Quit Blaming Team Glazer!
August 15th, 2011
The more Joe continues to grow — beyond his dreams, actually — the more friends he has.
One Friend of JoeBucsFan.com is NFL.com blogger Jenna Laine. Late last week, Jenna put fingers to keyboard and typed that Bucs fans who still somehow, someway still blame Team Glazer for not going to Bucs games, that they are simply living in La-La Land.
Jenna did some research and determined that compared to many other NFL cities, the Bucs are a good buy if not cheaper than most.
“We’re trying to make the team as accessible as we possibly can to all the people in the community,” said team co-chairman Bryan Glazer at Saturday’s second annual night practice, which included free parking, $1 concessions and a fireworks display.
That means offering free events, like Saturday’s, which may be the only chance some Bucs fans get to see the team in action this year, along with some of the most affordable ticket prices in the league, with some sections starting as low as $35.
According to data from SeatGeek, a website that tracks secondary market prices for all 32 NFL teams, the average cost of Bucs tickets is $80.10 -– $33.07 lower than the league average, $113.17.
Jenna points out that figure ranks 21st in the NFL, meaning 20 other NFL teams had a higher average price.
If some Bucs fans are whining that they are being raped for tickets, quite simply, they are whining just to whine.
August 15th, 2011 at 4:56 pm
Joe – I don’t disagree with the facts and I’ll applaud your enthusiasm when it comes to defending the Glazers. BUT as cheesy as cliches go, perception is truly reality when it comes to the Buccaneers ownership. The average Tampa resident doesn’t feel good about Team G and that will only change with time and/or a slick PR campaign.
August 15th, 2011 at 5:02 pm
Flip Flopper:
Joe believes you are correct. Joe doesn’t know how or why, but Team Glazer has sure been demonized in the community.
Part of it, Joe believes, can be placed at the feet of the late, great Chris Thomas. For reasons unknown, Chris crucified Team Glazer as if they kidnapped his daughter. Yet Chris gave that arsewipe Vince Naimoli a complete pass.
Hell, if it wasn’t for Team Glazer, this town still wouldn’t have a Super Bowl.
And before anyone gets bent out of shape, Chris Thomas was Joe’s all-time favorite sports radio host. Doesn’t mean he was perfect.
RIP Great GOB!
August 15th, 2011 at 5:10 pm
Sad, but true…
What’s also sad is that Fairweather fans might be a compliment for the Tampa Bay area fans. Stop living in the past (I’m a current History Major saying this) and being the bitter ex girlfriend. If your not excited and falling in love with this team now, when will you? As the team has a reputation that is quickly changing and for the good, I don’t know if the same can be said for the fans, which is gaining a not so good reputaition in the sports world today. It’s sad that the old adage rings true; “Your not going to know what you had, until it’s gone”. By that time though, it will be too late.
I live a couple hundred miles away and I will be there for a few games this year including the one when they come to Jacksonville. If I’m a broke college student and can scrape up the money, I don’t think there is much of an excuse now. I can’t think of a much better way to spend my money. What are you spending your money on? If your a true fan and love your team, hopefully it will be the right things, or you really just don’t care.
As Chris Carter would say, “C’mon Man!”
GO BUCS!!!
August 15th, 2011 at 5:10 pm
Joe, you should hire some Paradise Worldwide transportation to bus some of my fellow Bucs fans up here to Cincinnati so they can see what a really awful owner looks like. Bucs fans have no idea how much worse it could be.
August 15th, 2011 at 5:11 pm
How about since the Bucs only spent 88% of the salary cap, they only charge 88% of face value on their tickets?
August 15th, 2011 at 5:15 pm
Number 41:
Mike Brown is a disgrace. Like Bill Wirtz and the Blackhawks, the Bengals won’t be worth a crap until he dies, as awful as that may be to write.
You can also include Bill Bidwill. Or John York.
August 15th, 2011 at 5:17 pm
Poor Bengals Fans, I would take your devotions to Peyton Hillis and the Browns.
