Blackout Set For Thursday; Replay At 11:30 P.M.
August 15th, 2011
In what shouldn’t be a surprise to any Bucs fan paying attention, Thursday night’s preseason home opener against New England is not sold out and will not be shown on live television in the Tampa Bay area.
Official word of the blackout should come from the Buccaneers later today. WTSP-TV Ch. 10 will air the game broadcast replay starting at 11:30 p.m. Thursday. JoeBucsFan.com has confirmed the blackout with the station, whose online broadcast schedule reflects the tape delayed broadcast.
Joe sincerely hopes the blackout conversation doesn’t dominate sports radio and the newspapers. It’s simply wasted breath and ink.
Team Glazer has lowered many ticket prices significantly, offered no-interest payment plans, killed seat deposits, cut concessions and parking costs, and fielded an exciting 10-6 team. There’s not much left for them to do, short of eating tickets. Fans that can afford it are going to have to step up and get out to games, if there’s any hope of regular season home games getting on TV.
(Please don’t tell Joe Nnamdi Asomugha would have sold a significant amount of tickets. Yeah, all those Bucs fans watching Raiders games at 4 o’clock would have been on the phone buying season tickets. Ridiculous. Joe would wager that Asomugha could walk through International Plaza and not be recognized.)
At last year’s preseason home opener, the first Bucs blackout since the 1990s, announced attendance was 41,386. To avoid a blackout, only non-premium seats must be sold, but even if the Bucs had sold all the premium expensive seats — which they didn’t –that attendance figure still would have left them with about 15,000 unsold tickets and a blackout.
If the Bucs season ticket base has increased, say, 20 percent, they’re still miles from selling out in the preseason. And don’t expect opening day against Detroit to sell out, either, so Joe was told Sunday by a Bucs official.
The opening day projection hardly surprises Joe, considering there are too many people happy to watch unlawful Internet feeds of blacked out games, plus the swelter of a 1 o’clock September game is a major turnoff to the casual fan. For years the NFL didn’t allow September day games in Tampa because of the weather. That rule was there for good reason.
That’s about all Joe’s got to say about blackouts. For Joe, the subject is burned out and old news.
Hopefully, the return of Monday Night Football to Tampa against the Colts on Oct. 3 will be sold out. If not, then Joe’s got to seriously question whether this is a true football town.
August 15th, 2011 at 9:12 am
man this sucks.
August 15th, 2011 at 9:22 am
If the lions opening game doesnt sell out that will be truly disgraceful..Im traveling 700 miles to be in attendance, so there should be no excuses especially as joe has mentioned what they have done to make it more affordable. BUC UP THE BUCKS FANS!!! I understand some could simply still not afford to go, but the ones that can need to make a statement and support their team and city.
August 15th, 2011 at 9:28 am
Picked up 2 tickets online for $15 a piece. I’m in between jobs right now, but for that price I figured I’d splurge. lol Good deals on tkts are definitely out there.
August 15th, 2011 at 9:41 am
All the negotiations that went on for the CBA and they could not get rid of this idiotic blackout rule? ESPECIALLY for pre-season games????? Ridiculous.
August 15th, 2011 at 9:56 am
Why won’t people go to the games? No wonder the Glazers don’t spend the money when the fans don’t. At least Bucs will get to play in front of a full house in London.
August 15th, 2011 at 9:57 am
$15 tickets? Where? Any word on when the NFL Network will do their replay? I would assume maybe sometime Friday?
August 15th, 2011 at 10:04 am
NYC based Bucs fan here and I must admit it’s become pretty embarrassing having to explain Tampa’s fan apathy to Giants and Jets fans. The economy is certainly a valid explanation for the lack of support, but let’s not forget the Bucs were able to sell out in 2008, well after Tampa’s collapse.
I think the Glazers are the key impediment to this town “falling in love” with the Bucs again; that family has been demonized, some of it justified, and the average Tampa fan is still smarting from the rapid deconstruction of the Super Bowl team. The Lightning have won over a lot of new fans, with little ties to hockey, because of the positive narrative being spun on the new owner, Jeff Vinik….I think the Glazers need to spend big bucks on PR to spruce up the image because it seems like on field success/excitement isn’t enough…
August 15th, 2011 at 10:13 am
I’m going but I hate blackouts.
August 15th, 2011 at 10:27 am
The easiest way to take care of business is that if the game is blacked out, a $10 pay per view to watch the game in the blacked out market. We would see it and they would get money. But this is too easy.
August 15th, 2011 at 10:32 am
Joe here,
It is sad that Tampa attendance is last in the NFL. 10-6 team versus 10.6 percent unemployment. So many other factors at play, but at the end of the day the team was 10-6 with some star power and ticket prices have dropped.
August 15th, 2011 at 10:33 am
well guess ill watch it online..got my sites ready and tested….
August 15th, 2011 at 10:35 am
Joe here,
@J.J-GIVEaWAY — Don’t post them here, goodfella. Fans are welcome to Google how watch the games online. Joe’s not about to publish directions to what might be an illegal activity. Joe doesn’t need the potential headache.
