How Did The Lightning Outshine The Bucs?
August 30th, 2011
Joe types this with a heavy heart. What the hell has happened to this football town?
Three weeks ago the Tampa Bay Lightning announced it had sold 5,000 full season tickets during its offseason, doubling its season ticket base to just over 10,000. Knowing that Lightning season tickets are significantly more expensive than Bucs’ season tickets — 42 games vs. 10 games — Joe was sure that the Bucs’ preseason attendance would reveal that the Bucs also had sold at least 5,000 more season tickets, and maybe closer to 7,000 considering they were coming off a 10-6 season.
No such luck.
The Bucs’ announced attendance on Saturday against the Dolphins was 44,732, per ESPN.com. That means the Bucs season ticket base is just less than that figure because season ticket holders must buy preseason game tickets and individual game sales for a typical preseason game (unlike against the popular Patriots a week earlier) is rather low.
In 2010, the Bucs’ lowest preseason home attendance was 41,386 against the Chiefs. So to keep it simple, if you subtract that Chiefs game from Saturday’s Dolphins game attendance, you come up with a net increase of roughly 3,400 season ticket sales. This is no exact science here, but it’s painfully obvious the Bucs didn’t add as many season tickets this offseason as the Lightning.
Joe is flabbergasted.
Joe’s throwing the economy explanation out the window here because comparing the two teams’ sales is a head-to-head matchup within the market. Both are competing against the same economy and the same entertainment dollars.
Joe’s readers are welcome to kick around their takes in the comments, but for Joe it’s about the scoreboard. The Lightning had a better offseason than the Bucs. The Bucs lost.
The Bucs’ sales staff seemingly fared better this offseason than their counterparts in Florida, so ProFootballTalk.com pointed out today, but Joe still can’t buy into any reason why the Lightning captured more wallets in town with a more expensive season ticket. Hopefully, Team Glazer is focusing a powerful microscope on these results.
August 30th, 2011 at 12:12 pm
I have to admit I am stumped. I never thought hockey would do well here, and I thought baseball would be a grand success.
I also never expected the bucs to have such problems selling out.
I have no explanation unless there are a lot more folks out there that view the bucs like me and Thomas 2.2 than is represented on this site.
A lot of my friends who were die hard bucs fans wont even discuss them much any more. (yeah I have friends!)
August 30th, 2011 at 12:18 pm
It is very simple. One team (Bucs) are raping their season ticket holders. 29% of a season ticket holders money goes to meaningless games (Pre Season). Go figure, they take away a home game anf still gives to meaningless games. Here is a novel idea. take away a meaningless game and play that in London!
Other team(Lightning) invested 40 Million of there own money in fan enhanced improvements. Gives a free jersey! 25% discount on concessions.
In other words they care about there season ticket holders. I am both! Bucs since 1981. This will be my last year with the Bucs. I like to feel appreciated!
August 30th, 2011 at 12:21 pm
It is very simple. One team (Bucs) are raping their season ticket holders. 29% of a season ticket holders money goes to meaningless games (Pre Season). Go figure, they take away a home game and still gives us two meaningless games. Here is a novel idea. Take away a meaningless game and play that in London!
Other team(Lightning) invested 40 Million of there own money in fan enhanced improvements. Gives a free jersey! 25% discount on concessions.
In other words they care about there season ticket holders. I am both! Bucs since 1981. This will be my last year with the Bucs. I like to feel appreciated!
August 30th, 2011 at 12:26 pm
Let’s illustrate the differences.
St. Pete Times Forum vs. C.I.T.S: The forum has an excellent downtown location and provides the unmatched experience of live hockey, which is unequivocally better in person than on TV (same can’t always be said of football).
