Blackout Reported For Sunday
October 12th, 2010
No surprise, but sad nonetheless, the huge Bucs game on Sunday against the Saints will not be televised in the Tampa Bay area, so reports Stephen Holder of the St. Pete Times.
In Holder’s piece, he goes on to say the Bucs season ticket base is “between 40,000 and 50,000” and therefore it’s hard to turn a sellout in the 65,000-seat stadium.
Joe has to quibble with Holder’s math a little, considering the 12,000 club seats (aka premium seats) at the C.I.T.S. don’t count toward the total needed sold to keep the game on local television. Plus, attendance on opening day was 47,211, per Holder’s newspaper.
Joe would not be suprised if the Bucs full season ticket base equates to just a sniff above 40,000, maybe even 39k and change. And Joe’s research suggests about 8,000 club seats are sold to season ticket holders.
But Joe’s an optimist at heart and suspects ticket sales will pick up quite a bit if the Bucs can stay in the playoff hunt.
If you can’t attend the game, or shun unlawful Internet streams, you can join Joe on The Blackout Tour. It’s a lot of fun.
October 12th, 2010 at 1:50 pm
But the actual turnstile number, or the number of fans who actually passed through the gates, was 41,544. Nothing to do with ticket sales but a depressing stat nonetheless. 6000 paid and didn’t even bother to show up.
After the last two games it was clear to me that no games will be sellouts this year, even, perhaps, if they are winning.
October 12th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
bad news…well we will still watch the game..just wish it was in HD but ima Bucs fan and a blackout wont stop me from the game on my cpu…im going to the Rams game…go Bucs
October 12th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
It’s because the Bucs suck!! 🙂
October 12th, 2010 at 3:08 pm
This is ridiculous. They reported the game will be blacked out on Monday also saying that the rest of the games for the year will be blacked out.
I don’t know how they project that so far out (all the way to Dec) unless they think the team is about to suck ass in the near future.
October 12th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
@ Paul
I agree that they probably aren’t able to project all the way to December, but no doubt they could see the writing on the wall on Monday. They certainly can project with a high degree of certainty if the upcoming game on sunday is headed for a sell out based on what they have seen so far even when factoring in a 3-1 mark.
Which apparently isn’t enough of a mark to make a difference.
After the Pitt game (and the unemployment report) I certainly would project that no game will sell out through December (even if they are winning) and they have people they pay to do the same projections.
October 12th, 2010 at 3:23 pm
Thank god for good old Gene on the radio 🙂
October 12th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
NO sunrisejeff Thank god for the web…this is not 1989
October 12th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
Unfortunately the NFL cannot control the online streaming of their games. It is virtually impossible. It is a battle the NFL has lost and they need to come to grips with it. I’ve talked to several prominent lawyer friends who think the NFL has lost. Roger Goodell claims to “sympathize” with the economic strains on the fans and purports to be trying to improve the “fan experience”. It’s all a bunch of B.S. The Glazer’s raised ticket prices by 33% and instituted the “youth movement” in an attempt to recover losses in their other investments. Then they lie to the public and insist that these issues are nonexistent. If Goodell really wants to improve “fan experience” he should protect fans by punishing owners who leverage their teams to combat financial losses. He should also get rid of the blackout rule…but we’ve beaten that dead horse. What say you Joe?
October 12th, 2010 at 4:15 pm
Joe here,
Mark – Joe has no problem with the blackout rule. It makes sense. However, Joe thinks it could easily be changed to 90 percent of tickets sold, or something like that. Teams should have some more flexibility. But they’ve got quite a bit since the NFL lets them by unsold tix at one-third the price.
As for the other stuff, this is America. The NFL is a business, and it’s run very successfully. On the whole, the Bucs and Glazers have been very successful and played within the salary cap structure (before 2010) that has helped bring the league great success.
Joe only cares about how the team is built on the field. So far, it looks like the new plan (not the early 2009 plan) is working.
October 12th, 2010 at 4:57 pm
Really sad, but absolutely economy, not interest driven! With my new health issue, I can’t walk up and the steps Lke previous years. So I have to miss the games, and now can’t even watch on TV. Sad note for a long time Buc Fan! But I will be giving my undivided attention to mean Gene ! I would love to see what I believe will be a huge Buc Win, but will have to be there in spirit only! Those of you who can go, make sure we out cheer the saints Fans! That Pittsburgh Game was really a sad statement!!
