The NFL Is Seriously Concerned With Empty Stadiums

[yortsed snacilbuper]

Link to tweet

Empty stadiums are a huge deal to the NFL. Yes, the league makes its money off of TV contracts, but when fans aren't at games it has a detrimental impact on the product. It sends the message that games are boring, uninteresting and that people don't want to have anything to do with them in person. That kind of message hurts the product as a whole.

Not to mention, players don't want to play in empty stadiums, so those franchises will suffer when it comes time to lure free agents. That could lead to some teams being buried at the bottom of the league year after year and creating a cycle that leaves fans even less incentive to show up.

link

[JonLP24]

1. I think any stadium would be empty after a first half like that

[riversedge]

3. Packers were packed. I felt like a sardine but ssooooooooooooooo happy.

[flygal]

39. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the GB stadium not as large?

I think another big problem is all these "new" stadiums are ridiculously large and funded by those of us who can't afford tickets.

[Angleae]

41. Actually, it's the 4th largest.

Only FedExField (Washington), MetLife Stadium (NY Giants/Jets), and the LA Coliseum are larger.

[Greybnk48]

73. Nope. Not anymore. Lambeaus' 2nd.

Lambeau is 3rd if you count standing room, and second largest with conventional seating. See my post below and here's WIKI.

With a capacity of 81,441, Lambeau Field is the third-largest stadium in the NFL with standing room, but is second in normal capacity. It is now the largest venue in the state, edging out Camp Randall Stadium (80,321) at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
Lambeau Field - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambeau_Field
Feedback

[trotsky]

52. There is literally nothing else to do in Green Bay, for one thing.

[tazkcmo]

53. Ours are small

compared to many European "soccer" stadiums but your point remains. I think the main problem IS cost. Cost of tickets, refreshments and food. Utterly ridiculous.

[Greybnk48]

72. Our daughter works at Lambeau and Petco in SD. Lambeau is 2nd largest in NFL.

And we fill that place every week--NOT because we're bored. "With a capacity of 81,441, Lambeau Field is the third-largest stadium in the NFL with standing room, but is second in normal capacity. It is now the largest venue in the state, edging out Camp Randall Stadium (80,321) at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
Lambeau Field - Wikipedia

We also have groups of people who fly in for the games each week from all over the world. Most recently, the Green Bay Packers United Kingdom Fan Club.

Lambeau is so different from other stadiums. It's clean, lots of bathrooms, the food is good, the tickets are within reach of most people, and the entire town parties when there's a game.

[tazkcmo]

83. Kansas City here.

Our NFL culture is much the same as yours. Season ticket holders in all 50 states, sell outs, tail gating, etc. Still, 8 bucks for a 50 cent draft beer should be illegal.

[Bengus81]

85. He he....see those stands empty out in Foxboro last Thursday??

ROFLOL...why I though those fans of Brady and SB winners would stay till the end.

[tazkcmo]

108. They're spoiled.

They've grown entitled in NE and have forgotten all about the Steve Grogen days and that Super Bowl blow out.

[pstokely]

95. so should $35+ parking for pre season games

nt

[Greybnk48]

98. Agree about the price of concessions!

Our daughter works for Delaware North Hospitality who does all of the concessions. They hire top of the line gourmet chefs, and the food is delicious, but I'm one of those not there for the food. I hate paying $7 for a hot dog to go with my $8 beer!

She usually treats and insists we get something more interesting, but I just want a hot dog and a box of popcorn!

[sharedvalues]

105. Packers are city owned, NOT billionaire owned.

They're the one team in the NFL not owned by a billionaire.

[JI7]

2. brain damage

[airmid]

19. I used to love football. Every Sunday in football season I'd have

my butt parked on a couch, watching. The last few years not so much and this year, not at all.
I know every hit is killing these men. For that reason, I can no longer watch.

[Solomon]

26. Same here.

I don't care for it anymore. Got into an argument with a friend recently who was totally oblivious to the concussion problem. He knew nothing about it.

[Brainstormy]

59. The death of football

will take a while. But families will discourage their boys from taking it up as children. The feeder stream will die and it can't come too soon for me.

[Eyeball_Kid]

106. It won't die. Instead, it will become the poor boy's escape from poverty.

A concussion here or there and the risk of a brain disorder might seem worth the money for a poor minority kid, much like pro boxing.