Ownership: The messiah Jeff Vinik vs. The Glazers – Like I’ve said in the past, perception is reality. Vinik is the Lightning’s savior having hired the legendary Steve Yzerman as GM within months of buying the Bolts. The Glazers are still perceived as cheap owners with a myopic focus on the bottom line. The fact is Vinik is extremely wealthy (approaching billionaire status) and the Lightning is his plaything; he doesn’t mind losing money in the intermediate term on an investment that is providing him a feeling of personal success…
2010-11 Season Performance: All due respect to the Bucs, their season doesn’t even compare to the Bolts’ 2010-11 run. The Lightning were within one goal of advancing to the Stanley Cup final and let’s not forget the exciting fashion in which they advanced to the eastern conference finals (coming back from 3-1 against the Pens, sweeping the Caps, and fighting valiantly against the eventual Cup champs in the Bruins. This is all after a heinous 2009-10 year…
Star Power: The Lightning OWN the Bucs here on a national level. Lecavalier, St. Louis, Stamkos are three of the most well known/respected/feared players in the league. They’re also generally recognized great guys that have all given A LOT back to the Tampa Bay community (particularly Vinny). We have Freeman and Ronde carrying the torch, but let’s be honest, the rest of the team isn’t exactly squeaky clean…
Sales Efforts: Jeff Vinik was also savvy in hiring Todd Leiwinke (sp?) to conduct the business operations of the Bucs; the guy is a proven ticket selling machine and the team’s promotions have been absolutely relentless.
Florida clearly has more of a football tradition, but that seems to be working against the Bucs as fans can satiate their grid iron hunger with high quality high school and college football every friday and saturday…
Just my thoughts…
August 30th, 2011 at 12:27 pm
The Lightning actually ROCK !!!
(Doesn’t Jon Gruden have a place in the Forum?)
August 30th, 2011 at 12:27 pm
(…and Derrick Brooks…)
August 30th, 2011 at 12:27 pm
When the Bucs were good the Glazers cranked up ticket prices to be the second highest in the league. This priced a lot of people out and I think they came to think of season tickets as something that just wasn’t an option for them. If actual fans (rather than corporations or bandwagoners) had been able to hold onto tickets they may be more likely to keep them when we slip in the standings. I think a lot of people just bought a great TV and they are happy to stay home.
Combine that with the fact that a lot of people believe the Glazers haven’t supported the team in recent years thanks to the lowest payroll over the last five years (I don’t want to get into that argument but it’s a fact that people, whether they are right or wrong, do think that’s a problem) and people may feel “if the Glazers won’t support the Bucs then I won’t support the Glazers.”
Plus, don’t underestimate what the Lightning are doing. You could make a compelling case that the ownership group of the Lightning deserves to be in the top 5 in all spots (ESPN certainly thinks so putting them at # 2 of the top four sports). The Lightning owner is pumping 30 million dollars of upgrades into the Ice Palace and he doesn’t even own the building! Fans see his commitment to the team and want to jump on board. Right or wrong I think a lot of fans don’t believe the Glazer’s first priority is supporting the Bucs.
August 30th, 2011 at 12:29 pm
Two things:
1) NHL in person is far, far, far better than watching on HDTV; the NFL is far, far, far better watching at home on HDTV than in person.
2) Just to compare: You can get a 10-game ticket package for the Lighting at a decent seat for $170. The cheapest season ticket (10 games, two of which are a waste) for a Bucs game is $350 and you are stuck in the worst section of the station and broil on Sunday afternoons.
It’s not that difficult to figure out.
August 30th, 2011 at 12:30 pm
When the Bucs were good the Glazers cranked up ticket prices to be the second highest in the league. This priced a lot of people out and I think they came to think of season tickets as something that just wasn’t an option for them. If actual fans (rather than corporations or bandwagoners) had been able to hold onto tickets they may be more likely to keep them when we slip in the standings. I think a lot of people just bought a great TV and they are happy to stay home.
Combine that with the fact that a lot of people believe the Glazers haven’t supported the team in recent years thanks to the lowest payroll over the last five years (I don’t want to get into that argument but it’s a fact that people, whether they are right or wrong, do think that’s a problem) and people may feel “if the Glazers won’t support the Bucs then I won’t support the Glazers.”