August 15th, 2011 at 5:17 pm
to be real i love the bucs and have money to go to one or two games and i do time to time..but i hate it..its hot alot ppl there cant see anything like on hd tv..so say what u will…shoot i buy tons of bucs gear..just dont enjoy going..so if i have to hook the pc up to watch 3-5 games i will
August 15th, 2011 at 5:20 pm
J.J-GIVEaWAY:
there cant see anything like on hd tv
That’s an excellent point. Even Bryan Glazer has acknowledged big-screen HDTV is a large obstacle to overcome.
Joe had season tickets and with an HDTV, one can see a whole lot more than you can at the game.
Joe’s going to guess that soon, season ticket holders will get a handheld, portable, small HDTV where they can watch both the Bucs game feed in HD and have access to The Red Zone channel.
August 15th, 2011 at 5:22 pm
@Flip Flopper
What is wrong with their PR campaign right now?
They are very likeable with their youth, charisma and energy, including the prime example of this, the Head Coach Raheem Morris. They have some of the lowest prices around, free events with free parking and cheap concessions. As the coach said, they probably do lead the league in autographs, which shows they love to interact with their fans. Why don’t we go interact with them a little more?
Shoot, if you saw the clip in the Chiefs game, you got Mike Williams over there signing autographs with the fans, at the Chiefs stadium nonetheless, during the game.
I think they show nothing but great effort with their PR and effort is all you can ask for. Maybe its time we let the past be the past and reciprocate the effort, which if we are being truthful right now, is lacking. Maybe not you personally, but collectively.
August 15th, 2011 at 5:30 pm
@ Stevek
Good line, I admit I did find it humerous, but you will be thankful they are stashing what they can (New CBA requiring 90% of the cap) when it comes time to give guys like Freeman, Williams and Blount their paydays. Or we let them walk cause we didn’t budget right and can’t afford them and then we can sign the big name free agents everyone wants. Here’s the thing though, these guys too will be big name free agents here soon. I like the homegrown option better personally. If we don’t save the money for these guys in the future now, when the time comes fans will be upset that we didn’t budget to keep these guys. Will we ever be happy people?
August 15th, 2011 at 5:32 pm
See its idiots like SteveK that are the glazer haters. They will only be satisfied when Daniel Snyder becomes the owner of the Bucs. Why don’t these morons understand that this team WILL be pushing the salary cap once they have to sign the players this administration has drafted to second contracts. Maxing out the salary cap now means the risk of losing players we really want to keep down the road. This is incredibly simple to understand. It amazes me to think that some of these fans want to lose our own up and coming star players to free agency down the road to bring in players from other teams right now. Sorry but I’m not willing to pay for a Ray Edwards or Johnathan Joseph today just to turn around and lose a Mike Williams or a Gerald McCoy tomorrow. (Cue the dumbasses who will be eating mountains of crow after the season GMC is primed to have.)
Waah waah waah … salary cap salary cap salary cap. Be a fan. Root for the team on the field. Stop crying because the Bucs didn’t sign some player from another team that said team didn’t want badly enough to lock them up before they hit free agency.
August 15th, 2011 at 5:35 pm
Unfortunately the jury is still out on the Bucs.
Diehard fans who follow the team closely appreciate all the young talent. But there are very few big names outside of Josh Freeman, and a bunch of young guys who the more average fan has never heard of.
So you don’t have the Sapps, Brooks, Alstotts, and Dunns.
YET
The key word here is yet. Once this team starts winning big games, especially at home, I think attendance will get better. Last year they played fairly poorly at home, especially in big games.
It is somewhat of a chicken and the egg deal. The community is not really going to biond with the team until they begin to get on board with all the new exciting players. But since half of the games are blacked out locally, the community only sees half the games.
Add in the economic woes in Tampa – and nothing short of a monster season is really going to lead to sell outs.
