
Well. As soon as it doesn’t feel like you’re attending a hip hop concert and as long as they quit force feeding commercials during time outs on the big screen I might enjoy it. When I’m paying for expensive tickets I don’t need that crappage.
Hey Roger, it’s called LOWERING PRICES.
“We as a league are focused on it, and it’s one of our priorities,” Goodell said. “Our challenge is to continue to make it exciting for people who come to our facility. And that comes from a lot of different perspectives. You start with fan conduct. We talk about making sure people feel safe and they have a positive experience when they come to our stadiums. You talk about how to entertain them when they come to our stadiums. We have to do more with technology.”
Oh, awesome, just what we need at games, more crap on the Jumbotron and more slack jawed yokels complaining about people standing up during big plays…
Pats season tix holder lets see 40 for parking $8 beers $10 margaritas sitting next to yuppie assholes tik are $169 per seat 2 seats gas food and beer$100 total$538 then traffic vs local pup sitting next to friends warm total$100.00 had tixs for 26 yrs when brady’s gone i will be too
The game experience is perfectly fine.
The hefty price you now have to pay for it is what keeps people at home.
It’s not the experience, it’s the price and the nfl idiots don’t get it.
They will never fix it because as long as they are willing to pay 100million for a player like FAT ALBERT, the ticket prices will continue to soar.
Best thing Goodell can do is ensure Joe Buck works for Fox…I will always choose the stadium over him.
Not possible. My own clean toilet, cheaper food, no tent in rain, no jackets in snow, no traffic, parking is expensive and difficult for giants/jets games (PSL), I don’t live near my team but 7 hour drives are tough, my seat gets cold outside, I don’t have to see opposing teams fans, if my team loses, I could go on and on. Did I mention seat prices can get outrageous!
Actually, If they made the NFL payper view they could make more money. I know lots of people that would pay $3-5 a pop to watch the game.
If you want more fans to show up at the actual games, lower the ticket prices. It’s that simple.
Goodell does not have a grasp on what the football fan wants. You entertain them by providing a good on the field not off the field product. Keep the fans focused on the game. Less TV timeouts that stop the flow of the game and good officiating would be a better start.
call vince mcmahon. that mother knows how to put on a show! SuperBowlMania I here we come!
ok i’ll admit i just want to see al davis get powerbombed through aikman and joe buck’s broadcast table.
Three things that would improve my in-stadium experience: Stop raising ticket prices, stop making us buy unbearable pre season games, and lower beer prices.
Maybe owners should pay past players, maybe even LEGENDS to attend various home games to sign autographs. That’ll definately raise ticket sales!!!!
Reasons why I avoid Foxborough.
Nazi like security with unlimited power to revoke seats.
1) $12 beers
2) $8 water
3) $50 parking
4) 3 minute commercial breaks
5) corporate “fans” provide zero enthusiasm
6) Time commitment: 1 hour taffic jam before game, 1 hour haul to enter stadium, 1 hour haul to leave stadium, 2 hour exit traffic jam.
7) Cost of seats (300 feet from field) for family of four $340
The main reason its so much better is the overall COST. I can get Sunday Ticket for the cost of taking my family to 1 game. $20 parking, $150-200+ tickets x 4 , $50-75 in food, overpriced souvenirs, the chance of sitting in the rain, sitting in the cold, bathroom lines, not being able to see much of whats going on if you don’t have the right seats, belligerent drunk fans. Yeah, that sounds MUCH better than sitting on my couch with a couple of friends eating reasonably priced food, where its warm, dry, I can flip to other games, if I need to take a leak its a 2 minute experience, not a 30 minute experience.
For all the crap Philadelphia Eagle fans take from no-nothing, dopey reporters, the in-person experience for an Eagles game is awesome. From the pregame excitement to the fans, to the stadium itself, it simply can in no way be replicated at home. Goodell ought to use Philadelphia as an example on why the NFL is so much better in person.
ticket sales were sluggish becuz of the economy. just becuz the nfl is king of sport doesn’t mean its recession proof.
for a family of four to watch a football game at an nfl stadium is almost a mortgage payment.
and the jaguars suck with a sorry ass qb. i don’t blame the fans for boycotting their games.
Goodell is a retard. How about you make it cheaper for tickets and beer. I don’t care about having a tv in my hand.
“You talk about how to entertain them when they come to our stadiums. We have to do more with technology.”
Well then stop “Fining” the player’s for celebrating in “Entertaining Ways” in front of and even involving the fan’s at the stadium… You all know what I’m talking bout..He should start trying to change that image of being the No Fun League … he’s riding the fence on this one…
I have a great idea, why don’t we hang a giant high-def television above the field. That way the experience will be way better than it is at home, after all the stadium television will be huge.
How about you not raise ticket prices… or charge less for food and drinks. I can buy Sunday ticket for less than it costs to go to one game.
Hey Rog,
Our crack team of statisticians just came back with this groundbreaking find!
For the price of a nosebleed ticket in December, I can pay that DirecTV bill, for the price of one more game, Christmas is entirely paid for. Do the math big guy. How many households do you really think can afford season tickets at $15K/year? How many do you think can afford $12-1500/year in a cable package that gives them everything else too?
Regards,
Common Sense
how many games last yr. were there where teams were double digit favorities? more than i can remember, at any other year, & a lot of those teams covered, …there are a lot of bad teams, & to think your going to get those teams to sell out your home games means Comissioner Clueless has no real concept of understanding the fans. b/c there’s no salary cap/floor a lot of teams are shedding payroll, & IF your a bad team, what message does THAT send to your fans?…IF Comissioner Clueless would spend more time worrying about preventing a LOCKOUT next year, instead of always acting like the NFL is “finacally strapped”, maybe he could get something worthwhile done. the fact that they’re talking about teams that can’t sell out games says more about the poor quality of those teams, & the fans are smart enough to understand that, then a idiot Comissioner who thinks IF we find ways to entertain fans, they’ll spend their hard earned money to watch lousy football teams play. one more thing, I DON’T READ ARTICLES ABOUT MAJOR COLLEGE FOOTBALL TEAMS HAVING PROBLEMS SELLING OUT THEIR HOME GAMES, & A LOT OF THOSE TEAMS HAVE BIGGER STADIUMS TO FILL.
Well, if it is so important, then what happened to the NFL stadium fund? All the money went to the Giants and Jets stadium. Now the 49ers are trying to build a stadium, and the NFL won’t help. Sorry 5 time sb champions, we know you play in a stadium that was built in 1960, and has not been remodeled, but the game day experience is really important. This is a joke. That is why I gave up my seats. Why pay to watch in a dump, when I can sit on a leather couch, drink for free, lay bets and avoid the traffic? Not to mention my fantasy football is easier to watch from home.
Here’s an idea on how….Make the beer about $ 0.39 each and have comfy couches for stadium seating. Oh yeah, and admission to the game cost as much as a day of cable.
How about affordable prices at a game. How about getting rid of all the drunken morons that litter the stands/parking lots. Yeah a hand held device that’s the answer. Go USFL.
Did Goodell mention ticket prices ?
The economy is bad, NFL tickets are expensive, food at the stadium is expensive, parking is expensive.
While our illustrious owner Dan Snyder woul never consider sucha move with our long string of “sellouts”, maybe other teams like the Jaguars should consider lowering prices to 20-30 dollar level. Heck maybe go crazy and have one home game a year selll for $10 a seat.
Wasn’t a piece like this posted last week?
Look at the teams where ticket sales were poor. Lousy teams, towns where pro football is secondary to college football or basketball or a combination of both. With a poor economy and slow recovery, the NFL can’t expect fans to drink the Kool Aid anymore. You have to give them a quality product since there isn’t the money anymore to spend on extras like football tickets. When even obstructed vision seats are selling at over 100 bucks a pop, plus beer, food & parking, you could be talking about a $500 investment to see one crappy team play another crappy team. Most people would rather stay home and watch on HDTV. For too long the NFL has enjoyed an unmatched popularity and loyalty rarely seen in any catagory of entertainment. Now they must put a quality product on the field or face decline. I can’t remember a season like 2009, when so many teams were horrible. The Lions were notorious in 2008, but Lions-like losing went through the league like a virus last season. Fans aren’t going to watch Rams vs. Bucs in the stadium or at home. To make sure that doesn’t happen again, the league should step in to facilitate the sale of the Rams and Bucs in order to assure product quality, especially since they want to export the product to Europe. What Brit or German will pay to see the Oakland vs. Miami?
Ticket prices and the comfort of watching at home play big parts for sure. However, there is another issue at stadiums that needs to be dealt with. That’s the alcohol.
Don’t get me wrong, I have my fair share of beers at the game but I know when to stop. More and more people have no idea when to stop. Some should stop before the kickoff.