[OceanChick]

62. I feel the same way

Things that turned me off football:
1. Concussion issue.
2. Kapernick issue.
3. Pats and Broncos owner's friendship with Trump.
4. Male-dominated, chauvinistic, right-wing.
5. Male announcers making millions for doing basically nothing while they chuckle, "Well, Bob, what a play!"
6. Not allowing players to use medical marijuana for their injuries.

I'm done.

[Lotusflower70]

68. It's already happening

At the younger levels in certain areas, many parents are saying no to their kids playing football. Certain places like Texas, football is king very early in life. I feel bad for the players but noe they are making informed decisions. That know the risks and can make their choice accordingly. But many players are overcoming incredible odds and see football as a way out. I root for them. I love what my team's players do in the community. I love all the fundraising many did for Hurricane relief. They are making a difference with their platform. Kaepernick is still making a difference.

[democratisphere]

4. How many NFL teams does southern California need?

Answer: No more than 1. (We've been down this road before.)

[Bad Thoughts]

34. So USC is enough ...

... and sometimes UCLA?

[democratisphere]

49. I wouldn't be surprised if the NFL was attempting to convert them

to pro teams. Anything for a buck.

[trotsky]

55. But it sure made Dean Spanos a lot of money.

http://fox5sandiego.com/2017/01/18/moving-to-l-a-doubled-value-of-chargers-franchise-professor-says/

[maveric]

88. Fuck Dean Spanos and the rest of his repug family.

Never made a real effort to field a decent team via free-agency. Two great draft picks in Philip Rivers and LT made them somewhat good 8-10 years ago. Spanos wanted the city to foot the bill for a new stadium. Nothing out of his pocket.
I've lived in San Diego for the past 38 years and became a fan. We never felt comfortable with the Spanos' in charge. They never gave a shit about the fans here.

Fuck Dean Spanos.
Fuck Robert Kraft as well giving tRump a fucking Super Bowl ring.
I will not watch the NFL anymore.

[NBachers]

5. They should post second mortgage sharpies at the gate to help pay for the tickets.

"AND if you act now, we'll include, at no extra charge, a drink and second-tier snack of your choice! And remember, our restrooms are always free."

[Amishman]

42. This, I'd love to go to an Eagles game or two a year but it's just too expensive

I can do a weekend at the beach for the same price as decent tickets for a family of 4. When planning our fun budget for the year there always seem to be better values for our money.

[still_one]

57. That is really the bottom line, tickets cost too much for a lot of people

Last edited Fri Sep 15, 2017, 12:36 AM - Edit history (1)

[AgadorSparticus]

104. Tickets, parking, concessions... all ridiculously overpriced.

I make a good income but I can't imagine spending that kind of money for a single football game or any game, for that matter. No way. I can do so much more with that kind of money.

[NBachers]

6. Cue Trump inauguration joke here:

[Grassy Knoll]

7. Wait Till Winter, West Coast Has Better Shit To Do When It's Not Cold..

..Except For Baseball, Baseball Is A Summer Thing Till October, Then Football, In That Order.
With The Exception Of The Die Hard Raider Nation Fans, Where Halloween Is Every Game.

[Bengus81]

86. Hell..here in the midwest used to watch the Chiefs and have a fire going in October....

Now I could still have one in Oct and turn on the AC along with it. Lucky to have any fires on Sundays when they play anymore.

[BigmanPigman]

8. I thought that was a picture of the latest tRump rally.

[unblock]

9. Oh ffs. Just take a tiny portion of all that tv revenue and pay people to fill the stands

Wahhhh. Hugely profitable protected monopoly has such problems.

[TlalocW]

10. Oh, no

(Monotone voice) Please keep these tax boondoggles alive so millionaires can play a stupid game.

TlalocW

[mn9driver]

11. Four seats at an NFL game average about $550

That's before the $10 hot dogs and $15 beer. I like football, but I have better things to do with that kind of money.

[left-of-center2012]

15. I'll watch football on TV

And cook my own hot dogs.

[cwydro]

76. Me too!

I can't imagine paying that kind of money just to watch in person.