Plus, don’t underestimate what the Lightning are doing. You could make a compelling case that the ownership group of the Lightning deserves to be in the top 5 in all spots (ESPN certainly thinks so putting them at # 2 of the top four sports). Vinik is pumping 30-40 million dollars of upgrades into the Ice Palace and he doesn’t even own the building! Fans see his commitment to the team and want to jump on board. Right or wrong I think a lot of fans don’t believe the Glazer’s first priority is supporting the Bucs.
August 30th, 2011 at 12:35 pm
Flip-flopper:
Interesting point. It’s not like the Bucs have the market cornered on football. There are many other choices for football fans to get their fix whether it is high school football or USF (expected to win Big East), FSU (top-five team nationally) or Florida (SEC).
Joe didn’t think of that but few NFL teams have to fight for a football dollar like the Bucs do.
August 30th, 2011 at 12:40 pm
Tampa is a town full of broke deuch bags….what an embarASSment!!!
August 30th, 2011 at 12:42 pm
Right now the Lightning have more star power than the Bucs. Name recognition is powerful with fans. Combine that with a playoff appearance last year and that’s a fairly strong draw.
The Bucs being the youngest team in the league with very little name recognition and no playoff appearances for several years is a fairly tough sell.
The good news is that there was an increase even if a moderate one. This will only continue to increase as these young guys make names for themselves and also make some playoff appearances.
Not worried about it. It’s just a matter of time at this point. We’ll see increases each year. The latter half of the Chucky/Allen era really put this franchise in a hole. Takes time to dig back out.
August 30th, 2011 at 12:45 pm
Joe here,
@Jimmy — The Lightning had only announced full season tickets, minimum $600+, partials hadn’t gone on sale yet. So this is only a full season ticket sales comparison.
August 30th, 2011 at 12:53 pm
FLBoyInDallas Says:
“The latter half of the Chucky/Allen era really put this franchise in a hole. Takes time to dig back out.”
The ABBA star dug that hole. It will take 20 regular season wins in the next two years for the “youngry” Bucs to MATCH the last 4 years… and two playoff games. Doable? Yes, indeed… Done yet? Still TBD…
August 30th, 2011 at 12:58 pm
@Eric. There are many other fans out there that feel just as you and Thomas 2.2 do about the ownership and managment of this franchise. We just don’t have or want to take the time to continue to post the same issues over an over again ad nauseum.
August 30th, 2011 at 1:04 pm
A lot of former season ticket holders feel like they were taken for granted during the “waiting list” years. If the Bucs become consistent winners with a couple of playoff runs, the fans will come back. Its not rocket science.
August 30th, 2011 at 1:19 pm
They win. They are exciting. They are on the rise. The organization is and willing to spend money on players. It’s inside and nice and cool. Great seats everywhere in the Forum. I can go to a regular season game for $10 a ticket. Beat that Bucs!
They youngry too!
August 30th, 2011 at 1:36 pm
Exactly correct Chris fwc.
Also, Joe your conclusion is correct, bucs sold less additional season tickets than the lightning. Your hypothesis that the Chiefs preseason and Dolphins preseason games are comparable is incomplete. The Dolphins have a strong following in Tampa and there will be significantly more non-season ticket sales (even in pre-season) than the Chiefs. So I believe that the season ticket base estimate that you propose is too high. I am convinced that it is less than
40k and likely to diminish after another idle January.
At least the Lightning get cranked up soon.
August 30th, 2011 at 1:42 pm
Don’t forget about the lockout. Alot of people, and several I know, did not to pay for tickets this offseason when the league season was in limbo. That combined with having the Lightning do so well, with no questions of their return, and a committment to their rising star in Stamkos, feeds well into why people put their money to the owners of the Ice Palace.
August 30th, 2011 at 2:03 pm
Wait a second…Shouldn’t everyone be pissed that we didn’t sign Brad Richards or they went with some unproven AHL coach who has never coached in the NHL?
August 30th, 2011 at 2:04 pm
Another point, Bob Kraft owns the lightning….. The Glazers own Man U. and pay child support for the Bucs.