I went to a Kansas City game late last year and they have full bars in the stadium. You can get anything and everything to drink and take it to your seat. Not picking on just KC, great fans, but I’ve never seen such an elaborate bar setup. It was a travel road game for me.
I know years ago they started not serving alcohol in the 4th quarter. That just makes people drink more/faster in the first 3 quarters. They put in single no alcohol sections that are in horrible areas and doesn’t shield you from the problem outside of your seat.
Don’t write me off as an alcohol prude. I’m not. I just don’t like being around fans at most stadiums for a majority of the game. I also don’t like to have my family, any member of my family not just kids, around it either.
I’m a season ticket holder and sell most of the games due to the fan environment at the stadium. I’ve also been to over half of the stadiums in the NFL and they’re all the same.
This guy is going to singlehandedly ruin the game of football…you heard it here first
of course economics have nothing to do with it do they Roger!!!
It probably comes as a surprise to you but there is no league minimum wage of several hundred thousand dollars outside the NFL.
You want fans at the game, make it affordable and that does not mean $9 for a beer and $5 for a hot dog!!!
GODdell is such a jackass. Ironic that he doesn’t mention the price gouging associated with going to a game. The PSL’s, the parking,the outrageous concession prices, the ticket prices, hell even the interest charged on a payment plan of a PSL. And if you walk into the pro shop at the stadium be prepared to spend a small fortune. But no, he mentions fan conduct, the same fans you will gladly sell 8 dollar budweisers to until they fall over? And now they are going to do more with technology? Why?…..Isn’t the damn game enough? No where does he mention the cost.Many people simply can’t afford to take the family to a game. We have had season tickets in my family since the early 70′s, and they became mine when my Pop passed, but i know one of my kids will get them long before i’m taking a dirtnap. Only an idiot would say it has to better than watching the game at home without mentioning the cost as the major deterrent.
They should start by not having night games in the frigid north in late November, December, and January, playoffs being the exception. Have early season day games in the south start at 4:00PM. I live in Tampa and it’s brutal going to a game at 1:00 with the temp at 95 and climbing and having to watch the Bucs on top of that. They need to reduce the time nothing is happening on the field like TV timeouts, challenges, and taking over 30 seconds to call a play that takes 10 seconds to run. They really need to eliminate the TV time out after a kickoff after they just had a TV timeout after a TD or field goal. Honestly, watching only one game at a time is very boring because of all the commercials and dead time. Watching 2 games at a time is better and going to a sports bar and watching many games is great. If it wasn’t for fantasy football and gambling the NFL game would be very very boring, worse than baseball. Attending games is a hastle. I had Skins season tickets for years, it’s an all day affair. Getting 90,000 people in and out of a stadium is a logistical nightmare. I still love the game because I love my teams but I don’t go anymore because it’s not a great experience. I won’t even get into the expenses of attending a game and that’s probably the number one reason people don’t go.
Forget fan conduct, Goodell. That is not what keeps most people from going to games. It’s all about the price. Why pay $100 per ticket, $8 per hot dog, $20 for parking, $10 per beer, sit out in the cold weather, and waste time being stuck in traffic coming back from the game? Going to a game is a huge novelty, but it is not realistic to spend $300 and roughly 6 to 8 hours on 8 different Sundays per year to watch your team play.
It’s a recession, Roger. People can’t afford to pay the money that NFL games cost for “excitement” each week. Make all of the technological changes and fan experience improvements that you want, but it’s pretty tough to convince people that they need to spend $300 bucks on your product when they can watch it for free at home.
Three things for Lincoln Financial Field.
No more rap music blasted in our ears.
When there is an injury or the refs are discussing a penalty, at least tell the people inside the stadium what is happening or who is hurt.
On the TVs in the stadium, use the live feed instead of the TV broadcast which is on a delay. I love standing in the beer line hearing a cheer and then seven seconds later finding out what the hell happened on the screen.
Hire more people to do the Osama bin Laden screening outside. The lines to get in that place are still outrageous.
“That’s why Goodell says he’s so concerned with making the experience of going to a game better.”
Then make it cheaper.
Cut ticket, concession & parking prices in half.
People who would rather sit at home than go to the game aren’t real football fans.
Honestly, if they want to make it a better experience, they are going to need to remember a few things.
1) We are in an economic slump so having fewer people coming to games should not be a surprise.
2) Unless player salaries are brought under control, the average joe’s are not going to be able to afford tickets much longer.
3) As much as I hate to admit it, I think Jerry Jones has the right idea in making stadiums more fan friendly and interactive. I’m a white collar worker, make a decent salary, LOVE football, but I can’t justify paying $100 just for the TICKET (not to mention parking, food, souvenirs etc.) to go see my team. I can’t afford it and frankly, my money is put to better use elsewhere.
Bottom line, if you want to keep you fan base in the stadium, stop the league-wide inflation starting with player salaries.
If there is some punitive fee that franchises must pay for a lousy stadium experience, then Dan Snyder better open his wallet.
You really want to improve the live experience of going to an NFL game?
Here’s a radical idea for Mr. Goodell.
Make the stadium experience…….MORE AFFORDABLE!!!
And i guarentee the most fans will enjoy going to see a live game.
Just to go see the Patriots with a family of four at the cheapest price of $65 in the nosebleed seats in the corner of the stadium would cost $260.00 not including a Ticketmaster “convenience” fee.
Then it’s another $40 bucks to park in the stadium parking lot! After you’ve just fought threw several hours of traffic just to get to the stadium .Shouldn’t parking at official stadium propert be covered in the cost of the ticket? Scam…
Then there is all the overpriced food at the stadium.
Ect…ect….
You could easlilly spend at the low end of the tickets and still spend around $500 dollars for a family to see one game and maybe even not a good game in bad weather also.
For the average middle tier prices and all associated cost that come with going to one game the average family would easilly spend at or near $1,000 dollars to see one game.
For just a few hundred bucks that family could get the NFL ticket watch all the games for the whole year and spend time together at home cooking some BBQ without having to go bankrupt.
The commish needs to reign in the owners greed if they want to “improve” the fan experience.
Adding more distractions or stupid little tv to watch other games at the stadium will only serve to ADD to the cost of going to a game and in turn when you make people pay more their experience will be diminished and will only lead to more fans to stay home and watch those same highlights for free.
Because it is a total basket case getting tickets travel parking then travel 150 miles 1 way & motel/hotel food gas drinks expense expense expense and more expensive etc
Well he should be concerned with the prices for everything AT the Stadium as well.That’s a major factor in anyone i talk to.4-5 bucks for ONE hot dog,which at the Browns stadium isnt very good.That’s just a crazy price for a ONE crappy hot dog.So i guess you can throw quality of product in there as well.As far as Cleveland goes the game day experience is just fine and i really don’t know what the hell he is talkin about and not sure he really knows either to be honest.If you want more fans the teams need a better team product on the field,better decisions (Mangini as a perfect example) Better prices and better food product,andddddd how about for preseason games you make the tickets half price? that make rake in a few more people to a preseason game…this story just continues to tell me Godell has no clue wtf he is doing
I would love to go to every game at the stadium… and as soon as I win the lottery and can afford the $125 a ticket (x2 or 3 if I don’t want to go alone!) $25 parking, $20-$30 a person for food and drinks and then the $20 in gas when you sit for about an hour and a half in traffic, I’ll be there!
Going to the stadium costs hundreds of dollars a game. Watching at home, even with a football package, costs tens of dollars a game.
I think that’s the place they need to start!
Maybe its the price of tickets, parking, food etc. I go to the games
because I love the live atmosphere. I tailgate and don’t spend a penny inside the stadium. Already spending too much for tickets/parking.
Good strategy on the commissioners part. I don’t know how he’s going to fit my leather chair in that small space they call a seat though. I love going to games but it’s so much hassle for the money. Hail!
For all of Goodell’s bizarre decisions, it’s great someone in a position of authority finally acknowledges this fact. Every now and then I go to a game but at home the beer is better and cheaper, no lines to go to bathrooms. I don’t have to deal with traffic.
And yeah, at home I don’t have blaring music in my ears every time there’s a stop in the action. Teams seem to think constant blaring noise is better than a few moments of just enjoying the atmosphere.
While seeing the game is better live it’s not so much better that it’s worth $200+ just to be there.
Look, I love an afternoon at the stadium. The fact is, you’re never going to match the comfort or convenience level that you have at home. It just isn’t going to happen. Like you said, MDS, we’ve got HDTV and Sunday Ticket at home, why do I need to add in a gaggle of drunk fans and $8 beers?
Here’s how this is going to play out. Good ole Rog is gong to exhaust efforts to “make the stadium experience better”, and then he’s going to move on to making the home experience worse. He basically said it when he mentions how fans in Jacksonville can still have a great day of watching football even if the Jags are blacked out 8 games a year. This will be his next target, take away the alternative.
Watch it happen.