[pstokely]

16. sometimes you can find really cheap tickets on stubhub

but not cheap parking

[Willie Pep]

24. Yeah that is the big issue here.

It is just too expensive for most people to go now. I only go to sporting events when somebody has tickets available usually through work or some other deal. Otherwise I will just watch on TV and save money and aggravation from having to drive to the stadium, find parking, pay through the nose for food and drinks, etc.

[Achilleaze]

36. With a Mega-Monster TV, a warm chair, and a refrigerator

It's pretty damn comfortable at home. No traffic either.

[madokie]

40. For the most part

TV is the best seat at the game.

[lindysalsagal]

25. Exactly what I was thinking. Who can afford to go????

Cry me a river. I don't care one whit.

[Cosmocat]

38. vs a 55 inch hi def

your choice of beer at 1/4 the cost, much better grub, a comfortable couch or chair, not having to deal with traffic ...

I get to a game or two a year, college or pro, but its a pretty clear choice.

[trotsky]

56. No lines for the restroom either!

And with a DVR, you can pause the action whenever you need to, and skip the commercials to catch up!

[Cosmocat]

58. OH, that's the best part

My college team is playing at Noon Saturday.

Wife bought us tickets to an annual gun raffle that day.

I will head there with her, get some good food and a few cheap beers later in the morning, duck out around 1, head home to watch the game, cut through all the commercials and half time, then head back over to get her and the other girls a ride home.

[stopbush]

91. Average price for an LA Chargers ticket: $192

Mainly because they are playing in a small soccer stadium right now.

[bathroommonkey76]

12. One of the announcers during the Panthers/San Fran game

said the 49ers were basically an expansion team this year- so that's not really a shock to see.

All of those rich Silicon Valley swine will start paying once a competitive team is on the field. #Fairweatherfans

[jmowreader]

13. A blind man could see what the damn problem is

If I wanted to go to a Seahawks home game, I would proceed to the team's website and click through to the seat selection system...where I'd learn the worst seats in the house are nearly $200. One ticket in the 200-level - high up, but close enough to the field that you can read the players' numbers without a telescope - is $565.

A family of four, after paying admission, parking, a hotel room, snacks, ticket fees and all the other things that go into attending a pro football game, could easily spend $3000 for an afternoon's entertainment.

The problem: The people who can afford to go to football games and the people who want to go to them are not the same people.

Adjust the price of football tickets to be closer to the price of baseball tickets, and we wouldn't be talking about empty seats.

[WinkyDink]

14. Both the bread AND the circuses are becoming too expensive.

[pstokely]

17. baseball games aren't much cheaper

sometimes you can find really cheap tickets to both on the secondary market place if the team is crappy

[jmowreader]

18. That must explain it

I can get really good Mariners tickets for $60.

[pstokely]

20. but what about parking?

?

[jmowreader]

30. Safeco Field's garage is $20

Safeco Field, which is the Mariners' house, and CenturyLink Field, the Seahawks' house, are right next to each other. On game days, both stadiums' parking garages open.

There are several garages in the area, and they range from $7 to $30.

Really tho, I don't worry about that: it takes me five to six hours to make it from my place to Safeco Field, so when I want to see baseball I reserve a hotel room, leave the car there and ride the Link train from Tukwila International Boulevard station to the Stadium stop. I would do this even if parking was free - the roads around the stadiums are bad enough in the day.

[brooklynite]

51. The Mariners have 81 games to make money off of...football teams have 7.

[jmowreader]

90. Which also means they have to open the stadium 74 more times

Any NFL team makes its money two ways: television revenue and merchandise licensing. By adjusting the price of its tickets to be closer to that of baseball tickets - at least in the 300 level - they would make as much money and probably also increase their TV revenues. (A full stadium looks better on the tube.)

[DeminPennswoods]

28. MLB teams play 81 home games,

NFL teams play 8 regular season and 2 preseason games.

[Orrex]

35. But each MLB game takes as long as the entire NFL season, so it balances out.

[ileus]

63. I spent a little over 500 for a family of 4 for a Cleveland indian game.

this summer and about stroked out.


My daughters been trying to get us to a Pro football game for a few seasons now.

[BannonsLiver]

81. You're doing it wrong.

[Egnever]

21. Then lower the damn price for tickets

Easy solution.