August 15th, 2011 at 5:41 pm
Traew- Your probably right. This team needs to make the playoffs and maybe even win a playoff game before the bandwagoners jump on.
August 15th, 2011 at 5:45 pm
I have always had the G’Boyz back !
August 15th, 2011 at 5:50 pm
they’re whining because they can’t see all of the games on tv. its a blackout thing, you wouldn’t understand. this city has about 35k-40k true fans, the rest are fair weather or just too poor/lazy to go. you savvy?
August 15th, 2011 at 5:57 pm
Becklesheartsruud – great name btw
Im baffled as to why people cant comprehend this concept
@ joe
I was just thinking the same thoughts on the portable hdtv idea. It may make for some awkward gameday
interactions between fans and the team though. But it would solve a lot of the problems as to why people would rather stay at home and watch the games, especially for the casual fan.
August 15th, 2011 at 6:28 pm
@Fisherman
You are quite right, and I was only kidding. I love the Bucs and am full on board with the youth movement. I just wish we could sell out some games. It is depressing that games will be blacked out locally.
How about the Glazers spend that extra 12% of the salary cap to buy back tickets so that the games aren’t blacked out?
To me, that would should show complete devotion and offer the Tampa Bay fans something to cheer about in this economy?
America- Land of the free, home of the brave, and football on Sundays!
August 15th, 2011 at 6:33 pm
@ TraeW
You are probably right, but I guarantee you 31 other GMs and Front Offices know who Blount and Williams are as well. I think we just have to believe what our GM and Front Office is doing and all signs so far lead me to believe that we are on the right track, and ahead of the curve. Maybe, us diehard fans need to take a little more responsibility and help change the average or casual fans perception of the team. I really don’t know if there is a way to do this, especially with no platform to make a major impact or influence, but maybe. I do know this though, I love and care about this team more than many things in this world.
I was gonna say Talib and Jackson, but they might not be the best examples to use right now. I do see the brighter side of things with Talib specifically, but that’s a whole other debate.
August 15th, 2011 at 6:40 pm
@Steve K
First time talking with you, so I did miss the joke. Ha, I do appologize
Love the 12% idea and if fans didn’t show their love for the team then, well, I might just lose all hope. Or we would know for a fact that this world is full of too many haters and people with the wrong intentions.
And Amen to your last line, I like you already!
August 15th, 2011 at 6:55 pm
I catch the Bucs whenever they’re close to DC.. and we don’t have bad support in Charlotte, DC, or even Baltimore.. come to think of it, it seems the majority of all Tampa Bucs fans, live far outside the state of Florida. It’s a shame that such a wonderful team has such a crappy local fanbase.
People always want to point to the economy, etc when pointing to the Bucs’ problems, that’s funny because the last time I checked, golf courses and strip clubs weren’t free and I’m pretty sure they’re always hopping on a Sunday afternoon.
August 15th, 2011 at 6:58 pm
Thanks for the kind words about Chris Thomas, really miss him
August 15th, 2011 at 7:08 pm
@BecklesHeartsRuud Says:
“August 15th, 2011 at 5:32 pm
See its idiots like SteveK that are the glazer haters. They will only be satisfied when Daniel Snyder becomes the owner of the Bucs. Why don’t these morons understand that this team WILL be pushing the salary cap once they have to sign the players this administration has drafted to second contracts”
I may be a moron, but Ruud is gone!!! Lol, I understand the point of saving to re-up our budding stars. As a true fan I would appreciate it if the extra 12% of the salary cap would go towards the blackout difference… Use the 12% of remaining cap moola towards the blackout differed. Once upon a Gruden, the Glazers bought out the remaining ticket sales necessary to avoid blackouts.
It would be a discount for them bc we only have 7 home games (Thanks London), and of those 7 one is MNF (hopefully sold out).
How about the “Average Joe” Bucs Fan gets to watch the Bucs play on Sundays? Purchase the remaining blackouts with the 12% not being spent towards the cap (thus having the actual 12% remaining to re-up the cap).