Hey Roger how about this. Make a league rule, PSL’s illegal and make the teams return that money to the season ticket holders, and since the economy is so bad why dont you go back to the prices of the year 2000. For example a single giants ticket lower level endzone in 2000 was 45 dollars. in 2o1o its 120 dollars. i wonder why fans prefer to stay home dumbass. Not that the giants are struggling but those are the only numbers i have. how about some of you other season ticket holders from other teams. Post what your ticket cost 10 years ago vs. today or better yet Florio how bout you do some crack reporting and get on that
This site sux if your for instant gratification… at least the posting part of it is…
MAKE IT MORE AFFORDABLE! I don’t see why that’s so hard to understand for these guys. When a beer is $7, a hot dog $5, parking is ungodly, not to mention the tickets themselves, PSL’s if you get season tickets….it’s just too much to spend when you can just see the game on TV for free basically. A twelve of natty ice is $6…less than one cup of beer at the stadium that spills 1/4 out of the cup walking up to your seat. Buy a whole pack of hot dogs and a pack of buns for less than one stadium dog. Granted, the stadium dog tastes better, but when it’s gone it’s gone and you’re out $5.
Think of it this way. You usually go to a game with another person. Take turns getting rounds. So 2 beers and 2 hot dogs = $24. Per round.
Or maybe it’s about the money, stupid.
Going to games is alot more excitement than sitting at home! I go to Cardinal games and the level of excitement, noise and acutally seeing the whole play, not only what you see on tv is awesome. You would not belive how many times a WR is open, but on tv, they hardly ever show it.
I am more alarmed that Goodell would just jump into this before taking a cautionary approach. And that the story would be reported in such a “we must change now for the future.”
1. We are looking at the worst economic state since the Depression. Let’s remind ourselves of that. There is no statistical analysis program or Economist that can coorelate Attendance and TV Ratings without looking at the state of the economy. We’re not talking about the Major Market teams and attendance either… we are talking about the Bucs, Jags, etc. From states and cities hardest hit by the economic crunch.
2. Nascar has devices that allow fans to have personal devices at their fingertips to review stats, positions, speed, etc. (their demographic largely doesn’t use iphones or blackberrys)
3. Fantasy Football. Fans (casual fans at best) interact more with FF and going to games or sitting at home is irrelevant. (they are the same fans that follow football for the non-golfers that followed golf b/c of Tiger.
4. Social Media Updates – can interact via web and traditional media stimultaneously at home. Without PDAs, iphones, blackberrys – social media is largely non-existent at stadiums. (until photographers start tweeting and uploading photos directly to facebook)
5. Stadiums can be fun for fans. Look at what the Patriots have done with restaurant themes, retail establishments, design of stadium, team hall of fame, etc., and their real mascots – militia men- that shoot their muskets off during the games. Aside from a cannon – it keeps people entertained. I don’t see that at other stadiums. I see sensationalized technology. Technology is not the only way to interact with fans. It should never be the only way to interact with fans and vice versa.
Watching the NFL at home, is by FAR better than watching it at the stadium, even if you are sitting in the best seats in the house. The fact is it’s just 1 bazillion times easier to see the ball and the whole play develop on a big screen HDTV.
It is weird. But I dont see how it’s fixable.
“It may be more comfortable, but it’s not more exciting,” Goodell said, per the Florida Times-Union.
Oh yeah, waiting in traffic for two hours after every game is very exciting. I rather stay at home and not pay ten dollars for a watered down beer thank you very much. The NFL Sunday Ticket on Directv is worth every penny!
No way in hell I even THINK about going to any sporting event at all.
Everything is downtown. Traffic, crowds, lining up to take a piss, nope. Now throw in the cost of tickets, parking and food. Nope.
Between the Sunday Ticket, NHL Center Ice and my theater rooms, I’m not going anywhere.
Thanks just the same, Roger.
Lower the price of tickets so people can go to games.
As a season ticket holder I can tell you that I’d rather be in the stadium for 8+ games a season than sitting at home watching games on my HDTV. Then again, tailgating at my home stadium is second to none so my NFL experience on Sundays isn’t limited to the product on the field. Nevertheless, the NFL does need to reevaluate the NFL experience/product they are selling to fans. Goodell can start by lowering ticket prices and/or by charging less than full price for pre-season games, which in my opinion is blatant gouging of loyal fans.
Maybe if the NFL didn’t force everyone to buy tickets to the two “practice” games, it might help.
It would cut the tickets prices 20% across the board.
Then maybe more could afford the outlandish tickets prices.
It shouldn’t hurt the TV revenue because many PS games are on local TV only.
Maybe they should consider lowering ticket prices…
I waited over 14 years for Giants season tickets and they finally called me. 14,000 dollars for the PSL for two tickets and another 14,000 dollars for the tickets. All in total….28,000 dollars! I spent alot less and built myself a home theater room instead.
Everyone’s financial situation is different so I can only speak for myself but:
Mr. Goodell I don’t care if you’ve got flying monkeys at the stadium…..there’s no way in hell I’m shelling out that kind of cash to attend a football game.
Maybe it has more to do with $300+ tickets than comfortable couch cushions.
My god is there anyhting lazier then a football fan? Going to games is great, nothing needs to change. Now people need other devices to watch more crap while at the game? What a joke. Wait til you get home to check on your studpid fantasy team, or find out how much money you lost gambling. The stadium is the last refuge of the real fan. no mimd numbing pregame shows loaded with annoying ex players and coaches. Just a good day with your friends, food, cold ones, and your team. Thats what going to games is for, not all this fluff garbage.
WOW!!!
Goodell doesn’t get it.
The economy is in the toliet, and Goodell wonders why more people prefer to stay home than watch a game in person.
It’s the ecomony, Stupid!!!
Stop paying your players more than they are worth, then pass that savings on to the consumers.
Pretty simple.
I think the real problem is not just comfort, its that 1 football game considering beer and tickets, costs nearly as much as the cost of the redzone channel for the entire season. And thats if your seats aren’t even all that great.
“It may be more comfortable, but it’s not more exciting,”
It may be more exciting, but with $7 – $9 dollar beers, $10 sandwiches, $5 french fries, $40 parking and all the other ways the teams slam you and rape you for every last dime the league needs to accept an economic reality especially while the economy is still in the tank. And especially since paying those prices for half the people sitting in the way hi seats just isn’t worth it any more.
You want more people in the stadiums ? Stop raping them every way you can. The teams will still make a fortune if beers cost $4 or $5, if food is at a reasonable price, if parking is $10 or $15 etc. Until the prices for stadium services are reduced you won’t see any improvement in attendance certainly as long as the economy is bad. In fact it will likely get worse.
Gee Goodell, make it where I can’t buy Sunday Ticket for what it costs for me to get tickets to a singlegame, something to eat while I’m there, and a beer to wash it all down.
There’s a reason people would rather just stay at home and watch the games — not everyone can afford to cough up a ton of money (especially if the whole family goes), so it’s just easier to stay home and watch it.
Who in their right mind wants to go into crowds, pay $5 for parking,$15 a ticket, walk half a mile, pay outrageous dollars for low to mid level food, and put up with the cold, surly fans, blah, blah, blah. I for one will stay home with my girl friend and do something fun. Wake up Roger, you are in denial. You have passed the point of being reasonable.
Kill your Television.
As someone whose attended 10 home games per year and many roadies since 1978, I can say that being among 65,000 or whatever screaming (or bitching) fans is far more satisfying to my football addiction than watching it from my couch. It’s not just the three hours in the stadium. It’s the tailgating beforehand and the camradarie that goes with it.
The solution to this issue is simple. Teams need to keep ticket prices within reach of the passionate core – the face painters, jersey wearers, tailgaters and other passionate non-polo shirt and khaki shorts wearing corporate wine and cheesers who can’t stay off their crackberrys during the game.
Unfortunately, it not just the high quality of the telecasts that is keeping people away from the stadiums. It is the negative effect of the interminably long TV timeouts which are making the live experience excruciating. 80% of the live experience is watching players standing around doing nothing. This might be fine on sunny afternoon in September, but it’s a little tough to take in December in most stadiums.
Even in warm weather or dome stadiums, it’s hard to ask fans to pay through the nose to go to a stadium and watch long periods of nothing, which is what the live experience has become.
Watching at home is pretty much free (aside from the initial setup costs). How about addressing that, stupid?
If tickets to games were $15 or $20 every game would be a sellout.
I make decent money, but unless I was stupid rich, I wouldn’t spend as much to go to ONE GAME as something like a decent TV or some other tangible, useful item costs.
I understand the NFL needs some way to justify grossly overcharging for most tickets when the home experience is so good now but what does this say about the attention span of the average american when they can’t sit down and focus on the event they just dropped a couple hundred bucks to attend?