[Ken Burch]

22. Concerned enough to lower ticket and concession prices?

[DetlefK]

23. Same reason why people go less and less to cinemas: Watching at home is more comfortable.

[Iggo]

75. Yeah, but at the movies, you can see better. Not so much at the stadium.

[LisaM]

27. It is too expensive, but there's more to it.

Cities are filling up with people who have no roots there, teams move around, people have become invested in fantasy leagues, game times are often not set ahead of time (a HUGE issue), and there are too many commercial breaks. Plus even at the games, there is so much stuff on the big screen, it's easy to forget you're watching live. Football needs to make the experience at the game be better than watching at home.

[RobinA]

111. This

I was a Steelers fan in the '70's. Flyers also. Practically the same guys for years in a row. It's called a team. It wasn't just a group playing under the name of a city. Now? Constant player merry-go-round. The only thing in common is color of the jersey and the place they play. What are people rooting for, they are interchangeable for the most part. With a few exceptions, of course. Can't get excited about any of it.

[LisaM]

112. My dad and I watched the Steelers together when I was a kid...

When Monday Night Football first aired, the Steelers were the best team in the NFL and they showed them a lot. My brother was just a baby, so I was my dad's "boy" at the time as far as sports went, and we watched so many things together on TV! Both the Steelers and the Pirates were good teams at the time (do you remember the brief stint of "Monday Night Baseball"?) and so, since we watched them together, I developed a fondness for both teams and their players, especially Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, and Roberto Clemente. As it turned out, we both watched Roberto Clemente's last game together. Note: my dad and I are both hardcore Detroit fans, but we liked Pittsburgh teams after this because it was an experience we shared.

Fast forward to when I moved to Seattle Although I've watched so much football in my life, I'd never seen a pro game live until a pre-season game between the Seahawks and Steelers that we got tickets to one year. I kept telling myself ahead of time, "try to root for the Seahawks, you live in Seattle, just give it a shot, come on!" But when the players burst out of the tunnel wearing the same colors Franco Harris and Terry Bradshaw had worn, I turned to my boyfriend and said, "Sorry. I'm rooting for the Steelers!"

[onethatcares]

29. the problem with that picture is

one can see that it is not a state of the art stadium. The taxpayer will have to get off their butts and fund a much better playing arena before they see a nickel from this guy.

Elevating the players salaries might help too. Any idea how hard it is to get buy on 18 million dollars a year?

Has anyone noticed the naming rights to everything during a game? QualCom Stadium, with the Dorrito scoreboard, while players sip on gatorade in cups from WC Grace, while running on FedEx sod catching a R J Reynolds football wearing Nyke cleats?

[jmowreader]

33. Don't watch much NASCAR, I see

"This 25-car pileup is brought to you by Bondo, Official Dent Filler of NASCAR."

[Abouttime]

37. That's the new Santa Clara home of the niners

I think the attendance is down because of Kaepernick, a lot of fans are pissed he is being blackballed by the owners. The NFL is really screwing the pooch regarding this whole Anthem nonsense. Ditch the phony patriotism, military fetish flyovers, and bad renditions of the anthem which caused this whole mess in the first place and the fans will come back.

[Brother Buzz]

82. That's Levi Stadium and it has a problem

Well, a couple of problems, but the big one is, until the Fall weather breaks, it's a convection oven. And that's what Ann Killion was referencing. That, and, well, the Forty-Niners stunk on Sunday

The attendance was not down because of Kaepernick. Forty-Niner fans were finished with Kaepernick years before he discovered his activism. It is writ large, Forty-Niner fans will enjoy watching their team lose without Kaepernick's help.

[LisaM]

113. LOL - I can't tell you how much I agree with you.

I am so freaking SICK of flyovers at games. They're ridiculous. I hate them to begin with, and I don't like all the phony adulation of the military.

After 9/11, when they started singing "God Bless America" at baseball games on Sundays, I wrote MLB to complain. Obviously it fell on deaf ears.

[DeminPennswoods]

31. STH here

The Steelers send out surveys to their ticket buyers every year asking them for feedback on their game experience. Not sure if other NFL teams do that.

The problem, imho, is that fans aren't coming to games primarily to watch football. Steeler fans are some of the most diehard in the NFL, but I notice so many fans around me looking at their phones, texting, etc or chitchatting and not paying attention to what's happening on the field. I'm a dinosaur who still likes watching the details of the game using binoculars.