October 12th, 2010 at 5:24 pm
I agree that the black out rule needs to evolve with the culture, technology and the economy. The sad truth is that it would not surprise me if the NFL does not do something like a Sunday ticket package accross the board where people who pay for the package get to see all of the games home and away regardless of attendance and those who do not are out of luck. The NFL will overcome losing profits because they are greedy. I hope that does not become the case it just would not surprise me any.
October 12th, 2010 at 5:32 pm
I was taught in college, to increase sales it always helps to take the product off the market.
Thats why when you go to walmart the store is empty.
October 12th, 2010 at 5:35 pm
The blackouts are in place for a reason. Go buy a ticket if you want to see them that bad.
Or go with Joe to Ft. Meyers. It is getting old hearing abut why blackouts are unfair.
October 12th, 2010 at 6:16 pm
I keep expecting Eric to or Rahdom to chime in and blame all this on Raheem. Has anybody heard from them lately? LMAO
October 12th, 2010 at 7:11 pm
Wallmart is packed with people buying up the cheap product. The store is temporarily void of product at times because they can’t keep up with demand.
What the Bucs ownership have done was not adjust to their market and lower ticket prices. They have outpriced the market they are in plain and simple. All they have to do is lower the price. Demand is also down for other reasons as well, which seem to be debatable among the fanbase.
Let’s see how the owners play their cards with this organization. Rather than move the team, the NFL should move some of these owners. Strengthen the rules on spending vs revenue.
But one thing is for sure, blackouts are important to get butts in the seats, its just prices are too steep.
I tend to think the owners want the blackouts so to reinfore their case come the CBA talks.
October 12th, 2010 at 8:03 pm
Capt Tim, you know I’ll be there Cheering for you as loud as I can. I think we have a real good shot this week, more so than Cincinnati. Steve White had a real good assessment for the D line, and I hope they follow his advice.
October 12th, 2010 at 8:10 pm
So if the stadium doesn’t sell out, the game is f**king BLACKED OUT?! That sounds a little unrealistic if you ask me! What a cruel, piss poor way of treating the fans. Especially with the economy that Tampa has.
What do these blackouts do? What do they change? NOTHING. People are still not going to go to the games and people are just going to get more pissed off. Do you see the MLB doing that?
October 12th, 2010 at 9:51 pm
Hillarious:
passthebuc Says:
October 12th, 2010 at 5:32 pm
I was taught in college, to increase sales it always helps to take the product off the market.
Thats why when you go to walmart the store is empty.
October 12th, 2010 at 10:40 pm
I think it’s stupid, especially now that the games can be picked up by other means. It totally screws all the local media and advertisers. Talk about an archaic rule. Me see flash, me get fire, ouch, me get burned, ugh, where me mastodon tusk, ugh ugh.
I have tickets but it still sucks and it really is a “$hitty” (Amanda-bolts-fan’s favorite word,LOL) way to treat your fans, sponsors, media, all of the above, everybody. I mean it’s gotten so bad that I might have to actually take my wife to a game. Forgive the Blasphemy please.
October 13th, 2010 at 2:31 am
Its the economy STUPID! Im a guy who makes $85,000 a year which is a great living. Ive always gone to games and even travelled to other cities to watch my Bucs. I own shirts, hats, flags, beer huggies,pictures etc… But I havent had a raise in three years, my home owners insurance has dramatically increased, my pension contributions are now $1,000 a month, my health insurance wnet up 40%, gas has gone up, food has gone up and it goes on and on. I have to cut back like everyone else. How do I justify going to the Bucs games. You CANT and thats why me and thousands of other fans are not going. Get a clue owners and NFL….Its just going to get worse!
October 17th, 2010 at 5:27 pm
Unreal. If I was a nfl season sunday ticket holder I would be pissed.
NFL is just looking for someone with enough money (and in my estimation there will never be enough for the nfl) to sue their pants off. An individual buys a service and then is subjected to the “blackout rule”. What would they be buying anyways? NOTHING. Give those who bought the service get the game.