Go Bucs!
To Glazers,
Take the % of the salary cap you are not spending, and subtract the same % off the price of your tickets.
Be real with your fans, we are buying into “The Plan”, but C’mon. Do something to enhance the fan experience (25% off concessions for ticket Lightning ticket holders).
The economy is in the dumps, so do the Tampa fanbase a favor and get rid of blackouts. You need to show off your Bucs on TV locally, bc blacking out the Bucs on TV to the locals is a mere bitch slap. Firgure it out, whether being ticket prices slashed, or you all cough up the blackout difference(as you did for Chucky prior).
Give th people in Tampa football on Sundays, from there the demand shall increase and butts will fill the seats again.
August 30th, 2011 at 2:16 pm
Wait, so you’re saying…
The Bucs have 40,000+ current season ticket holders, about 2/3 of the stadium capacity.
The Lightning have 10,000 current season ticket holders, about 1/2 of the stadium capacity.
And this is a hockey town? And the lightning are outshining us?
Heh?
August 30th, 2011 at 2:19 pm
At least we don’t have to play Charlie Batch this year.
August 30th, 2011 at 2:23 pm
SteveK:
The Bucs do not black out games; the NFL does. The current NFL blackout rule has been in place for 38 years.
August 30th, 2011 at 2:25 pm
6 straight years of raising ticket prices was Chucky’s doing too, SteveK ? The prices got to be unreasonable.
August 30th, 2011 at 2:29 pm
@Thomas 2.2 – Sure there are Dolphins fans around, but what your saying makes no sense. Why would these people spend money to see preseason in Tampa when they can go to Miami in person during the regular season? Plus, you really think some crusty old Fish fan in Tampa from the 70s is paying full price when there’s a swell of secondary tix out there for the preseason?.
August 30th, 2011 at 2:31 pm
I think alot of it has to do with the lightning being indoors.. No Shade in the bucs stadium.. Its hard for me to convince my friends to goto the game because of how hot it is.. Most them are like well maybe towards november.. Think about it too.. alot of tampa and st pete folks are older people they dont want to sit in hot weather..Plus i live in orlando you have to add gas prices going up for everyone not to mention there is no marketing for bucs games in orlando.. A Billboard would be nice?
August 30th, 2011 at 2:32 pm
I’m a Bucs fan originally from Fla but now I live in ATL and Im always representing my Bucs up here all day everyday! Infact im coming down to Fla to see 3 Buc home games and i can’t wait. So I dont care if they dont sell out, im going to support them even if nobody does. Management wont stop me from goin to see No. 5, No. 27, No. 20, or any of the “youngry” Bucs.
P.S. Im sooooooooooooooooooooo happy Ruud is gone!!!!!!!! lol
August 30th, 2011 at 2:35 pm
Bottom line. It’s about value the fan experience. Hate to say it Joe, but your beloved Bucs need to make some changes. The Lightening fan experience is just better.
August 30th, 2011 at 2:37 pm
That’s because the Lightning are in Tampa and the Rays are way over in St. Pete!
Oh wait, you were talking about the Bucs right?
It is very hot outside? Ummm, the team has an inexperienced Defensive Coordinator? The stigma of the blackout alone is enough to scare away the fairwethers? USF? Snow birds living in Tampa still like hockey? RAHEEM MORRIS!
August 30th, 2011 at 2:40 pm
Glazer boys love Orlando. Remember when they were flying around in helicopters looking at stadium locations in osceola county?
August 30th, 2011 at 2:43 pm
@Joe
Thanks for the insight, how bout Glazers used money that was not spent on salary cap towards buying out the blacked out seats?
How about removing some seats frome the stadium?
(Already moved one home game.)
Why not slash Ticket prices by the same percentage as the Bucs are under the salary cap?
Are we still paying Chucky?
August 30th, 2011 at 2:46 pm
Who is “we” ???