Unless you want to sit close to the field, ticket prices are reasonable and you also get a season ticket discount of around 15% of face value.

The biggest issue at the game is the pace of the action. While fans watching at home are getting up and doing something else during commercial breaks, fans actually at the game are having to watch the players stand around while nothing happens. It's beyond annoying. However, the NFL has seemed to recognize the problem and re-adjusted the number of TV timeout breaks.

[A HERETIC I AM]

32. They aren't the only ones

http://www.espn.com/racing/nascar/story/_/id/19301641/nascar-burning-questions-attendance-woes-worse-other-sports-dale-earnhardt-jr-make-playoffs-driver-best-chance-win-first-title

[dalton99a]

43. No one could have predicted this

[n2doc]

44. That Side of the Niner's stadium is a BBQ for people

Lots and lots of complaints about the heat there on sunny days.

IMO, the niners made a huge mistake (among many) moving out of SF to Santa Clara. That pissed off a lot of fans. Their coaching moves pissed off more, along with the price gouging. They took the stadium design for the Candlestick replacement (where it is cooler and less sunny) and plonked it in the south bay. Jed York and his family have screwed the franchise in almost every possible way.

Note tickets on the aftermarket for SF games are pretty cheap. But they still get you with parking, and the public transportation is very bad to/from the site.

[Autumn]

45. Maybe they should lower their prices. 7 bucks for a bottle of beer and 5 for a bottle of water

is just kind of short sighted and stupid. Not to mention the tickets.

[Snake Plissken]

46. The price of going to a professional sporting event is ridiculous and to add insult to injury

you have to sit through media timeouts every time there is a commercial break.

That is one of the main reasons soccer is not popular in the United States, it does not have artificial breaks in the action to show commercials so it's difficult to make TV revenues from it, but it's much more enjoyable to watch live as is hockey, except even hockey is now sneaking in commercial breaks at timed intervals

[alarimer]

47. Then lower ticket prices

I know those are not set by the NFL, but it seems like deep discounts could get people in seats. It costs about $20 to see a baseball game in Baltimore (and not more than $40 for the most expensive). NFL is $60 or $70 minimum.

[Snake Plissken]

50. You can't even park your car at Giant Stadium for $20, it now costs $35 to park for NFL games

It's completely out of control

[Initech]

48. Easy answer: Ticket prices are too damn high!!!

Lower the price of tickets, parking and beer and you will see more fans in the seats. Oh but that might cut into the precious profits of the NFL team owners, so that will never happen!

[nycbos]

54. I won't be watching much football this year.

I am a New York Jets fan.

Maybe just maybe I might go to a game if someone offers to pay me lol.

[Ohiya]

60. I would go to a Cleveland Browns Game...

...if they paid me $200, and not a penny less!


Oh, and free beer!

That's my final offer!

[Yavin4]

61. Football may be the worst sport to watch live, even worse than baseball

There's very little overall action. Long breaks between plays for commercials, etc. The best way to follow football is to watch the NFL red zone where it's constant action.

[ecstatic]

64. If they really cared about that, they wouldn't have

pulled the stunt they pulled with Atlanta's new stadium. The PSL set up has shut out and alienated true fans. Even those who went along with the farce and purchased seats are getting screwed left and right.

[Not Ruth]

65. NFL is done

If they want to fill that stadium, put Antifa vs Nazis on the field and televise it.

[hatrack]

66. Date rape, brain damage, B-2 Flyovers and $60 to park . . .

'Murca!

[Initech]

77. I think it's hugely ironic that they defend rapists, multiple DUIs, murderers, and criminals.

But god forbid a player exercise his first amendment right to protest! But you know, profits are to be made!

[ileus]

67. Goodell is an idiot ass.

who needs shitcanned...

[workinclasszero]

69. Gee it's hard..err..impossible for many folks to pay the outrageous prices

*These prices are the Fan Cost Index, calculated by the Team Marketing Report. They include 4 adult average-priced tickets, 2 draft beers, 4 soft drinks, 4 hot dogs, parking for one car, and 2 of the cheapest adult-sized caps.
http://www.sportsfans.org/yup_it_can_cost_that_much_to_go_to_a_game

The NFL is pricing itself outta business, go figure.