August 15th, 2011 at 10:39 am
im not..gonna post i didnt forget..
August 15th, 2011 at 10:45 am
“Why won’t people go to the games? No wonder the Glazers don’t spend the money when the fans don’t. At least Bucs will get to play in front of a full house in London”
Well, speaking for myself, I am not going to spend $ for parking, food, etc for me and my kids (and the bathroom waits with junior) and sit outside in the heat watching Pre season football. I think blacking out pre-season games is asinine. Seriously, why should people pay full price to see starters play 1/2 a quarter?
August 15th, 2011 at 10:45 am
@ JJ I have some but the quality this weekend wasnt as good as the ones from last year, email me and we can trade what we got ahutch813@gmail.com
August 15th, 2011 at 10:48 am
If you can afford it, go to the games and be a small part of a terrific thing.
It’s a blast.
Having typed that, pre-season games are a rip-off. I cannot imagine paying for those tickets if I didn’t have to as a season ticket holder.
But…….the LIONS game? I cannot imagine being a fan living down here and being able to afford it and NOT going. Opening day, 9/11, the team that beat us out of the playoffs albiet with help from the stripes……..ALL good for fans of this team. The casual fans do not count, you’re a fanatic or you are not.
August 15th, 2011 at 10:55 am
Yea the excuses are getting old, its pretty bad when the Jags fans here in Jax (where I live) are starting to take potshots at us. I’m not trying to be ingnorant to a lot of the problems that many people have, I myself was umemployed for the last 3 months of ’09. Since I was playing catchup on bills for most of 2010, i did cancel my season tix that year that I had since ’07 when my name was finally called on the “waiting list”. I still scraped the cash to go to all but 2 games in 2010 and jumped at the opportunity to purchase season tix again for this year (sect 313, i think the row is z). I understand the unemployment may be 12% but thats still over 80% that do have a job and that should b plenty to fill a 68k stadium 8 times a year. If the Jaguars, yes THE JAGUARS, can sell out ALL 8 games last year with a team not even one quarter as exciting as ours, Tampa fans as a WHOLE have no excuse. Just my .02, you don’t have to like it but sometimes the truth hurts.
August 15th, 2011 at 11:13 am
@Fishdaddy…C’mon now. Yea the jags sold out every game last year just like the Bucs sold out every game in ’09. Just because they were on TV doesn’t mean they were sold out.
August 15th, 2011 at 11:22 am
J.J-GIVEaWAY…can you e-mail me? scotty1963af@yahoo.com
August 15th, 2011 at 11:44 am
Joe: star power? where outside of Freeman (and that is still questionable from a national perspective?
Do you think that the average fan views Williams or Blount as a star yet? Doubtful. Cody Grimm? Talib? Roy Miller? Where? Of our draft picks last year, how may played a full season? 1-Williams.
This is a team which consists of: Freeman and fading vet in Barber, 2 rookies who played well enough to earn respect (but no post-season awards), and a bunch of yet to prove anything kids – including their 13-19 coach.
There is nothing thrilling about a team that is CLEARLY third best in its division which we know now that if you finish in third with a winning record that you are likely to miss the playoffs.
August 15th, 2011 at 11:58 am
Joe here,
@Thomas 2.2 — Considering the tens of millions of fantasy football players, yes Legarrette Blount is a major star. Williams, too. Same for Freeman, who’s a popular guest on national shows, along with Ronde Barber. Winslow is a big name, and has been since his college days. … You are welcome to think 10-6 with a very young team is not thrilling. You do that very well.
August 15th, 2011 at 12:38 pm
Broken record 2.2…..I’m sure its hard to see anything positive through the dingy cloud in Mom’s basement, but you are clearly not a fan of the team…at all…in any way… your football acumen is on par with that of a 12 y/o Madden aficianado….and you are a general troll….do us all a favor and go follow a team that you like, and stop wasting space on Joe’s “FAN” website.
August 15th, 2011 at 1:01 pm
I have a suggestion…buy your tickets from the proper source instead of from other ticket holders.
Otherwise you’re not really helping matters.
August 15th, 2011 at 1:05 pm
Thomas 2.2,
Why don’t you admit you are not a fan? I mean, no true fan can be so negative ALL THE TIME. A fan can always find something ot get excited about.
I suspect you are actually a fan of a division rival, as only one of those would stoop to this.
My guess is you are a falcons fan…because they have the lowest level of intelligence and they’ve been lying to themselves for decades.
August 15th, 2011 at 1:10 pm
@Joe
Are you saying there is no chance opening day can be sold out? Isn’t it a little early for that?
I know people tend to procrastinate and put off things as long as they can…I would think the last week before opening day a bunch of tickets would sell.
Of course, our new governor might decide to add 300% taxes to them.
August 15th, 2011 at 5:55 pm
Not surprising, I went to “Every” home game last year, and I wouldn’t go to a preseason game if you gave me free tiks, which coincidentally I have already been offered this year.