King Where It Matters Most
June 17th, 2020
“Ira, stop talking about ticket sales. People might think you’re out of touch.”
How much does the NFL care about game attendance? This should help answer that question.
National broadcasting icon and Buccaneers preseason play-by-play guy Chris Myers dropped an interesting nugget during a recent appearance on SiriusXM Mad Dog Radio.
Myers was talking about how Tom Brady singlehandedly revolutionized the national stature of the Bucs franchise in record time –“They went from zero to 100.” — and he suspects the Bucs likely will land an additional prime time games if they perform as expected.
No shock there.
But Myers then peeled back the curtain on data inside the walls of TV executives and NFL owners.
“Our research has indicated, I don’t know if fans are aware of this, but more than 90 percent of those who are diehard NFL fans in our country have never attended an NFL game in person,” Myers said. “They just haven’t been able to or they don’t live in a [league] city. So as a viewing audience, it’s the Cowboys and Tom Brady. And of course you have the Super Bowl Chiefs, the defending champs, not to knock any other players or their franchise.”
Joe’s assuming Myers was referring to numbers gathered by his current employer, FOX Sports.
Joe found it noteworthy that Myers specifically said “diehard” fans (more than 90 percent) have never been to a game. Think about that. That’s the hardest of the hardcore who only know the TV product.
Man, what a cash machine the NFL is, and what a coup the Bucs scored with Brady when it comes to their business. Hell, Team Glazer should be buying the whole team Brady’s immune system supplements as a thank you.
June 17th, 2020 at 8:57 am
I’ve been saying it from day one……$5 billion in TV rights…..there will be football
June 17th, 2020 at 9:15 am
If we have fans in the stands, will Brady appreciate the “First down Tampa Bay” chant while he is trying to run the offense?
June 17th, 2020 at 10:13 am
I question the categorization of someone who has never attended an NFL game as “diehard”……
June 17th, 2020 at 10:41 am
yep. I’ve never been to an NFL game and am a diehard. Move the Bucs to Tulsa and lets F-ing GO! 😉
I joke about the last part (kinda…) but for real, I’m not going to Dallas or KC to watch teams I don’t care for…. so…. I get TV. For better and for worse.
June 17th, 2020 at 11:27 am
I’d consider myself a die hard fan. Living in Cali makes going to games easier. I go see the Bucs play whenever they come, be it LA, San Francisco or San Diego. Now I’d love to add Vegas to the list but I doubt I’ll be going to Vegas. I love my Bucs but I refuse to pay $300+ for nose bleed seats. That’s ridiculous!
June 17th, 2020 at 11:48 am
I’ve been to Bucs games numerous times, but actually prefer the game on TV, where I can get commentary and multiple replays. Plus depending on seating, you often can’t see the field and plays the way you can on TV. I know they now have the big screens in the stadium, but if you’re going to be watching the screen, why not be at home and see it on TV? Plus at home you have easy access to adult beverages, snacks, and the bathroom, not to mention saving a butt load of money. I think the big attraction to actual game attendance is the tail gating and camaraderie with other fans.
June 17th, 2020 at 11:51 am
Why Morgus? Do we have to count the number of games we’ve attended to establish a pecking order? Or whose post really matters? How bout coolness?
June 17th, 2020 at 11:59 am
I went to a lot of Bucs games from 1976 until 1997 when we closed out the Sombrero against Detroit.
I loved seeing the games in person.
However, I’ve only seen one game at RJS and that was a USF game a couple of years ago.
I’ve wanted to see my Bucs in person since then but every time I look a ticket prices and factor in all the extras, I just can’t justify it.
And the last 5 years with JayMiss I just couldn’t..,,,
June 17th, 2020 at 12:05 pm
I’m a season ticket holder and going to a game is the best, however a person can certainly be a die hard fan and never attend a game.
June 17th, 2020 at 12:08 pm
Last game I went to was Dec. 2007, Bucs vs. Atlanta. Spurlock ran back the kick for a TD…first time in bucs history.
Tickets for 3, parking, 3 hats, 3 burgers, 3 fries, 3 cokes totaled $700.
That was it for me. This fan was priced out.
Now I watch on my theater screen in HD at home.
