Where Are The Missing 6,000?
October 25th, 2010
The debate about why the Bucs aren’t selling tickets could rage on endlessly. Some blame the poor economy and high ticket prices. Some blame Team Glazer. Some say it’s a lack of star power on the roster. Some say it’s a dislike of the head coach. And some blame a combination of real or perceived issues.
But for Joe, a new question has emerged, what’s with all the unused tickets?
The Bucs’ reported attendance (aka tickets sold) yesterday was 42,020 and actual in-the-house attendance was 36,008, per the St. Pete Times. That means there were 6,000+ unused tickets, about 15 percent of those sold.
Joe finds that to be a pretty darn high no-show percentage, especially on a beautiful day for a 3-2 football team.
Surely the economy isn’t preventing people from attending a game for which they’ve already purchased tickets, or from giving the tickets to someone who would use them.
Joe gets that there’s always unused tickets. But 15 percent? That would be the equivalent of 10,000 empty seats at Heinz Field.
Joe finds it hard to call the Tampa Bay area a football town when residents won’t use NFL game tickets already paid for.
October 25th, 2010 at 11:49 am
Dam thats weird Why wouldnt fans show up for a game they paid for!!!!!!!!! Its really sad how a upincoming team thats 4-2 cant draw 40,000. Back in the Brooks and Sapp days it was an easy sell out every game.. If i lived in tampa id be at every game. Hopefully this doesnt give the NFL THOUGHTS about relocating bucs, that would prolly never happen but
October 25th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
Most of these are corporate tickets purchased by sponsers such as Publix, Miller Brewing Co. etc… They are handed out to important clients and sales Reps, but the problem is if clients don’t hit them up they basically sit there unused because these guys aren’t going to try to scalp them. I think a lot of fans are still upset that the team was a no show last week and still didn’t show up in the first half this week. This is one problem that needs to be addressed before anything. The team has not shown urgency or motivation to start any game this year. Some games they come out in the second half with their A$$ on fire!! The first half this week I saw the same defeated looks even before the game got started. I’m not sure what’s up with that, but it needs to be fixed immediately! Mental preparation is huge in the NFL because you better be ready to play or get knocked out literally.
October 25th, 2010 at 12:25 pm
I blame the resalers, many buy tickets with the intent to resale them. Obviously this was a terrible investment but with 10 year contracts on season tickets they’re stuck. Just go on stubhub etc the day of the game and see how many tickets are still on there. You think someone would leave them on there if they weren’t holding out hope to sell them at the last minute via electronic delivery or on site stubhub will call?
Obviously this isn’t the whole problem, but it is part of it.
October 25th, 2010 at 2:07 pm
The reason is the product on the field. I realize that they are 4-2, and I am excited for them.
However, this is not a very good 4-2 team, and certainly they are not a marquee group. With the exception of Freeman, they really are a bunch of no-names. That can be attractive to hard core fans but not the masses. You need stars to attract the masses.
I know I have said this before, but naming Morris HC really alienated a lot of fans, not because anyone loves Gruden or hates Morris – but the message sent to the fans was lets name the “cheapest” replacement while riding out Gruden’s deal. The group I attended games all non-renewed and arent going to games to protest this kind of stuff.
4-2 is great, but can you really say that this is a good football team? Another way to look at the Browns, Bengals and Rams games is that they were getting beat by bad teams for three quarters and squeaked out ugly wins in the second half. Yes a win is a win, but barely beating bad teams and getting blown out at home by good teams isn’t a recipe for selling tickets folks.
Hire a real coach, sprinkle in a few vets in key positions. That is a recipe for excitement!
October 25th, 2010 at 2:46 pm
I’ve been waiting for this topic to come up again!
Joe is 110% right to question the commitment of the non-hardcore fanbase. Tampa is proving to be a town where NOTHING is good enough to draw the masses and where simple ignorance seems to reign supreme. We’re in the 2nd year of completely gutting the team, coaching staff, and front office, we’re winning, we’ve added young talent that has yet to scratch the surface of its potential and yet, we’ve still had calls to blow it up and bring in a more “seasoned” group.
Case in point: Thomas says, “However, this is not a very good 4-2 team, and certainly they are not a marquee group. With the exception of Freeman, they really are a bunch of no-names. That can be attractive to hard core fans but not the masses. You need stars to attract the masses.”
HUH? WHAT? So you didn’t get tired of the retreads? So you liked seeing coaching talent we brought in to our organization leave and find success elsewhere? Don’t you want to see our own homegrown talent develop through our system and suceed?
Then Thomas says, “I know I have said this before, but naming Morris HC really alienated a lot of fans, not because anyone loves Gruden or hates Morris – but the message sent to the fans was lets name the “cheapest” replacement while riding out Gruden’s deal. The group I attended games all non-renewed and arent going to games to protest this kind of stuff.”
So apparently, developing young talent and winning with it deserves a protest. Apparently, in our fanbase if the ownership buys low on an up-and-coming coach it’s suddenly looked on upon as a bad move? Wow. I’m glad you’re not managing my stock portfolio.
