What can the NFL do to bring fans back to the stadiums?
There has been a some goods and some bad regarding the 2018 NFL season, Ratings are up from last year and we have seen some decent play from some young and exciting players. Patrick Mahomes blasted off like a rocket ship in 2018 and everyone, less opposing defenses has been in awe of his abilities on the field. With all the good happening in the NFL it seems hard to complain about the progress of the game. Week after week games have to be edited to not show the crowd size. The crowds in the NFL have been anemic this year, there are many reasons for the lack of attendance this year. The price of a ticket, parking, and food etc in the stadium is very expensive and the at home TV experience is fantastic. NFL teams have a ongoing problem of empty crowds and what they are going to do to bring fans back to live action stadiums.
It is a horrible visual looking at the stands and seeing a empty stadium. We dont know if this a a fair barometer of the health of the sport however it is quite obvious that the optics of this is terrible. What can NFL do to bring people out to watch games on Sunday?
Here is a empty stadium in San Fran on a beautiful day game.
Here is a picture from Atalanta’s beautiful new billion dollar stadium.
Los Angeles has a brand new stadium to break in with a team that is the favorite to win the superbowl.
Here is another view from LA some rams tickets are only 6 dollars.
Here is a something that San Diego did to attempt to obfuscate the empty seats.
Here is a picture of whats going on in Cincinnati
Here is a picture from Giants stadium ironically in New Jersey.
The worlds most valuable sports franchise is the Dallas cowboys. Here is a picture from their stadium on game day.
Tampa bay at Miami, where are the fans?
Here is another view from the same game.
Here is a picture from Indianapolis.
Here is another picture from Washington.
Empty seats galore in Cleveland, who’s Quarterback says “he wakes up and feels dangerous”.
The city of Buffalo has notoriously loyal fans, so for this team to have attendance problems is truly a problem for the NFL, here is another view of this game.
Some cities like Miami do have a hard time pulling in fans but this year seems to be much much worse.
This is all the people that came out to see Patrick Mahomes?
Baltimore Ravens finally admit that kneeling may have hurt their attendance.
Given the many empty seats in NFL stadiums this year – empty for reasons ranging from protesting and kneeling players to terrible teams (Cleveland Browns) not even giving their fans a reason to show up – one front office has bunked conventional neutral standards. Baltimore Ravens President Dick Cass, in a holiday letter to season-ticket holders, acknowledged that the team is concerned about no-shows during a playoff race (the Ravens are in contention for an AFC Wild Card slot). One reason he outlined was the dozen players kneeling before a game in London against the Jacksonville Jaguars during the National Anthem (after which, they stood for the playing of the U.K.’s God Save The Queen). From the letter:
We had the poor showing in London, complicated by the kneeling of a dozen players during the National Anthem. That became an emotional and divisive issue. We know that hurt some of you. Others saw it differently and welcomed the dialogue that followed. Others bluntly told us to keep statements and protests out of the game. There are some of you who have stayed away from our games. We have had significant numbers of no-shows in the past when our play on the field has not met the high standard we and you have set for the Ravens. But this year has been different. The numbers are higher, and it is noticeable. There are a number of reasons for the no-shows, but surely the one-time protest in London has been a factor.
The Ravens going out and listening to their customer base over a vocal social justice minority isn’t exactly a terrible business move. One of the first pieces of evidence fans were threatening to flee was when Giants owner John Mara, in an interview earlier this year, said he had never heard a louder outcry from Big Blue fans than the one against signing Colin Kaepernick.
Right now, the league is attempting to balance a delicate scale of keeping their generations of fans (growing up with loud and proud red-white-and-blue patriotism as part of the game) happy, while also attempting to not look like fodder for Black Lives Matter-type groups to call them anti-free speech and slaveholders. Back in November, the NFL promised to pledge $100 million to charities and causes over the next few years that aid the black community, in an attempt to end kneeling during the national anthem.
As the Super Bowl approaches, all eyes, and plenty of cameras, will be waiting to see if any player continues to speak his truth on the biggest of stages, and whether fans that pay hundreds and thousands of dollars for tickets will voice their disagreement.