No need to go to the stadium and blow wads of my cash.
Especially given the product the last 13 years.
June 17th, 2020 at 12:28 pm
If you live in a football town you are not diehard unless you have been to the stadium. BTW, looks like Ira needs to follow the Tom Brady diet, not the William (the refrigerator) Perry diet it looks like he is on.
June 17th, 2020 at 1:12 pm
The in-person Game Day experience is vastly superior to the TV product. It is indeed unfortunate 90% have never experienced that phenomenon.
I was a season ticket holder for decades until moving from the country in 2008.
I selfishly hope whatever “protests” the NFL/Goodell allows will be in-person and not part of the TV experience.
I suspect with the stat Myers mentions, and since most of the NFL $$$ is in TV revenues, the protests seen by TV audiences will be minimal, if any, for fear of alienating a huge % of the consumers. We know for a FACT that not only were ticket sales down drastically during SJW protests, but TV audience was similarly depressed. It took two years for recovery and it is still not at pre-protest levels.
So the NFL has quite the balancing act for 2020.
Good luck.
Can they pull it off? I know MANY are in a wait-and-see mode before plunking down $$$ on Game Pass or Direct TV apps, not to mention ticket purchases.
(And I fully expect vitriol from SJW’s…)
June 17th, 2020 at 1:39 pm
Why would you go see any concert in person? You can just listen to them on the radio instead. Same idea for anyone who has not been to a game. Sure the view might be better, cheaper however the experience is not even close.
June 17th, 2020 at 2:30 pm
Who wouldn’t want to go sit in a 110 degree sauna and drink $5 waters or $12 warm flat beers?
June 17th, 2020 at 3:08 pm
I became a true fan after seeing the Bucs in the old Citrus Bowl many moons ago. I get that some dont care to go but my greatest memories besides watching the Super Bowl win on TV were the games I went to in person and the energy you get from hearing all the fans screaming at the same time you are. I remember being there and watching Leroy sack Ron Jaworski on consecutive plays in the 3rd quarter in 1979 and the fans went nuts!! The Old Sombrero was rocking!!!! The Eagles were favorites to win the Super Bowl and Leroy and Ricky Bell and Jimmy Giles and all the rest turned Tampa upside down and put the Bucs in the NFC Championship game when nobody thought we had a chance. . When you go to games like that you never forget it for the rest of your life. Great to sit on the coach but nothing like being there.
June 17th, 2020 at 5:44 pm
Mike, gotta disagree with you there. Concerts are a wonderful bang for the buck. I’ve been to lots of NFL games and lots of Buc games, but I prefer the experience on my HD TV with a cold IPA in my hand and a bathroom close by. No driving either!
My entertainment dollars are spent for concerts at many different venues and spending $$ for good seats. Seeing a band live is nothing at all like listening to them on the radio or anything else. That’s especially true for jam bands and bands that improvise on stage, like any band with talent will.
June 17th, 2020 at 6:43 pm
zero to 100? Not accurate, Bucs had plenty of weapons and talent prior to TB12 and won 6 games. More like 40 to 100.
June 17th, 2020 at 7:42 pm
Only die hard fans like to pay $9 for some warm crappy bear and cardboard food. I might go to one game a year with a pass holder friend, but I’m good with watching the games from home. No reason to get a 10k Uber to the Hillsborough County jail.
But you go Diehard!
June 17th, 2020 at 7:45 pm
Nick2
Agreed. I’ll never forget leaving the stadium early against the Colts on Monday night in 04 only to find out it was best that I left early before watching the big meltdown. Thinking back I would have rather watched the game at home.
June 17th, 2020 at 9:33 pm
I watched the Colts meltdown from a bar in New Orleans
June 17th, 2020 at 10:20 pm
The NFL could triple there current 5 billion if they are the only game in town. They could televise certain teams on certain days of the week and take over the whole week.
They could just put cardboard pirates in the seats and roll in the dough.
Their season is the only one that makes sense to do it this way.
June 17th, 2020 at 11:50 pm
I had season tickets from 1976 to 1997. Now I try to go twice a year but I’d go A lot more if we had a covered stadium. The live game experience is better then sitting at home watching it on TV.