He can’t be that dumb. I may not renew my season tickets to the Patriots because of the cost of tickets. This is especially burdensome because of having to pay full price for preseason which totals $680 for 2 seats, 2 games. Tickets I can’t even give away. TV can not match going to game in terms of experience & field of view, however $3400 a year for tickets and another $40 per game to park buys a hell of a home theater, and easily covers the cost of Sunday NFL ticket. Enhance my experience how? Free beer? Free parking? Free concert at halftime? Better TV coverage of course not including showing controversial plays……oh I know perhaps some out of town scores and video highlights, nope that ain’t gonna happen either because the Kraft’s are too hell bent on selling ad space on the TV’s to show any video content of interest.
Personal seat licenses…ticket prices through the roof…traffic congestion…outrageous parking…strip searches before you’re allowed to enter a stadium…overpriced crappy food and drink…waiting lines to piss…sitting thru TV timeouts in the middle of winter freezing your ass off in an outdoor stadium.
All of this is supposed to be preferable to viewing a nice big flatscreen at home????? I think the commish has rocks in his head!
They are so concerned about making it “family friendly,” that’s why people aren’t going.
It needs to be a raucous rowdy drunken crazy good time – it need to be a fricken roman coliseum.
Family friendly is all well and good for PR image and less “incidents” but it also does NOT feed into FANATICAL FRENZY.
That’s what game day is all about.
Lower the prices…..on everything!
If the rookie wage scale works out…this is where you can reallocate the savings.
“Goodell ought to use Philadelphia as an example on why the NFL is so much better in person.”
You’re kidding, right?
all pro sports are pricing out their fan base…it isn’t rocket science
First post on this thread was 9:47 this morning it was approved at around 11:30… They’re slower at this than Andre Smith running the 40 yard dash… I could have went to Mcdonalds and back before getting to see my post…
The taxpayers are already paying for the construction of the stadiums why not have the taxpayers pay for the ridiculously overpriced tickets too?
That way the owners can still claim they are going broke and not open their books. Sweet deal!
BillLumbergh says:
March 28, 2010 9:50 AM
Oh, and if I buy a bottle of water, they will not give me the cap. REALLY?
————————————————-
Lumbergh,
Sorry about that.
- Cleveland fan
“If they made the NFL payper view they could make more money. I know lots of people that would pay $3-5 a pop to watch the game.”
Which is instantly a violation of the anti-trust exemption the league has. Try again.
sorry rog, the plane ticket, hotel cost and other expenses can’t get me to cleveland all that often
(and i know some of you wise@sses are already saying, “who wants to go to cleveland anyway”)
add to it a crappy product cause my team obviously blows monkeys right now, idiot security people telling the real fans to keep it down (yes, they actually told me NOT to cheer once) and the cost of well, everything and directv is looking nicer and nicer.
and i’ll be damned if i’m going to the “meadowlands stadium” for a game i could care less about. and when we do come to town, to be honest, it’s not all that fun being the opposing team’s fan here in the least. i’ve had better experiences in baltimore then jersey…which doesn’t make a lick of sense…
Listen to all the bandwagon fans, stay home on your couch. It seriously does not cost $500 to attend a football game. Did anyone ever say you had to have lower level 50 yard line seats and park 30 feet from the stadium entrance or consume an entire 6 pack worth of beer? My 40 yard line upper level Broncos tickets cost $63 each and I take the local shuttle to the game for $7. if I get a sandwich and drink that is an extra $12. So my total gameday experience costs $82 and yes that is more than some people can afford but it is not the ridiculous $500 or more figure thrown around.
There is still something to be said for actually cheering on your favorite team and being a part of a win in person. Maybe that is the problem, the NFL has become such a pop culture draw that people no longer are diehard fans of their own hometown team, they’d rather watch the stars on some other team or watch the team who is doing that best that they are backing for that year. With the RedZone (which I love watching) and DirectTV and all that it is easy to follow any team and not the one who carries the name of your hometown.
you wonder IF ANYONE in the media is going to grow a pair & challenge this Comissioner when he makes statements like this? …it can’t just be the people who respond on this website, this Comissioner can’t be that stupid, & the media can’t be that gutless can they? …where is the Howard Cosell of today who isn’t afraid to call it like it is? IF you have to talk about “ENHANCING THE STADIUM EXP.” you’re basically admitting your product SUCKS, …and if it SUCKS why would you expect people to go see it? this Comissioner, is going to suck the life out of this league, w/his misplaced priorities, to the point that College Football is going to be seen as a better & more exciting product.
Choice #1:
Pay a ridiculous amount for tickets Drive through tons of traffic – Pay an unreasonable amount for parking – walk a freakin’ mile to the stadium from there – climb over people to get to my seat – pay more for a hot dog and a coke than I would for a seven course meal – Deal with the drunken morons all around me – standing in a disney world like line just to leave – Having to wait in my car 2 hours for the traffic in the parking lot to clear, only to get on a highway which is also a parking lot at the moment.
OR
Choice #2
I can save a small fortune and kick back in my lazy boy with a nice CHEAP plate of nachos and a cold drink and not miss a thing on my HD TV.
Oh and the money I saved by NOT going, just paid for my Sunday Ticket for the entire season.
Bottom line:
Football is a TV Friendly game. Not a Stadium friendly game.
If the cost were the same, I’d still choose watching it at home. To expect me to pay that much more for the trouble of watching it live……well, that’s just crazy.
Quit raising ticket prices every year, Quit charging $7.00 for a beer, make the seats big enough for people taller than 6 feet, and don’t charge more to park than it costs to watch the game. Is the NFL really that stupid?
As a PSL and Club Season ticket holder all I ask for is a clean bathroom good security and no egal or cowpuke fans sitting anywhere in ear shot
Of course that is why I went the extra $$$ for the club seats to avoid the low life visiting fans
Come sit by me it will cost you $1,000.00 to get tossed out by half time
A few people brought up a good point.
I’m not sure how it is elsewhere, but I remember going to the old Cleveland Stadium and it was pure football. No crazy technotronics, no commercials blaring at every timeout, none of that. And it was a really cool atmosphere.
Now you have someone hollering over the loudspeaker to GET LOUD! and piped in DEFENSE, DEFENSE chants…not to mention people screaming weather forecasts and all kinds of nonsense. It does get the feel more of a hip hop concert, as someone said, than a football game. That turns football fans off. If you are trying to get more fairweather fans into the stadium, you’re succeeding, but at the expense of football fans. Then when the team blows or the weather is cold, the fairweather fans stay home, and the football fans are already home. Also known as blackouts.
Commissioner, make it so you can get in to and out of the stadium in under 30 minutes. A game can be fun (as long as there aren’t aggressive drunk asshats near you) but is it worth several hours of driving and parking hassle? This fan says no.
The NFL’s viewer policy already implicitly states that the TV fan is more important than the season ticket holder. How else to explain that during the latter part of the season, game times can be changed, or moved from Sunday to Monday night, etc., to maximize the TV viewing audience? This inconveniences the average ticket holding fan who had previously blocked out a particular space of time to see a game with family members or friends, some or all of whom do not have the flexibility required to go along with the revised schedule. Oh yes, and as a season ticket holder myself, I really resent it when a 1 PM game in late December in the northeast is moved to a night game so that simply being cold is switched to freezing one’s ass off. The NFL does not now care about the average fan who has tickets to a game, period.
If they wouldnt let coaches blackout scores and stats during games, i would still go. Show me scores, stats and highlights of other games and Ill be happy. I hate when you feel disconnected to the rest of the NFL inside the stadium because the coach dosent want his team scoreboard watching. Well there are 65,000 paying customers that would like to scoreboard watch. Sorry Chilly
next we will have to pay to watch all the games on the NFL CHANNEL.to help pay for the over priced players.
JKay says: March 28, 2010 12:09 PM
Listen to all the bandwagon fans, stay home on your couch. It seriously does not cost $500 to attend a football game. Did anyone ever say you had to have lower level 50 yard line seats and park 30 feet from the stadium entrance or consume an entire 6 pack worth of beer? My 40 yard line upper level Broncos tickets cost $63 each and I take the local shuttle to the game for $7. if I get a sandwich and drink that is an extra $12. So my total gameday experience costs $82 and yes that is more than some people can afford but it is not the ridiculous $500 or more figure thrown around.
There is still something to be said for actually cheering on your favorite team and being a part of a win in person. Maybe that is the problem, the NFL has become such a pop culture draw that people no longer are diehard fans of their own hometown team, they’d rather watch the stars on some other team or watch the team who is doing that best that they are backing for that year. With the RedZone (which I love watching) and DirectTV and all that it is easy to follow any team and not the one who carries the name of your hometown.
———————————————-
Those are fine points but a lot of folks can’t avoid having to drive and if they want to take their kids the total cost skyrockets. NFL profits might not be growing at a rate suitable for billionaire owners but they aren’t falling, no matter what they say. So what’s happening? They are asking fans to pay more and players to make less. These people who have more money than God think everyone but themselves should shoulder an economic burden in a rough economy. Greed is hurting the owners. All they need to do is read some of the comments on this thread to see how out of touch they are.