August 30th, 2011 at 2:48 pm
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the Lightning have had no one in the past few years get caught for smoking dope (same person – 3 times), bashing a cab driver WHILE he’s driving, carrying around copious amounts of weed in their SUV, assault a bouncer, etc, etc, etc. I’m sure I’ve missed some but you get the point.
August 30th, 2011 at 2:53 pm
Who is ABBA? Seriously bad analogy that doesn’t seem to want to go away.
Everyone pretty much hit the nail on the head. I don’t get why we can’t bring partial season tickets into the mix though. I thought about buying a partial lighting season ticket package and still may do so, it’s a helluva lot cheaper than going to see football. I paid for me and a friend to go see the Lightning play the Pens during the playoffs and that was cheaper than seeing ONE Bucs game.
Prices are too high. I will not spend what they’re asking to see a football game live. I’d rather pirate it over the internet, excuse the pun.
August 30th, 2011 at 2:57 pm
carrying around copious amounts of …
You said Copious!
So womenish.
August 30th, 2011 at 3:02 pm
Detroit has a far worse economy then Tampa, yet Ford Field sold out the entire preseason.
I do agree with Nate, a dome stadium that is air conditioned may have been a better choice, as far as selling seats, and home field advantage goes. Even when Tampa Stadium is full, it is not loud.
August 30th, 2011 at 3:16 pm
Unemployment in Detroit hangs around 12%.
Unemployment in Tampa hangs around 11%.
What would I infer given this information? There’s way more to spend your money on in Tampa than in Detroit.
August 30th, 2011 at 3:22 pm
Maybe its because the Lightning have fans who don’t think they are hockey coaches or GM’s. And a fan base willing to give this brand new regime with an inexperienced head coach a chance. Lets not forget the current coach and GM took over a pretty solid group of players.
August 30th, 2011 at 3:33 pm
Just take a look at the population of each county according to the US Census.
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/defining.america/map/index.html?hpt=hp_c2
This should explain a lot of things.
August 30th, 2011 at 3:34 pm
A dome feels like a tomb. Why can’t we get a retractable roof? Do the same for the Rays tt. Put it in Tampa near the water make it Candlestick #2.
August 30th, 2011 at 3:35 pm
tt= too in my world. haha
August 30th, 2011 at 3:54 pm
If you’ve been to a lightning game, you know why. It’s nearly nonstop action, nice and cool and very exciting.
While baseball, in comparison, is very slow moving and boring. I took the boys to two baseball games a month or so ago and all they did is run around behind the stands. Baseball is a dying sport. It is widely viewed as rigged through money and steroids.
@Joe
I’m not understanding your math here. I know you said it isn’t exact, but are you telling us there can’t be 3-5 thousand same day tickets sold at the gate?
I think you might be a little high in your estimate. Which isn’t exactly good news.
I will say this though…if economy is the reason tickets are not selling, then it makes sense that most people are buying single game tickets or from scalpers.
The scalpers are hurting this team right now.
August 30th, 2011 at 3:56 pm
But the average rate of pay is higher in Detroit. In the Tampa area, we have a lot of temporary services that count as being employed but only give hours every few weeks. And most of the rest are very low paying jobs.
August 30th, 2011 at 3:59 pm
I think there are a lot of assumptions that all of the home games will be blackouts. I don’t think that will be the case.
And the Lightning are a playoff team, right?
August 30th, 2011 at 4:03 pm
Joe here,
@Pete Dutcher — Yes, Joe is saying there is an extraordinarily small walk-up crowd for a typical preseason game like last Saturday’s. …And regarding your point on “scalpers,” there’s really no scalping when those guys aren’t selling above face value. Regardless, the NFL supports the secondary ticket market in multiple ways.
August 30th, 2011 at 4:15 pm
Could it be that the magnificent plan just hasn’t yet resonated with Bucs Fans?
Unimaginable!
Doesn’t anybody listen to Joel Glazer?