“4-2 is great, but can you really say that this is a good football team? Another way to look at the Browns, Bengals and Rams games is that they were getting beat by bad teams for three quarters and squeaked out ugly wins in the second half. Yes a win is a win, but barely beating bad teams and getting blown out at home by good teams isn’t a recipe for selling tickets folks.”
You’re absolutely killing me Thomas. Last year, simply developing our young talent wasn’t good enough. This year, we’re winning with the young talent we have in place and it’s STILL not good enough. I mean, unless we’re blowing people out by 65 points I don’t think it’ll ever be good enough.
Listen, for the FIRST time since the inception of the franchise, we’ve got a legitimate franchise QB, explosive receivers going DOWN THE FREAKIN FIELD making plays and, perhaps, a big powerful running game to go with it. Defensively, we have one of the better young minds in the league running our defense, and talent slowly popping up throughout.
I can’t understand for the life of me what’s so difficult about simply supporting the players, coaching staff and organization. I guess it’s because we have a bad fanbase.
October 25th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
Not a bad fan base; just a fan base short on hard core fans. When the entire state of Florida is from some where else; it’s very hard to develop a hard core base. You have teams like Green Bay where the entire city shuts down when the Packers are playing. The difference is though everyone in Green Bay is from Green Bay. Here there are fans from every team in the NFL. Especially NY, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Philly, and yes Green Bay as well. It’s the same struggle that the Rays & Lightning have. Go to a Flyers game or a Bruins game; a Yankees game or a Red sox game and the stadiums are packed. Most people will not change teams even though they’ve lived here for years.
October 25th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
Sundays attendance was a sad,sad statement on Tampa area fans, though blame a lot on the Economy. I think there is another problem with this team in this area. SensiBuc said simple ignorance reigns supreme. I think he’s right about a particular sector of this area. I think there are some fans like RahDomtheracist and Thomas, who won’t support a Black head coach and Black QB. I find it unimaginable in the modern world, until you start reading a lot of the Post here. Raheem has taken a team devoid of talent and experience, and lead the to a 4-2 record. He’s already being mentioned for Coach of the year. Great job so far. But you have these guys crying for Cowher even now. I don’t care what anyone says. It’s a race thing . And that’s an even sadder thought than everyone being poor. Especially to the great Buc fans here at JoeBucFan, who are so excited about this team. What happens if the seats stay empty at 8-3? 10-6? If we make the playoffs? Do they fire a great coach, to appease a fan base that won’t accept a winning coach? Do they trade Freeman, to get butts in the stands? The Rays have always had trouble drawing, but this is a football town . I hope to God I’m wrong about this. But I’ve been reading the post around here for a while, and it’s obvious nothing he does will get alot of the haters to support Raheem Morris. That may be the saddest statement ever said about Tampa. And before I get crucified, I live here, and thought of Indian heritage, I am white!
October 25th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
To Thomas, who only roots for “name” players & coaches, you sound typical of a bandwagon fan. Quote: “Hire a real coach, sprinkle in a few vets in key positions. That is a recipe for excitement!” I thought the Bucs have a “real” coach. “Sprinkle in a few vets”? You mean, overpay for a few vets so you can sell more jerseys? This season has been one of my favorite in a long time. Sure, the Bucs got blown out in 2 home losses. But the excitement I get from the 4 wins is worth its weight in gold. Close games…getting critical turnovers…converting crucial 3rd/4th downs…come from behind wins…Sir, these are the recipes for excitement! Apparently you and your buddies would rather sit at home and watch the famous Cowboys lose a game. As many people have said before me, “I root for the jersey, not the name on that jersey” BTW, unemployment is 13% in my county. That is the main reason people don’t go to games.
October 25th, 2010 at 7:46 pm
As for the no-shows…. it’s already been said, but they are corporate sales that aren’t being used by the corporations or their clients. That’s why they can’t “sell out” the stadium. If they could get fans to buy 45 to 50 thousand seats, the corporations would be able to buy up the rest and the game would be televised, but the fans aren’t buying, the corporations already bought as many as they feel they can, so you get 6000 no shows.
I’m not sure why the fan base is not getting behind this team. There’s all the excitement in the world in this team. They’re young, talented, with nowhere to go but up. That is the most fun type of team to watch. I suppose too many feel this is simply a bad team that will stay bad for a long while, instead of an up and coming young team with a LOT of potential to do great things. It probably won’t be until guys like Freeman, Williams, Blount, McCoy all make the Pro-Bowl and the team has made the playoffs for a couple years when the fans will finally come around and say “Hey, these guys are pretty good, I think I’ll buy a ticket”.
October 25th, 2010 at 8:19 pm
The fan is the customer and can do what they want. AFAIK pro sports are the only business where the customer gets blamed for not buying an over priced or unattractive product.
I checked Ticket Master last week, cheapest seats were over $80 (not counting the no beer family section). That is for corner upper deck seating and before TM adds on the service charges and fees.
The NFL has simply over priced itself. The word for someone who spends money on an entertainment product to show how ‘true’ or ‘loyal’ they are is sucker.