I wish Football was available on TV for everyone, sorry it’s not.
Ruud Beckles, no need for name calling. I am an idiot (only through my passion for these baby bucs).
August 15th, 2011 at 7:14 pm
Prices went down after fans stopped going bc the low payroll made a subpar roster. These guys only care about the $, which is their right. It is also our right to call attention to it. These owners are horrible.
August 15th, 2011 at 7:37 pm
These owners that gave us Dungy, Gruden, Brooks, Barber, Sapp, Lynch, Dunn, Alstott, got Tampa a new stadium, got Tampa its first Superbowl, and at the time broke the record books by buying the team for $192 mil are cheap, horrible, and that is why blackouts have and will happen….. The man in me wants to book a psych evaluation for Thomas. The fan in me daydreams of ripping limbs off.
August 15th, 2011 at 7:44 pm
I HATE blackouts…
PAY PER VIEW the blacked out games!!….local establishments would make lots of money again(ie sports bars etc)
Fans who cant afford a game would be happy…and not pissed off and saying the heck with them(the bucs/owners)..
The NFL would make cash as well from say a $20 ppv game and so would cable providers..makes perfect sense and both sides are happy..
August 15th, 2011 at 7:47 pm
These owners are great. I wouldn’t, and won’t, ask for any better because frankly it would be nearly impossible.
They’ve done a fantastic job and I applaud their efforts in the face of ignorant diatribes from the people who are still sore they lost Chucky (a coach who would never have gotten any better in Tampa and deserved to be let go).
The truth is that even in good economic times the Tampa Bay area barely had enough paying sports fans to support 3 major sports franchises. When you take a marginal fan base to begin with and subject them to economic hardship the numbers drop below the maintenance level into a deficit.
These are just facts about this geographic area. Unless the economy rebounds into consistent, positive growth it will always be difficult to sell out stadiums even when teams are winning. Changing ownership would not solve this problem but would only make it worse by adding to the instability factor.
Haters: get a f’ing clue for a change.
August 15th, 2011 at 7:51 pm
Well the decrease in ticket prices – even if not for all levels – was welcomed.
It dropped my 300 section penthouse tickets (4 of them) from $3000 a year to $1800 a year (now with the 2 youths paying youth fares instead of full fare).
Good enough to keep me going as a season ticket holder otherwise, $3000 for the 300’s was a brutal price in this economy. And that was just the tickets!!!
August 15th, 2011 at 8:03 pm
“Jenna points out that figure ranks 21st in the NFL, meaning 20 other NFL teams had a higher average price.”
But that also means that 11 other teams had a lower ticket price AND did not have 10 blackouts last season. Maybe the prices are still too high? Maybe not. But if they still don’t come???
That across the board 30% increase 3 years ago seems a bit premature now.
August 15th, 2011 at 8:05 pm
@ SteveK
Under the new CBA, 10% (90% percent of the cap and that number could increase to 93%) would be the most they could do under your proposal.
Does anyone even talk with this Thomas guy? What a buffoon! So much could be said, but I think leaving this guy with his thoughts to himself is much more rewarding.
August 15th, 2011 at 9:14 pm
I agree with the premise of Jenna’s article and applaud her for her efforts, but I can’t help but point out that ticket average ticket prices from a website that tracks the SECONDARY market is not the proper measure of ticket costs. Ticket prices in the secondary market reflect supply and demand. In the case of the Bucs, the demand is relatively low while the supply is high. As such, getting cheap Bucs tickets on Stubhub or NLF ticket exchange is not hard. The good news here is that for 10+ teams, the secondary market is worse. Of course, this could reflect lower baseline prices, or less demand…hard to tell from this data.
August 15th, 2011 at 10:53 pm
I’m waiting to read Thomas’s reply to the post that said Team Glazer gave us Brooks, Dungy, Sapp, ect. I mean seriously Thomas, every time somebody gives you something that you can’t refute you just run away like a little girl, wait for Joe to post another story, then spew your garbage on that story. It’s ridiculous, you really are that tiny little dweeb living in moms basement.