August 30th, 2011 at 4:55 pm
Eric, probably not. But, it doesn’t mean those whom it hasn’t resonated with are right. I had a convo this past weekend with a fan and he echoes your sentiments. “We had the 28th ranked run d last year. who did we get to fix that?” He couldn’t name one person who would bring our 28th run D into the top 10. He also had never heard of Frank Okam, or seen Clayborn or Foster play. Maybe the lightning have smarter fans.
August 30th, 2011 at 4:58 pm
Joe, I think Nate has it right. Honestly with today’s HD tv. I would much rather stay home in the comfort of my A/C with the food of my choice, drinks of my choice, and as many as my friends as I want over here. We as society are lazier than we were 10 years ago. The overwhelming majority of us do not get enjoyment of sitting out in 90 degree heat three stories up.
I have been a season ticket holder since I was 18. I will continue to be, but the thought has crossed my mind about saving the money and watching the games in comfort. The tradition of taking my son to the games as well as the blackouts are the only things that keep me from terminating my season tickets.
I’d save the following every game $50 in gas, $25 parking, $350 in ticket prices, $60-$100 in food. That’s quite an expense for me when I could be enjoying high def in comfort.
August 30th, 2011 at 5:25 pm
First off peter, don’t tell us how to spend our money. If you don’t want to scalp (actually pay less than face) for tickets, then so be it, but sit there and judge others on how, why and where they should buy tickets… just so you will be that much closer to watching the Bucs on YOUR HDTV at YOUR house. You have even admitted that you don’t hold Buc season tickets.
August 30th, 2011 at 5:56 pm
Wait until the regular season before we talk attendance. Before I was a season ticket holder I bought the 8 regular season games to bypass the overpriced pre season games. Then the Bucs became a contender and I knew those days were over. I believe that this could be happening now. Another good season and those picking and choosing their games will buy back in.
August 30th, 2011 at 6:03 pm
Hey Nick, you havent seen Foster or Clay play for real either. Foster looks horrible in pass coverage. Nobody gets thrilled about rookie d lieman in year 1 not named Suh. See gerald mccoy and brian price 2010.
August 30th, 2011 at 7:47 pm
I didn’t read any other comments so I’m sorry if someone else touched on this. Its because of all the cold weather “transplants” that move here. At P.E. we play basketball or kickball, sometimes football and then we have little league baseball. Hockey is huge up north.
And also, the Lightning are bad ass right now.
August 30th, 2011 at 8:20 pm
Joe, hockey is the least television friendly game. The NFL is arguably the most television friendly game. Hockey if you do not buy tickets you miss a lot the game has to offer. For the NFL, if you do not buy tickets you SEE a lot more that the game has to offer.
August 30th, 2011 at 8:53 pm
Very easy explanation, Lightning have embraced their fans while the Glazers have given all there fans the middle finger, BIGGEST PROBLEM IS THAT THE FANS OF TAMPA FIGURED OUT THERE WERE MORE THINGS TO DO ON SUNDAY THEN SIT IN THE STADIUM AND WATCH THE BUCS, NOT COMPLAINING ABOUT THE STADIUM, JUST THAT THE GLAZERS DONT CARE ABOUT THE FAN BASE OF TAMPA OTHER THAN TELLING US HOW SORRY WE ARE FOR NOT DOING A PAYDAY LOAN TO SEE THEIR TEAM PLAY, YES I SAID THERE TEAM, THEY TOOK IT AWAY FROM US YEARS AGO, AND TAMPA GOT TIRED OF IT, SIMPLE!!!!!!!!! DONT OVER ANALYZE IT.
August 30th, 2011 at 9:14 pm
40 inch HDTV: roughly $900 (im being generous with the size. Real men have at least 47in)
HD Service: $80 per month $960 per year (roughly, TV and internet only)
Beer/Food per sunday $40, $640 per season
Sitting at home by yourself or with your wife/dog: Worthless
Total: $2500 / season to watch the Buccaneers on TV
Buccaneers Season Tix (In the 300 level, I sat there for 5 years, I loved those seats) $350 $700 for you and your dog/wife/kid
Parking: $25 (I park for $10) $250 per year
Beer: $40 per game $400 per season (based on 5 big buc brews) or you can sneak in minis of captain.