The problem isn’t the ticket prices.
The problem is the third parties that gobble up all of the game tickets as soon as they are available, causing a $90 face value ticket cost $500 to the average fan.
The league needs to do a better job of ensuring that the fans get fair access to face value tickets.
Period.
Does this mean Goodell is going to start charging us to watch from our homes? If there was a way to do that, Goodell will figure it out.
Wow, who knew my couch would be considered a season ticket, or my living room …a luxury box?
I for one, would rather stay home and watch it. I’ve been to MANY games since I was a kid and as an adult in Foxboro. Freezing in a bowl full of drunks, then sitting in a traffic jam for hours isn’t my idea of good ‘exciting’ times.
Here’s an out-of-the-box idea that may or may not be legal. If the home team doesn’t sell out their game, don’t black out that game–black out *all* football in the local market that week. It would certainly create a last-second rush for tickets so that fans could see the home game, and it would create a long-term sense that football is not something you’re entitled to.
Of course, it would also alienate plenty of fans, the league would have to do new contracts for the networks, and DirecTV would freak because its customers who were blacked out of all the games would want a refund of that weekend’s action. Let’s face it–people who plan on going to the games aren’t the ones who buy Sunday Ticket.
All that said, I still think it would create a real demand for tickets to the home game, and if it didn’t get the NFL sued into purgatory, it would probably help business in the long-run.
It appears I am one of the few that loves going to games! Watching it at home is fine but watching it live is great! Especially in an opposing stadium!
Everyone keeps talking about how much it costs to take a family to a game! Heres a tip, football is not a family game! It’s a mans game, and a mans experience! If you want to take the whole family for a nice sunday afternoon, take them to a baseball game in the summer! Leave the kids and wife at home and go get drunk with some buddies! Football is for MEN, not kids or wives!
If you want the stadium experience to be better, cut the prices of the tickets, concessions & have better give aways then you do now. The TV idea w/ RZ channel is a cool idea. I am a Ravens season ticket/PSL holder since the inaugral year of 1996. I have never missed a game, but yet I have never been asked my opinion. Matbe the league should talk to their actual customers who put their butts in the seats, & I’m not talking about the Club Level & Skybox people either, but the real fans.
Here is as good a cross section of fan opinion as he is ever going to get. Any bets that the commissioner won’t read any of it or do his own fan opinion survey. He, the owners and their football execs are guilty of concrete thinking. All mixed up and permanently set.
JK says:
Listen to all the bandwagon fans, stay home on your couch. It seriously does not cost $500 to attend a football game. Did anyone ever say you had to have lower level 50 yard line seats and park 30 feet from the stadium entrance or consume an entire 6 pack worth of beer? My 40 yard line upper level Broncos tickets cost $63 each and I take the local shuttle to the game for $7. if I get a sandwich and drink that is an extra $12. So my total gameday experience costs $82 and yes that is more than some people can afford but it is not the ridiculous $500 or more figure thrown around.
====================
I’ll assume, because I possess the power of common sense, that the $500 figure is for someone’s FAMILY, (since I don’t think many people go to games alone) which if you take your figure of $82 (which if fine if you want one drink in 4 hours, and have a convenient shuttle to take and don’t have to pay $20 to park) and times it by four, you get over $300.
And try and get a couple of kids into and out of a game with one soda each and no souvenirs. You should be able to see that the $500 figure is not unrealistic.
When you add in all of the hassles of going (pointed out excellently in “Borg’s” post), hardly seems worth it.
And you can shove the arrogant comment about people who don’t go to games being “band wagon” fans. This is the kind of stupidity the league counts on so the can keep fleecing fans who worry that they won’t be considered “die-hard” enough.
What I never understand is why people have to drink so damn much beer at a game 10 -12 beers per game
That is a sign of a bigger issue then the game.
The issue is people use the game as an excuse to get shitfaced.
I have a nice tailgate meal with 2 or 3 beers prior to going in to the game then a water during the game maybe a dog or pretzel never a $12.00 beer.
Now that may change as I have a fully stocked bar in the club lounge but still not going to drink for 3 solid hours
Thunderbolt says:
March 28, 2010 1:24 PM
Here’s an out-of-the-box idea that may or may not be legal. If the home team doesn’t sell out their game, don’t black out that game–black out *all* football in the local market that week. It would certainly create a last-second rush for tickets so that fans could see the home game, and it would create a long-term sense that football is not something you’re entitled to.
=========================
Yeah, that wouldn’t be a douchebag move at all. What an excellent cure to the problem, much better than lowering ticket prices or actually caring about fans.
# trixstal says: March 28, 2010 1:17 PM
Does this mean Goodell is going to start charging us to watch from our homes? If there was a way to do that, Goodell will figure it out.
Wow, who knew my couch would be considered a season ticket, or my living room …a luxury box?
I for one, would rather stay home and watch it. I’ve been to MANY games since I was a kid and as an adult in Foxboro. Freezing in a bowl full of drunks, then sitting in a traffic jam for hours isn’t my idea of good ‘exciting’ times.
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You are right trixtal and it’s on its way. When the current TV contracts are up the nfl has mentioned that it will look to broadcasting games exclusively on the internet. That way they don’t have to deal with networks or DirecTV. They would stand to keep all the ad revenues. I don’t know how real a possibility this is but you can bet they are salivating over the thought.
“trixstal says:
March 28, 2010 1:17 PM
Does this mean Goodell is going to start charging us to watch from our homes? If there was a way to do that, Goodell will figure it out.”
See: NFL Network, Sunday Ticket, and online charges to watch or LISTEN to games.
Frankly we should be grateful we aren’t being forced to have this discussion.
“Forced to PAY to have this discussion” was how that last post should have read.
I don’t think cheaper beers are the answer. I’ve been to Giants, Jets, Cowboys, Dolphins, Eagles & Bills home games. It’s all the same: people get drunk, flip out & can’t handle winning or losing. If I watch @ home, I stay away from sitting on the G-Dubs & the parking lot for a couple of hours. Plus, I get to play golf in the morning with the cash I save. If I was making several hundred a year, I’d pay for a PSL. I’ve been on the Giants waiting list for 15 years, so it depends on the size of the team’s market.
last time i went to a game, it cost me close to $400 for a cold, cramped, uncomfortable experience. that was about 5 yrs ago, and i wont be going to another 1 any time soon.
I’m surprised the stadiums are as full as they are. I do believe we are not far away from all NFL games being pay per view. If networks continue to pay out the money they do to the NFL our cable bills will continue to rise and eventually the cable companies will have to add a new “tier” to separate these costs out.
I NEED MORE REPLAYS! That’s my major complaint about going to Vikings games. You get four or five replays all game, with most big or controversial plays not replayed.
Aside from that, QUIT THE POTATO SACK RACES and all the rest of that garbage. I understand they’re trying to incorporate a more family-friendly experience, but the last thing I want to see is some kids running around in an end zone after a major interception to my team’s detriment.
so they’re gonna make it “better than home” most likely by making it more expensive.
you know why home is better than a stadium? because it’s CHEAPER.
drop prices, and you’ll make it better than home. maybe goodell is making 9 mill a year, but the rest of us aren’t. if i was, i’d have season tickets for the eagles. don’t make the stadium more cushy and raise prices while you’re at it, just drop the prices to reasonable levels and stop pricing middle class and lower class people out of the ability to go to a football game.
capitalism. lol.
Ban all alcohol, hassle any fan who swears and eject any topless women. That’ll help!
Give me a 1/2 rack of beer and good take home pizza, and…… my comfortable couch on any Sunday.
$$ Tickets and concessions way too expensive!
Many fans talk about fairness as it pertains to access to tickets and prices. Fairness left town thirty five years ago when the sport was transformed into a money-printing industry. If current seat holders gave up their season tickets to sit home and watch TV, there is a legion of replacements in the wings ready to gobble them up. There is no way fans force these guys to adopt reasonable ticket, food and drink prices, or fan-friendly policies. The system is too well established and, there will never NOT be a demand for their premium-priced, albeit inconsistent product.
Football is a becoming a business that wants to recruit an elite customer. Someone with lots of disposable income and who thinks nothing of paying any price the owners want to charge. The common fan, the common man, will be the guy left sitting on the couch anyway. I remember when LFF was built in Philly with public funds after Lurie held the town hostage by threatening to take the team to LA. Lurie spoke about wanting a better class of fan in the stands. They even tried to ban fans from bringing in their own sandwiches, which is a long-standing tradition among Philly fans. Creating a better stadium experience is code for attracting a classier crowd. What does attorney Goodell know from the average fans? He rubs elbows with millionaires and billionaires. No way he relates to the civic passion or the economic plight of the average guy in the stands holding a hoagie and a beer. Who’s stadium experience do you think he wants to improve? Not Joe Sixpack’s. Otherwise, prices wouldn’t steadily be sending more and more fans to the couch. What you’ll soon have is what looks like a Superbowl crowd. Stands filled with millionaires and celebrities – the only ones left who can afford to attend a stadium game.