Soon every game will be PPV on TV and it will totally die for me like boxing. Its almost there already. I live in an NFL team city and can't even watch every game of my team on free TV.

And I have never attended a game at the stadium, way to expensive for me.

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

70. A little off topic...

I was watching a game last week and they were sneaking in quick commercials between plays.

[Iggo]

71. Billionaires think a day at the stadium is affordable. (n/t)

[workinclasszero]

74. Yep

Can't afford healthcare? Rent? Food? Gas? Light bill etc?

Screw it lets go to an NFL game and drop 500 plus dollars we don't have! Yay?

I'm sure a Dump/republican tax cut for billionaires will fix the NFL's problems though.

[uponit7771]

79. IKR !?!!?

[Baclava]

78. Losing teams don't sell out? OMG what a brilliant analysis!

Vegas Raiders has a nice ring

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

80. Crazy. The new Vikings stadium opened up the other day.

The game was scheduled to start at 6:0 p.m.. I was in downtown Minneapolis at about 2:00 for an appointment, and people wearing purple jerseys and those stupid fake viking helmets with horns (real Viking helmets didn't have horns) and yellow yarn braids were already everywhere. The ramp where I would usually park was charging event rates of $30, cash! Fortunately most of the parking meters are good for only good for 2 hours so at least a few of those were available. But putting the damn stadium downtown was totally stupid because it fucks up the whole city for the day. Among other things.

[Brother Buzz]

84. 49ers have temperature issues: Is a fix in store at Levis Stadium? By Ann Killion

49ers have temperature issues: Is a fix in store at Levi’s Stadium?


The eastern stands at Levi’s Stadium are almost empty as the second half of Sunday’s game begins.

By Ann Killion
September 11, 2017

Levi’s Stadium christened its fourth NFL season Sunday afternoon, and the problems that have plagued the building since its opening in 2014 remain: hot weather, lousy football and empty seats.

Things have gotten so bad that the team, in a statement Monday, acknowledged that it has engaged a stadium architecture firm to “review a number of aspects of the stadium with the goal of enhancing the fan experience … to investigate feasible solutions to address concerns regarding warm weather days, both for the short and long terms.”

Yes, a fix to a $1.3 billion stadium that’s 36 months old.

San Francisco 49ers' head coach Kyle Shanahan in 2nd quarter against Carolina Panthers during NFL game at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, September 10, 2017. Less hope than hoped for as 49ers lose big to open new era San Francisco 49ers cornerback Rashard Robinson (33) signs autographs for fans during football practice at Levi's Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 5, 2017, in Santa Clara, Calif. 49ers starting over — but with a little more promise this time 49ers wide receiver Anquan Boldin speaks to members of the media after being named the Walter Payton Man of the Year during the NFL Honors, Saturday, Feb. 6, 2016, at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, Calif. Anquan Boldin finds higher calling than NFL

The 49ers have temperature issues. An ice-cold team coming off a 2-14 season, a lukewarm fan base irritated at being gouged and a blisteringly uncomfortable stadium experience.

It was 87 degrees at game time. That kind of weather not only provides a reason to avoid watching mediocre football, but it portends doom at Levi’s. For those in most of the stadium seats, a warm day means massive discomfort. And, in case you hadn’t noticed, we will surely have more and more warm days.

<more>

http://www.sfchronicle.com/49ers/article/49ers-have-temperature-issues-is-a-fix-in-store-12189598.php

[kstewart33]

87. Last season was a bore.

Hoping this season is different, but my enthusiasm for the NFL has waned a good bit because of all the news about brain injuries.

[taught_me_patience]

89. I went to a Rams game last year and it'll probably be my last

It was Rams vs. Niners at the Coliseum and here was my experience:

1) Cost for 4 tickets $320. Pricey but I could afford this once a year
2) Ate lunch at the Science center cafeteria, which was great.
3) Getting into stadium... not bad. With the new clear bag policy, the line moves quick.
4) Fan behavior - Attrocious. Drunken foul language galore. A bunch of fans were wearing Broncos and Raider jerseys. Why go to a game if your team isn't even playing?
5) Game experience - Horrible. You know all those commercials that suck while watching TV, but are ok because you can flip to a new game?... in the stadium, you sit there and watch nothing happening.
6) Concessions - beyond wretched. $8 sodas and $12 beers... f-that.