Food: (you can eat outside the stadium, but) $200
Experience of being part of the crowd, with your son/wife/dog: Priceless
Total: $1550 per season
Its always better to go to the game. I’ll never forget some of the moments I’ve shared with my dad.
Maybe a lot of people are just lame
August 30th, 2011 at 9:40 pm
2500 to watch the game on TV???
Is this tbe new Obama math?
Since when do people buy a new HDTV every single year? That and, if you have been paying attention to TV prices, 47 inch HDTVs are running around 500 bucks. Even Joe can afford one now. In fact, your analogy is so bogus, that you could actually BUY a new HDTV big screen every single season and still spend less money than you would buying season tickets. Jerk!
August 30th, 2011 at 9:59 pm
“Sitting at home by yourself or with your wife/dog: Worthless”
——
That’s my favorite one! Love my wife, kids, and dogs to death, but they suck as football fans. I watch more football on my HDTV than should be allowed by law. However, in my opinion, nothing beats going to a game. I know I’m becoming in the minority with that opinion, but nothing beats being there. Even though Tampa in September is probably only a few degrees cooler than what I would imagine hell being, I still love it (been there for the last 2 opening games, can’t make it this year because of my stupid job). If I lived in Tampa, I wouldn’t miss a game for anything.
August 30th, 2011 at 11:37 pm
I fully believe it’s not really economy – that’s just a useful excuse for the apathetic fans out there. If you really want to go, you make it happen.
Let’s face it – everyone in this country is going soft. Very few want to pay more $ to go sit in heat-stroke inducing temperatures and try and watch ants run into each other, when they could be at home slobbering on their remote and constantly checking in on their fantasy team.
Hockey is still kind of “new” in FL and certainly a more engaging (cheaper) atmosphere to enjoy a game.
I truly think the FL teams would be well served if they could campaign the league to avoid 1pm game times during the first 6 weeks or so of the season.
August 31st, 2011 at 12:12 am
@nick I have a 113″ projector in 1080i. Cost me $200 including a LG surround sound w/BluRay. Big screens are a dime a dozen these days. I only had to pay that once and it, as well as my cable, are not only for football. Equating that total price to season tickets is a terrible argument. Don’t go there, brother. People are going to have the TV and cable regardless of football. And what the heck are you drinking and eating at home that costs $40? A couple hot dogs and a few beers costs about $5 at home.
I see what you were trying to do, but it didn’t work well.
August 31st, 2011 at 12:19 am
@Jason Call me soft. I don’t pay for season tickets %100 based on the preseason and 1pm Sept/Oct games. I’m not made for the sun and as passionate as I am about the Bucs, if I can watch the game from home, I’d prefer to do that.
Now, I did go to the two preseason games this year because they were at night, I bought box tickets for the Lions game, and I already have tickets to the Colts Monday night game, but until the cold fronts start ringing through, I’m staying out of the sun.
I can only afford so many games a year and if I can’t enjoy them, what is the point?
August 31st, 2011 at 1:11 am
Back to my orginal comment.. The Bucs need to do some marketing in ORLANDO! There might not even be a NBA! All these orlando magic season ticket holders can put there money towards the BUCS!
August 31st, 2011 at 2:27 am
As a season ticket holder of both the Bucs and the Lightning, the Bolts do a fantastic job of marketing their product. Of all the excuses that irk me, number one has to be “it’s too hot…. I want to sit in my recliner” This is football people…it’s meant to be played when it’s hotter or colder or rainier than you like. An expression of your fan loyalty is sticking it out in the elements and yelling and screaming to support your team. Too hot? Drink some water at the tailgate, put on sunscreen and grow a pair ladies….this is football. We have got to have some of the softest fans anywhere…and it pains me to say that.
August 31st, 2011 at 7:56 am
Very creative- but you forgot to budget in the price of the car that took you to the game…I figure $25k.