From what I have read it seems most teams ticket prices go up. I have to say at least the Lions recognized the economy and lowered season and ticket prices! A team notices if nobody shows up that means the price is to much, if people are dying to get in that means prices are to cheap! Choose wisely
Watching games on TV is nothing like seeing the games in person. I record all the games that I go to in person so I can rewatch the game on TV when I return from the game.
Many times it is stunning how much the TV really does not give the true feel of the game as felt when watching the game in person. At times even though the out comes are the same and final score it feels like two different games.
Maybe to the so so Fan or for someone who is not able to go watching from home is ok but do not let them fool you, they are not the same and never will be.
The problem with wanting teams to lower ticket prices is that you have a product to pay for, and you all seem to want it to be paid for by anybody else but you. To pay for Payton Manning’s $14M salary in 2010, Indy fans can’t possibly have tickets at $20 as some of you have suggested. You would need to sell 70k tickets just to cover his salary for each game. To pay for just 2010 salaries, excluding bonuses paid, the Colts would have to sell just over 506,000 tickets PER GAME.
Jacksonville just started offering 3-year contracts for tickets again. I pay $44 a month for 30 months and am locked in at that ticket price for all 3 years. I share a parking spot ($300/season) with 3 other people = $7.50 a game. We tailgate enough to keep us from needing to buy a $5 hot dog in the stadium, and then only need 1 or 2 beers come gametime.
Ten times a year ticketholders lay out money to attend NFL games. Even if you are spending $500/game for a family of 4, the average family will spend the same amount on a yearly vacation. The NFL at least spreads that same cost over almost 5 months of enjoyment.
Goodall’s points are not about “customer acquisition” as much as they’re about “customer retention.”
Goodall doesn’t give a rat’s ass that 99% of the fan base can’t afford to bring their family to a live game, as long as that 99% keeps watching games on TV to keep ad revenue up and buys all that NFL-licensed crapola.
He wants to cater to the rich 1% of the fan base who already fill up almost every stadium every game, so that they keep writing those big checks every Spring for the following season’s tickets.
It’s an exclusive club for the well-heeled fans, folks, and membership MUST have its benefits so that these people keep paying through the nose for PSLs, exorbitantly priced game tickets, full-price preseason games they won’t even attend, etc etc etc..
Hey, here’s an idea. Maybe lowering the cost of tickets, merchandise and concessions would improve the stadium experience? Think on that for a second, Rog.
When my Father and Uncles got their season tickets
at Franklin Field. The face value was $10.00 I have ticket stubs from the 1960 Championship game face value $15.00. When my friends and I bought our first season tickets at the Vet in 86 they where $15.00 face value but because we bought season tickets we got a discount $125.00 for the season (Thats with the TWO PRE SEASON TICKETS) that we still have to pay for. And parking was $5.
Now our tickets cost $700.00 before taxes and service fees. Face value is $70.00 a ticket ( 2 Pre-season tix). Parking costs on average $20.00 we pay $40.00 because of the R/V.
Keep in mind we didn’t pay for the seat license because our seats are in the upper level.
Even if we where not in a recession thats a lot money for most people.
But that being said there is nothing that compares to being at the game.
I like Roger Goodell a lot, but if they’re scratching their heads over this one, they’re complete idiots — the whole lot of them.
Owners in all sports have been sticking it in the collective backsides of the fans for years. We’ve all had enough. PSLs, $30 parking, $9 beer, $100+ tickets…. Why pay for all of that when I can pay $250 for the NFL Sunday Ticket at home? I can get an entire season of NFL football for the price of which it costs me to go — by myself, no mention of the people I take along — to one game.
Our family had 49er season tickets from 1968-2007 and I missed two games. I haven’t gone in two years and, for the price, I don’t miss it…. especially with that crap organization and what they’ve done.
Owners: You’re putting us to choices. I’ve made mine. Instead of getting thousands of dollars from me a year, you now get $250. Congrats on finally tipping the cup.
Goodell really comes off like a guy making over $15 million a year who has lost touched with reality.
Everybody seems to agree that tickets, parking, beer, etc. are all too expensive. But NFL teams are a business and it is all supply and demand. They will charge as much as the customer is willing to pay. We as customers need to stop paying what they are asking and they will have no choice but to lower prices. It’s that simple.
I’m convinced that the more money there is in sports, the worse they become. There is no reason athletes should be some of our society’s wealthiest citizens, and there is no reason average Joes should pay exorbitant amounts for tickets, etc to pay those salaries. Fans: do NOT pay it! That is the only way to change it. You can support your team without emptying your wallet.
The problem of unruly drunks would be easy to solve. Open the parking lots for tailgating no more than 2 hours before gametime. And, every ticketholder of legal drinking age would be allowed a maximum number of drinks (let’s say 3; 1 per quarter except none in the 4th and end alcohol sales after the 3rd qtr) inside the stadium. This could be managed by giving fans a wristband when they enter the stadium. Each time they buy a drink, the wristband is punched. Once it has been punched 3 times, you’re cut off. Yeah, some fans would complain, but do you really need more than 3 drinks over 3 hours, after you’ve thrown down a few in the parking lot before the game? The reason this will never happen is because, with the drinks being so overpriced, they make huge profits off the same drunks Goodell is saying “tsk, tsk” about.
20 EUR,- for one ticket
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNYyOcdsyrE
Sure, there are no commercial breaks, no big screens, but well, i guess we can live without that stuff:)
Welcome to Europe
My point about the bandwagon fans was in reference to the guy who said he was going to stop paying his $500 per game when Brady stops playing. I totally understand that not everyone can afford to go to a game and that doesn’t make them a bad fan. My larger point was there are options to make going to a game work if one is willing. And in explaining my costs was for my particular situation, I know it will not work for everyone else’s. The Broncos sell half price single game tickets every July and if a family of 4 wanted to attend a game they could get tickets in the upper level for under $100 for 4 tickets even with stupid Ticketmaster fees. I know this is not applicable to every fan and every team, I highly doubt the Cowboys and Patriots offer their fans any sort of deal. But we are talking about the NFL as a whole and it is not crazy unaffordable to attend a game.
And my larger point was isn’t this couch fandom phenomenon just feeding more bangwagon fans for the “popular” teams. You no longer even need to have any reason to become a diehard fan of hyped team of the decade because you can see every single game on your TV at home. Then they can claim that their hometown team “sucks” because they have no actual investment in them if the season isn’t going well. They can cheer on whoever is winning from the comfort of home.
seems to be a pretty conensus agreement dring this thread so i will echo it.
One, the cost is out of control. I consider myself the average young fan in my target market—- I am just shy of 30, no kids, graduated college about 6 years years ago and I have a decent white collar job with a good company that pays enough to get buy.I live in Michifan so I’m damn lucky to have a job asw good as I do. I’m no millionaire but I do ok, and I live within my means. I drive an affordable, fuel efficent car
( 2009 ford focus) live close to work in a modest dwelling that I can afford, don’t eat out much, and don’t buy fancy designer clothes. While I might not live in a mansion or drive a ferrari, I have worked hard to get where I am and for what I have.
Bottom line is I prioritze, I finally was able to get the nice TV this year, It was a big purchase for me. So I splurged and got the Sudnay Ticket this year, and even the 300 bucks for the season was prob more than I should have been spending. I don’t know that I will be able to afford doing it this upcoming season since I’m saving to buy a house and maybe even an engagement ring.
I live about 30-45 mins from ford field so it’s not that big of a hike for me, but it costs minimum of 10-20 bucks to park your car, and that’s if you feel like walking. If i go to a game im not gonna sit in the nosebleed and watch the jumbo tron, I want to be in the club level at least. So you figure roughly 80 or so for a halfway decent seat if i can get one from someone I know for a decent price. If i grab a pretzel, some nachos, a coke, and maybe 2 beers, that’s anther 40 bucks right there. If i get a program, thats another 10 bucks. The absolute min I can get away with spending is like 120 bucks. If I take my girlfriend with me, double that. That might not sound like a lot of cash to roger goodell, or some of you older PFT guys that are more established, but that’s alot of money to me. Hell, that’s more than half of what try to budget on groceries for the month.
The bottom line is that I was raised to be responsable with my money. Sorry, but I just can’t afford to be blowing 120 plus bucks on a sunday afternoon, when I can watch the game in the privacy of my home in my jogging pants and not get yelled at to sit down by some rude asshole in the opposing teams jersey when I stand up on a 3rd down defensive play.
