NEW ERA FOR NFL BEGINS TONIGHT

Posted by Mike Florio on December 4, 2008, 4:59 PM EST

OK, I’m feeling pretty pathetic right now.  (Or, as some of you would say, more pathetic than usual.)  I’m excited about the fact that the NFL will unveil tonight in four cities the first-ever live 3D broadcast of a pro football game, when the Raiders-Chargers game.  I’m excited, and I won’t even be there to see it. 
Pathetic.
I’m excited simply because I’m waiting to hear from folks who attend how awesome it will be.
Pathetic.
I tried initially to finagle an invitation to the New York screening, but Thursdays are heavy workload nights at PFT world headquarters, what with the taping of the Pro Football Preview segment for FSN and the drafting of a column for SportingNews.com.  (Then again, I could just find something online that someone else has written, copy it, remove a hyphen or two, and send it to Barry Reeves.  No one would ever know, right?  Right?)
On Wednesday, when an invitation was sent by the Patriots to the media e-mail list for the remaining tickets that hadn’t been gobbled up by the hand-picked high rollers who had been invited to attend, I actually thought for a moment about trying to get to Boston on one day’s notice.
Pathetic.
But, really, at a time when we’re dealing with StarCaps and Plax’s cap in his thigh, it’s truly a great day for the league.  As I discussed on Thursday with Dan Patrick (yes, I am a name-dropping douche), it’s the future of the sport.  Dan thinks that it could become so popular that folks will prefer watching a game in 3D at a movie house to attending one in person.  And I agree.
I also know it’ll be awesome because the U2 concert film shot in 3D made me into a U2 fan even though I’d been ambivalent toward their largely indistinguishable songs for the last 25 years. 
So, as we’ve previously said, to hell with Europe (except for U2).  The new revenue stream for the NFL is every city and town with a 3D projector and several hundred seats that can be sold at $40 a pop.
Mark our words — it will be huge.  And it’s coming sooner than anyone realizes.
So when you see folks cooking brats and drinking beer in the parking lot of the local shopping mall, don’t be alarmed. 
They’re not homeless; they’re just tailgating.

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45 responses to “NEW ERA FOR NFL BEGINS TONIGHT”

  1. I will never watch a ViQueens game in 3-D. I am afraid that Jared Allen will come out of the screen and break my knees 5 minutes after the game is over.

  6. I think you should have a special Live Blog in 3D. The words would just jump off the screen at us.
    Oh, and your PFP spot should take what, 30 seconds to do. Nice excuse.

  8. I’m sure BB will have some footage of all the new angles and views but I’d doubt he would share it with you

  9. Is the $40 per seat a guess on your part or is that what you’re hearing the price is going to be? $160.00 for a family of four to sit in a theater for 4 hours…..it better be good!

  10. Ntrikit –
    Who mentioned ANYTHING about the Vikings in relation to the story on 3D you stoopid Dork?

  11. “I will never watch a ViQueens game in 3-D. I am afraid that Jared Allen will come out of the screen and break my knees 5 minutes after the game is over.”
    There is no graphics engine that could handle the complexities of processing his mullet in 3-D. That technology is a good 10-15 years away.

  12. The NFL revolves around the ViQueens.
    There has not been one day in the past month that Florio has not posted about the ViQueens.

  13. Mike, all this talk of Plax, Europe and the homeless is scaring the children.
    Won’t somebody think of the children???

  14. Why does everyone mention $40 or thereabouts? Has this been stated as some official target price?
    $40 seems pretty steep. Is that how much U2 cost?
    I’m too cheap to upgrade my Sony 34″ hi def tube for a larger LCD, but still that is pretty comfy and entertaining watching in hi-def for free at home.
    But I guess instead of sending the wife and kids to see Wall-E so I get peace and quiet, I could take that money and go see the game.

  15. What U2 was to Florio: “I’d been ambivalent toward their largely indistinguishable songs for the last 25 years.”
    Goodness what a tool.

  16. Ntrikit –
    Who mentioned ANYTHING about the Vikings in relation to the story on 3D you stoopid Dork?
    Agreed! Ntrikit, you arn’t funny! on every post you try and make these lame jokes about Jared Allen and or the Vikes. Do us all a favor and stop. You are lame.

  18. ViQueen NitWit ViQueen NitWit Nit Wit
    You guys have a point…this is FUN!
    ViQueen!
    –Nitwit

  19. Florio I will mark your words, in fact I will bet you any amount of money, this will not be huge at all.

  20. Users can’t even watch all games on TV yet unless they want to subscriber to DirecTV.
    I think that needs to be corrected before I watch Eli Manning, god of football and leader of the unstoppable NY Giants, from 8,321 angles.
    Have I repeated the sports press meme in this post that the NY Giants are unstoppable warriors of destiny, for whom injuries and normal distractions are but pests on their path to 8,412 consecutive superbowl victories? I believe I have.