[Hawaii Hiker]

92. I went to the USC game vs. Western Michigan couple weeks ago

Yeah, $7 lemonades loaded with ice so its practically water, lol......I have to admit though, the stadium did a good job having plenty of EMT's around, as it was SOOO hot that day, they were prepared for any heat or medical issues....

As far as NFL empty seats, i think people are just watching games at home..With NFL red zone and Sunday Ticket, you can see multiple games, plus today's TV's are so awesome that watching in the game room is better experience...

As long as the gambling interest doesn't subside, the NFL will be fine......If it does subside, then the NFL would turn into the NHL...

[jcmaine72]

93. An ugly sport that symbolizes everything violent and lowbrow in our culture.

A so-called sport in which the biggest and strongest violently take territory and celebrate flamboyantly when they do it.

I hope the NFL goes belly up and takes a large part of its knuckle-dragging, cow-tipping, spray-cheese-eating redneck fanbase with it down the sewage pipe of history.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

94. Wow

That's a mighty broad brush you are swinging around there.

I'm sure you interests are all high-brown and awesome. And you are a blast at parties.

[jcmaine72]

96. No, but I would just never stoop so low as to support something that openly celebrates

violence and theft of land. Not to mention the disgusting and almost criminal fact that precious financial resources are diverted away from legitimate educational pursuits every year in schools all across America to ensure that this shitty sport has pride of place.

But what the hey? If you want to support it, that's fine. Just don't complain about an uneducated voter base making uneducated decisions on election day because all they've ever been educated to do is sit mesmerized and drool out of one side of their mouths, stuffing their faces with bacon fritters, and watchin' Animalball.

[BannonsLiver]

114. +1

The superiority complex with some on this issue is quite laughable. This is one of those times. They're not as special as they think they are.

[Johonny]

97. Most teams are out of it in spring training, while other teams like the Patriots are locks

meaning there is little reason to watch these games on TV. Live, even less given the price. Most people are either gambling, or playing fantasy football (I.E. gambling) these days so they could care less about seeing the games live. It's a problem.

[TeamPooka]

99. Living in LA and watching them get two teams that suck has been fun that last two years.

This town will never be able to support two bad losing teams.

[pstokely]

100. places with nice weather are bandwagon sports towns

places with crappy weather are more loyal to their teams, less to do during the winter

[Iggo]

109. The term is actually "fair weather." In Los Angeles's case, damn near literally.

We only like our teams, but we only like 'em when they're winning. When they're losing, we don't switch allegiance to whoever else is winning. If we switched to different teams just because those different teams were winning, then we'd be "bandwagon." So we're actually "fair weather" fans. We like our teams when they're doing good, and when they're not, we do something else.

[RandySF]

101. Levis Stadium sucks.

Tickets, food and parking are outrageously expensive. Plus there is no shade whatsoever and temperatures can reach 100 degrees this time of year in Santa Clara.

[raven mad]

102. I don't watch NFL, haven't since about 1980.

But ROLL TIDE! (College ball still gets to me.)

[AgadorSparticus]

103. I have a hard time drumming interest in a game that is high risk for traumatic brain injury

Plus, the treatment of Kapearnick rubs me the wrong way. It is absolutely foul the way they are treating him and I cannot support that. #boycottNFL

[Awsi Dooger]

107. Sorry, but early third quarter photos are never representative

That's situational influence at its greatest. I'm amazed nobody has emphasized it.

NFL halftimes were already stressed short to begin with then years ago they were cut further to 12 minutes. Games were running too long so they sliced anywhere they could.

Anybody taking a bathroom and/or concession break at halftime is extremely hard pressed to get back to their seats unless they leave long before the second quarter ends. The problem is exasperated further now that new NFL stadiums have lounges and fancier restaurants that are designed to keep spectators out of their seats so they spend more money.

The numbers typically pick up again with 10-12 minutes remaining in the third quarter but seldom restore fully back to second quarter level. Many fans choose to remain in the lounges.

Here in Miami I have four season ticket holders who sit immediately to my right. Year after year they do the same thing every game: Arrive several minutes into the first quarter, the two women take several trips to the concessions during the first half, then all four wave goodbye just before halftime and never return to their seats.

[Le Gaucher]

110. Couldn't happen to a better sport. Fuck Football.