When I was a kid my dad suprised me one thanksgiving morning by taking me to the game in the prime of Barry Sanders career . I remember Barry going off, and it being a great day. I also remeber reading the game day magazine my dad got me cover to cover before the game started. Unfortunatly though the memory that sticks in my head the most, is some drunken idiot spilling an entire cup beer into my lap and ruining my magazine.
Sorry, I think I stay home.
NFL TV ratings soared in 2009 while ticket sales were sluggish, which raises a question: Do fans prefer watching games at home to watching games in person
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Or they’ve been priced out of their seats by the Jerry Joneses of the NFL. These guys aren’t exactly spending themselves into a frenzy in this uncapped year and YET, they’re raising prices right and left. I continue to wonder how people can support the owners and this goofy commissioner, who doesn’t care about the players or the fans.
NFL is too corporate, don’t care about average fans that fill seats.
- Movie theaters are struggling, and wonder why ticket sales are down.
- The concert industry builds ream you in the rear amphitheaters that destroy the concert experience. Ticket sales are down.
- NASCAR ticket sales are down and they question why.
- The NFL has seen reduced ticket sales and are scratching their heads.
Is it really the recession? I think not. This would be happening even if the economy was “peachy-keen”. A lot of this was happening before the current recession.
The common factor here is simple to figure out. High ticket prices!!
The entertainment industry has sucked us dry, and the bad part is that they probably can’t fix it. The system has allowed too many hands into the cookie jar and it’ll be war to get the ones that aren’t needed out. the only way to fix this problem, is for the consumer to revolt. Supply and demand isn’t a good excuse to ream us at the gates. This is a business model that is doomed to fail.
The NFL is really screwed due to the high income the players make. It forces the owners to ream the fans in order to pay the bills. It’s gotten to the breaking point, and the current labor debate needs to adjust to this reasoning. both sides must realize that if it wasn’t fo us, the fans, they wouldn’t exist. Taking your family to an NFL game shouldn’t result in a bank loan, and that’s what the price of entertainment has become.
What makes matters worse, are the idiots who are willing to pay what it takes to see their favorite team or band. These are the fools who caused all this to happen.
I’ll stop here, and only say this. A but in the seat at $10 a ticket is better than no butt in the seat at all at $60 a ticket.
Price? Yes.
Goodell an idiot? Yes.
Bird Man says:
March 28, 2010 10:40 AM
People who would rather sit at home than go to the game aren’t real football fans.
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I call BS on that!
Just because I refuse to spend a ridiculous amount of money AND time to attend an NFL game makes me no less of a fan, maybe just a smarter one.
There is as much dead time in 3 hour NFL as there is in a baseball game, I’d rather flip around and see other games or watch RedZone because I am such a big fan, and I don’t gamble or play FF either.
The on field product can always be improved, prices can be adjusted too, nobody likes to feel gouged and while the ticket prices in my city (Atlanta) are reasonable, concession are not.
One thing that is hard to contend with are unruly, belligerent fans, and that’s a society issue I’m afraid.
Going to a game is freakin’ hassle, end of story.
Bird Man says:
March 28, 2010 10:40 AM
People who would rather sit at home than go to the game aren’t real football fans.
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I call BS on that!
Just because I refuse to spend a ridiculous amount of money AND time to attend an NFL game makes me no less of a fan, maybe just a smarter one.
There is as much dead time in 3 hour NFL as there is in a baseball game, I’d rather flip around and see other games or watch RedZone because I am such a big fan, and I don’t gamble or play FF either.
The on field product can always be improved, prices can be adjusted too, nobody likes to feel gouged and while the ticket prices in my city (Atlanta) are reasonable, concession are not.
One thing that is hard to contend with are unruly, belligerent fans, and that’s a society issue I’m afraid.
Going to a game is freakin’ hassle, end of story.
Patsfan4ever12 says:
March 28, 2010 10:57 AM
I am more alarmed that Goodell would just jump into this before taking a cautionary approach. And that the story would be reported in such a “we must change now for the future.”
1. We are looking at the worst economic state since the Depression. Let’s remind ourselves of that. There is no statistical analysis program or Economist that can coorelate Attendance and TV Ratings without looking at the state of the economy. We’re not talking about the Major Market teams and attendance either… we are talking about the Bucs, Jags, etc. From states and cities hardest hit by the economic crunch.
Spot on!
2. Nascar has devices that allow fans to have personal devices at their fingertips to review stats, positions, speed, etc. (their demographic largely doesn’t use iphones or blackberrys)
I’m a NASCAR fan with an iPhone…northern elitist!
But you are on to something here.
Think of how cool it would be if the NFL used that technology and fans could listen in to the conversations on the sidelines and coaches booths. Now THAT would enhance the stadium experience. The main argument against that would be the opposition stealing info, but so what, it’s about the FAN$ is it not?
I live out-of-state where my team is and I got DirecTV because of the Sunday Ticket and I honestly am very happy with it. I went to a playoff game this year and LOVED GOING but I still would not want to go to a game every week
I prefer my home to a seat most weeks
Rob Noxious says:
March 28, 2010 11:50 AM
They are so concerned about making it “family friendly,” that’s why people aren’t going.
It needs to be a raucous rowdy drunken crazy good time – it need to be a fricken roman coliseum.
Family friendly is all well and good for PR image and less “incidents” but it also does NOT feed into FANATICAL FRENZY.
That’s what game day is all about.
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That’s an excellent point too. It used to be so much more fun going and being rowdy all day. I don’t ever remember actually sitting in the old Cleveland bleachers, now if you stand up you get kicked out unless there was a score or a big play. Kids sitting all around you and yes, the jerks with polos that have nothing to do with the game, the sport, the team or even the city. It brings a real fan down. At my house everyone’s dressed in their browns shit and swearing is fine with me. If you want to stand, feel free. Beer is free, food is free, I have HD, and those of us that can’t drink anymore don’t have to pay $5 for a lousy coke that you get made fun of for having in the first place.
@ JagMania65
You make awesome points, and I agree with all of them. You’re 100% correct.
That’s why the NFL needs to create a new system, and the players union needs to get off their greedy rears to allow this to happen.
It’s time the NFL, as a whole, realized that there is no way to sustain themselves with their current system.
There is far too much greed in pro sports. There needs to be a way to control the scum/agents who drive the price of players salary through the roof for their own gain. There needs to be a slot system of set prices to get rid of these leeches.
If I were the NFL, I would tell the union to go suck my wang. I’ll my favorite team every Sunday no mater who is paying. It’s the greedy agents and players realize this. Sure, I want the best players on the field, but not at the expense of the consumer.
Hey Goodell,
I could tell from my living room couch that you let the Patriots get away with stealing Super Bowls by burning the SpyGate tapes and refusing to answer Congressional questions.
Will I get the same wonderful experience if I pay a couple thousand bucks to take my family to one of your marvelous stadiums? Will we see a competitive game, or will the cheaters and scammers be allowed to continue to steal the championships?
Your ally in rooting out corruption,
Italian Army Guy
Let’s face facts. Ticket prices are thru the roof at many places and not getting any better. The Jones, Snyders and some others can charge an arm and a leg for a ticket then rip you off with $25 parking fees or higher and then about $10 for a hot dog and coke. As some others have said, there is a recession. These guys build these palaces for a billion dollars and then have to pay for it. Who gets stuck — you and I. I certainly understand Goodell’s issue here. I’ve gone to several NFL games and while it is a good product, I can’t stand the parking problems, vastly overpriced food and beverage items and a bunch of drunked knuckleheads screaming profanities and standing up every time some guy rips off a three-yard run! Fan behavior is an issue that I have a hard time with. They may think they’re cute but I’ve heard some of these people using a variety of profanities throughout the game. If you say anything, most will want to start a fight with you or give you a rash of crap. I don’t need that. I can sit home and watch HD or plasma TV with the NFL package on my 42-inch set and enjoy myself. I don’t need headaches like those and a huge dent in my pocket. Also, how about making these preseason games half price or less. I’m not in favor of shelling out $150 bucks a game to watch the 3rd and 4th QB’s battle it out to make the practice squads. The owners in FB, BB and hockey charge way too much for everything. Of the four major sports, the only good deal remains baseball. Keep signing guys to these exorbidant contracts and see whap happens down the road. The fans pay for it!
When the Eagles moved into Veterans Stadium from Franklin Field, I had 6 season tickets in the lower section of the upper deck 600 level.
Those 6 seat for all all 7 home games cost me a total for the year of $252.00!
Today I don’t believe I could get a single seat for a single game at that price!
I gone to several Eagles Road games and so far haven’t payed over $50 a ticket!
#1. QUIT CHARGING REGULAR SEASON PRICES FOR PRE=SEASON EXHIBITION GAMES!
#2. Allow me to sell my tickets without risking the loss of my seats. (Limit it to 1 or 2 games a year if you want to thwart the professional scalpers.) That way the seats will be filled with FANS who want to be there.