  21. Ok so i’ll preface this with saying I’m an Eagles fan (and still proud of it mind you, unlike all the other frontrunners in this town….thanks J-Roll!…oh wait am I plagerizing?)
    I would not want to pay $40 to go to a Dallas Vs. Eagles game where I could potentially have to be fighting with Dallas fans….PLUS people usually drink heavily at Football games….at the stadium they are prepared for this, with security, what will happen when some drunk A-Hole decides to start something ….is this 14 y/o usher gonna come down the isle and stop him? Or worse, some dude in Jogging pants dropping his glock in the middle of the theater and shooting himself!!!!
    Not to mention….(and again this happens at stadiums but its accepted) have you ever watched a game with a REALLY REALLY annoying football fan? It sucks! So I will spend my $40 bucks on steaks and beer, watch the game in the privacy of my home with my 63″ TV and maybe even indulge in some illegal activities that I know would not be allowed at the movie theater!

  22. Cooking brats and drinking beer in the parking lot of the local shopping mall? There’s a city that does that already: Green Bay.

  23. I would imagine a local theater will only show the local team? What if you root for an out of town team? Mondaynights could get a lot more interesting. Another problem I could invision. Security. Cramped fans in a simi dark theater could spell trouble. And alcohol. Some fans can’t enjoy a game unless they are tanked. (Lions fans it’s justified.)
    Only a few swanky theaters serve alcohol. It sounds very cool. I can’t wait to see what this will look like. But I can also see where fans could lose a lot of the “Stadium atmoshere” yet paying stadium prices.

  24. 3D games would be cool! Now when Brett Favre throws a retarded pass, I’ll be able to feel like even I can pick the ball and run it back for six! Marvelous! 😀
    Oh, yeah, and Ntrikit? Shut the hell up.

  25. “their largely indistinguishable songs for the last 25 years”
    that’s being far too kind

  28. Colinito, you do realize that Ntrikit is not a viking fan and therefore is not making us look bad. I come on this site every once and a while to check out the stories and read some posts and every time I see posts from Ntrikit against the vikes. I didn’t have an account on here until about 2 minutes ago but I had to get one just so I could throw that out there.

  29. i would love to see a game in 3-D. That does seem pretty awesome, especially considering how fascinated I was when I got to see Beowulf in 3-D. However, $3- $40 a game to watch a football is out of the question. Florio, you are right that this could be the next big thing. But only if it’s priced right. As Bob Barker said in Happy Gilmore, “The price is wrong, bitch!”

  30. Yo jazzmsngr,
    Drop me a line the next time you choose to do those activities you speak of. I can help you out.
    The national media would paint the Philly fans as throwing 3D batteries at the players, or 3D snowballs at Santa Claus. I give them a big 3D finger (you can guess which one). Phillies are the best so I can live with the Eagles turmoil right now.

  33. Uh oh, I can see it now – another potential excuse if the Bolts lose:
    1) The refs hate us
    2) We have to travel so far East to play our games
    3) Our D-coordinator stinks, he’s fired
    4) None of our fans can afford to go to the games because of the economy
    5) We have to play in 3-D…..
    No, you’re team is just awful.

  35. Great now it is going to be even better to see LT, Phillip cry me a Rivers, and the rest of the Chargers crying because they lose to the Raiders and not in the playoffs. Then LT is gonna start talking about how the Raiders have no class Loool!

  37. I’d pay $30 (maybe the $40 mentioned) to go watch atleast 1 3D game a year. Seems like a cool concept, but if they want a lot of repeat viewers, it would have to be much cheaper than $40 buck. COnsidering you’d still buy concessions for a 3+ hour showing.
    Sundays are not cash cows for movie theatres, so I could see them getting into it mid-major markets nation wide. Especially metro areas by the teams.

  38. 11fank11, great line, but you blew the delivery.
    “patiently waits for 3D porn”
    Priceless.

  39. I would pay $40 to see Alex Flanagan of NFL Network on “Dr. Tongue’s 3-D House of Football” ($1 to SCTV).

  40. I’m sooo excited about this – I just got a text message from Joe
    Bracato and he said that Mike Florio is gonna have the PFTV
    segments in 3D !
    Thanks Mike ! This will be the biggest thing since the “Spinal Tap” Reunion concert!!!!!

  43. I would say that there is nothing “indistinguishable” about U2’s music.
    Also, the 3D movie is nothing at all like being at an actual concert.
    As for football, I’ll wait until I see a game in 3D to judge.

  44. What about 3D football bars with 3D porn booths in the back? Could be the best thing since bunny slippers. I like U2. I also like their cover band “Myself As Well”.

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