August 15th, 2011 at 11:16 pm
Anyone that would take Culverhouse over the Glazers raise your hand… I didn’t think we’d have any takers.
August 15th, 2011 at 11:43 pm
Stevek- The Glazers did buy extra tickets to prevent blackouts in 2009. It was nice of them to do that then. Couldn’t expect them to do it indefinitely.
August 15th, 2011 at 11:44 pm
@ Joe –
With regard to your earlier comment about the handheld TV (aka FanVision): Is that speculation or do you have the inside track on that. I know that I was sent out a survey last year or the year before essentially inquiring whether or not fans would be interested in having the FanVision option. I would love to have access to this at CITS. Any info would be greatly appreciated.
August 16th, 2011 at 12:11 am
Kevin:
Pure speculation.
NFL owners know that it’s getting more and more desirable for fans to sit at home and watch games on HD. Jerry Jones stated it was one reason he built such a palace: You have to give fans a reason to come to a game and not stay at home. Sadly, the game itself isn’t enough of a draw any longer.
Bryan Glazer remarked on live radio that the owners are well aware of this and are in discussions about how to make games more desirable to attend.
Joe has repeatedly written that The CITS needs a “Bud Zone” like bar just like Jacksonville has where fans can come early and watch the out of market games if they wish on the various TVs.
Joe is not a fantasy football guy but Joe doesn’t have his head in the sand either. There is a significant element of football fans that want to stay home to watch teams with their fantasy football players. You cannot do that at The CITS.
Not sure how much the following plays into the Bucs and ticket sales but it’s something to think about, that the NFL’s popularity is killing attendance.
Bill King on Sirius College Football is always invited by fans to come tailgate with them. He always politely declines, saying, “If I go to a game I miss too much.”
Think about what King is saying: By staying home look at all the games you can watch in one day. Translate that to the NFL, if you go to a Bucs game for example, you will be lucky to see the second half of a 4 p.m. game.
The NFL has become so popular, many fans believe they miss too much going to a game. Think about it.
August 16th, 2011 at 12:15 am
I have Bucs season tix, and I live in DC! Peep this, it’s cheaper to buy season tix, travel to see the Bucs 8 times a year than it is to have Redskins season tix! I have a buddy that has three Redskins season tix that total $10,000.00!
August 16th, 2011 at 12:18 am
DCBUCSFAN:
Joe believes it.
And look at what all that spending that Danny Snyder did that fans are always screaming about. It got them garbage teams and paying through the nose for the right to what those garbage teams.
Are fans really that naive that Team Glazer is going about it the wrong way?
August 16th, 2011 at 6:18 am
That’s the secondary market, that just shows that Bucs tickets have less resale value, not that the owners are pricing them reasonably. If a Hyundai holds its value better than a Kia in the used car market that does not mean the new Hyundais are more expensive when sitting on the dealer’s lot.
Also I always ask when they do the annual “average ticket price” story in the local press: is that weighted average or raw average? CITS stadium has a small block of very cheap tickets, if you simply average ticket prices that pulls the average way down. If you use a weighted average that takes into account the number of seats available in each price range you would get a higher, and IMO more realistic, average.
Yet no one in the press ever asks that dead simple question….
August 16th, 2011 at 7:02 am
I think some of you need to research CAP money vs actual spending. The Bucs are doing this right, so to say spend that 12% you saved is just silly. They are spending a huge amount of actual money, and managing the cap for the future. Take a look at DCBuc’s post, he is 100% right.
August 16th, 2011 at 7:54 am
Joe- thanks for the info and analysis. I couldn’t agree with you more. I love going to the games (and attend each on that I’m in town for) but I’m constantly checking my phone to see what’s going on with all the other teams. This fanvision thing would be awesome, but I realize that I’m not the target… I already attend games; this would just be icing on the cake. The question is would fanvision recruit more people to attend the game?