#3. Stop charging me $50 a game to park a mile from the stadium (literally-it costs that much to park a mile from Gillette Stadium.)
#4. Figure out a way to give priority to the real fans, not the suits on an expense account “entertaining clients.”
rog; u run 15 freakin HD Tv commercials per comemrcial break….maybe it’s working too well. either that or ppl dont want to freeze post-november and pay $80 for a ticket, $50 for parking, $30 on food/beer and have to use a telescope to see the field.
This commissioner is really disconnected to the NFL’s fanbase. Next thing ya know, he’ll want to play Super Bowls in London.
Goodell, step away from the crack pipe!
Does this guy live in Disney Land?
I went to two games last season and could have gone to a few more but it was such a hassle…it’s an all day event and should not be…and the prices are too much…no one likes feeling that they are being ripped off but $7 for a freaking Bud Light are u kidding me!
Hey Florio, why not send all of this one along to Mr. NFL commissioner. It’s got every answer he could ask for! You want to make the in-stadium experience more enticing…READ UP!
In Australia I can get an 1 game season ticket for $275 that also makes me a club member with voting rights to attend an AGM and vote for a board to run my club or vote out one that is doing a bad job. If I pay up to $600 I can also get finals tickets and grand final tickets (not that my team ever plays in the Grand Final) with access to star players at selected functions. The NFL treats fans like they’re pond scum. The TV’s will be another form of price gouging
“Are broadcasts too good? ”
Anyone who thinks that the broadcasts are too good must be watching with the sound turned off.
When the product on the field is good, filling seats is not a problem. Of course the NFL should focus on making the stadium experience as interesting and entertaining as possible. But if the team playing in the stadium is 4-12, there’s not a lot the NFL can do to attract fans into the stadium. On the other hand, if the team is 12-4, it’s a safe bet that selling tickets is not difficult, regardless of price.
As a side note, the last thing I want to experience at a game is being stuck in the vicinity of “fans” who have been tailgating for hours prior to the game and then swill down countless numbers of $1.00 beers during the game. No thanks! Keep those beer prices high!
yeah, watching 1 hour of football and 3 hours of commercials is sick fun.
THE NFL JUST DOESN’T GET IT!!! Personally, I get more disgusted every year going to the games. I honestly don’t care if I go anymore because the atmosphere sucks! I hate how it is such a production anymore.
I have been going to Eagles games since 1977. It disgusts me how the whole game is filled with sponsorships. As soon as there is a break in the game, they drown you with their advertisements. Breaks in the action at The Vet used to be when the Eagle fans would make their own fun by E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES CHANTS, breaking out all over the stadium. Now we get slaughtered by Albuterol commercials and ridiculous promos for face painting on the big boards. Why do they feel a need to blast music in our ears during every break there isn’t an Albuterol commercial or the Acme Kids club fan of the game promo??? They have a promo “Highlights of the Game”. This freakin thing plays in the middle of the 2nd quarter. The highlights they show are the cheerleaders coming out on the field and the players being introduced. (I’m not joking).
You want to know how to fix the problems, get rid of the Acme Kids Club Fan of the Game Promo, pull the plug on the music and give Sunday’s back to the fans.
Goddell sends out a memo in the beginning of the season last year advising teams to limit the tailgating to league mandated times. EXCUSE ME, ARE WE A BUNCH OF 12 YEAR OLDS??? Hey Roger, SCREW YOU! Thanks for RUINING draft day for us too you jerk-off!!! That Saturday used to be THE BEST day of the year for me and a bunch of friends. Now you screwed that up because you want primetime. I pray to God it backfires on you! YOU’RE A PIG! Games in Europe….don’t even get me started. You Suck and so does the atmosphere at the Stadium. $8 beers, you are a bunch of crooks! You wonder why fans are loosing interest? HMMMMM?????? Think hard Genius!!!!
Maybe if the stadium experience wasn’t geared(and priced) toward the corporate crowd(such as Goodell), there’d be better turnouts. The normal football family has been priced out of the gametime experience.
Let me see. Do I want to pay $500 for my family to watch ONE game, or pay $1500 for my family to watch EVERY game on a 50 inch HDTV?
Remember, Roger, your greed is doing this, not us! Go play a few more games in England. We know that’s where the true fans are!!
I have to wonder if King or The Golden Weasel have even thought this out. Remember, these owners are building new stadiums to maximize revenue. Wembley Stadium doesn’t cut it because they don’t own it and I doubt that they would be able to schedule competing events outside of football to get the extra revenue. That means that they’d have to build a new stadium, in a country that wouldn’t be bending over backwards for a game that’s fine for 1 time a year but not 8 (or 9, if The Gold Weasel has his way). The Vikings would have a better chance of getting a new stadium so they would end up having to jack up the prices even more than they do NOW and will “fans” be willing to pay that kind of money for season tickets?
Then there’s the matter of the taxes. Does the NFL believe that they will be exempted from them or are they going to have to give the team more revenue to make up for that AND the money that they WON’T make because they don’t have luxury boxes or concerts or whatever extra income that they would normally get?
Taking everything into consideration, for 1 game a year, it makes sense for the NFL but a team that moves over there will end up losing money unless they jack up the prices to make up for the revenue.
sorry but to many times have i been watching the game on FOX and seen the return from a commercial break to the middle of a play or some jackass announcer make assumptions about play that were completely incorrect. even the nose bleed seats give me a better view of all the action than that
I’ve been an Eagles fan since 1980 and a season ticket holder since the Linc opened in 2003. I view the fan experience like this, you have at least 8 weekends during the fall (and a few in the winter if you get a home playoff game or two) to hang out with the guys and get away from life’s problems. When you have a winner, it makes the experience that much better. But even when you don’t, you still have that “on any given sunday” hope. You make a day out of it, 4-6 hours of tailgating prior to and 2-3 hours afterwards to hang out with friends and get away from the “real” world. Yea, can you do that at home too but it’s just not the same.
I know plenty of fans that come down to tailgate before and after every Eagles home games without a ticket. They bring their TV’s, portable generators, coolers filled with various beverages and a football to just hang out with all the other fans.
Roger – you really want to “enhance” the fan experience, open those gates more then 6 hours before a game and don’t force the parking lots to “close” 1 hour after the games end. The real fans are those waiting in line for those gates to open to get in to get “their spots” and they are the last ones leaving. They aren’t there to cause trouble, they are there to be fans of the experience you want to enhance….
The stadium experience is great. It does not need to be improved. Being a Charger fan that says a lot (Qualcomm being one of the oldest stadiums in the league).
The problem is ticket, parking and concession prices. Any moron can see that. I am surprised Goddell has such a hard time with it.
I own 8 Saints season tickets + parking and Hornets season tickets as well. The games are a blast but the tickets are reasonably priced. Search youtube for “section 531″ and you will see Hartley’s winning kick vs. the Vikings from my $50 seat. I would much rather watch in the Dome than on TV. We are deprived of some replays which is annoying but the energy in the Dome is unreal. If you are a passionate fan, watching at home cannot compare.
Legalized “scalping ” is ok by me. Go to your team’s Ticket Exchange and you will find that you can buy tickets for less than you think without committing to a whole season and without having to buy 2 practices. Have the courage to wait until Saturday or Sunday morning. Sellers panic after Friday night. I made money on extra Saints tickets; Hornets tickets have little value. Read Adam Smith – it’s called supply and demand. The Saint’s waiting list was 50,000 BEFORE last year. Many a year I lost my ass on Saint’s tickets – I couldn’t give them away. After Katrina, a 3-13 year, I doubled to 8 tickets out of civic duty, and now I’m getting paid and I’m fine with it.
dcdeejay says:
March 28, 2010 12:59 PM
The problem isn’t the ticket prices.
The problem is the third parties that gobble up all of the game tickets as soon as they are available, causing a $90 face value ticket cost $500 to the average fan.
The league needs to do a better job of ensuring that the fans get fair access to face value tickets.
Period.
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I’m surprised you are the only person to point this out. Aside from season ticket holders, who here has been able to purchase tickets for a popular franchise on the day they go on sale on Ticketmaster? The tickets for the Eagles whole season typically sell out in less than 2 minutes, but you can find thousands of tickets on sites like Stubhub, Razorgator, eBay or any other 3rd party ticket source with a 50% mark up. I would have no problem paying $90 for a decent seat, it’s just that $90 is the face value and that ticket will be sold for at least $150 by a 3rd party.
Music artists have found ways to combat this electronic scalping by forcing the ticket holder to produce ID, which must be associated with the original buyer of the ticket. Hopefully the NFL will follow suit.
Having gone to a Buffalo Bills game last year, I can tell you I’d rather stay at home and watch it on TV!
Yep. Too damn expensive.
The PFT crowd is about 5 billion times smarter than Goodell on this issue.