More Blackouts Looming?
May 31st, 2011
Some interesting news on the Bucs ticket sales front and it doesn’t look good for Bucs fans wanting to watch homes games from their homes.
Earlier today, David Kaplan of the Sports Business Journal, usually a very solid, credible source of sports business news, Twittered that NFL teams are ahead of schedule in season ticket sales.
Kaplan did not specify his source but teams don’t normally release season ticket sales information, especially if sales are down. That’s not exactly public information.
Now Sunday, eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune reported that while earlier this year the Bucs season ticket sales were brisk, the engine has run out of steam, largely because of the asinine lockout brainstormed by NFL chieftain Roger Goodell.
As a result, Kaufman suggested lockouts may be common again this season at The CITS unless this asinine lockout ends soon.
Ten weeks ago in New Orleans, Bucs co-chairman Joel Glazer said club officials were encouraged by strong season-ticket sales for 2011. But the uncertainty about when, or even if, the new season will begin has hurt marketing efforts for all 32 teams.
Last year, the Bucs were the only NFL club with every home game blocked out in the local market. With sales stalled, Tampa Bay fans without a ticket may once again have to travel out of the blackout region to view games at Raymond James Stadium.
Even the one home game that appeared certain to be televised in the Bay area, an Oct. 23 matchup against the Bears at London’s Wembley Stadium, could be blacked out because the game will be played in Tampa if the lockout is still in place Aug. 1.
Joe would be stunned if the Bears do play at The CITS and that game would be blacked out. Bears fans used to flock to Bucs home games in droves, largely because of the awful weather the second city has. October in Chicago, specifically late October, is usually miserable. Bears fans used to invade Tampa Bay for a short weekend vacation when the Bears played here annually.
But there is also potentially good news for Bucs fans who prefer the leather couch in air conditioning with the 50-inch HD TV and the cheaper beer in the fridge than the upper deck on the east side of the stadium, roasting on a plastic seat with $7 beers and a standard-def replay board that too often shows more commercials than replays:
Kaplan also Twittered that the NFL is researching adjusting blackout standards and requirements so it’s easier for teams to broadcast home games.
May 31st, 2011 at 12:34 pm
Last year we had every excuse in the book. If there are blackouts this year it’s an indictment on the fans in tampa. I hope we get close enough for the glazers to cover the rest.
May 31st, 2011 at 12:35 pm
i love games in hd ..but as a real buc fan that goes to 1-2 games a year..guess ima have to watch online again..a real fan dont let these rich mother fff ers ..tell me what i can watch..new sites always pop up they are living in the past..lower tix prices
May 31st, 2011 at 1:00 pm
“…the asinine lockout brainstormed by NFL chieftain Roger Goodell.”
Seriously? C’mon, say what you will about Goodell, but the lockout is not his baby. He is a mouthpiece of the owners on this one. If it were up to him, everyone would be back at work so he could be making up new rules and slappin’ fines.
May 31st, 2011 at 1:18 pm
@BucFabn941, new sites are already up and working great.
May 31st, 2011 at 1:28 pm
I’m with BucFan941. I can only afford 2 games a year.
May 31st, 2011 at 1:46 pm
Looks like the Bucs will always have blacked out games now!! Unbelievable.
May 31st, 2011 at 1:48 pm
Looks like my time in Norfolk has been extended to 4-5 months. Guess whir I’m picking out a house, I better make sure I can get the Buc games! I know, I know, IF there is a season!
May 31st, 2011 at 2:04 pm
Capt.Tim:
You a navy man?
May 31st, 2011 at 2:23 pm
It’s the old northwest corner of the supply/demand curve where price starts to affect quantity or demand. The higher the price, the lower the demand. Demand has remained relatively inelastic up to a point on the price curve, but price has continued to increase to the point where the demand line has changed from an increasing function to a decreasing function (the confiscation point). Until prices are reduced to an amount below the confiscation point or the NFL changes the blackout rules, blackouts will persist even if we win the Superbowl. Sorry about the ECON 101 class.
May 31st, 2011 at 2:33 pm
Last season I and a friend went to a home game. We were trying to get tickets outside but there wasn’t anyone selling tickets. The only place you could get tickets right before the game was at the stadium box office. I waited in the line for 20 mins and when we got to the front the lady says it was $90 a ticket. I just started laughing. I would never pay that much. Never! Sorry, got better thangs to do with $90.
May 31st, 2011 at 3:20 pm
Joe, nope. But I do with them, and other branches of the Service, as a consultant. Highest regards and respect for them all.
Being here in Norfolk, definitely the place to learn respect for our great Navy!
May 31st, 2011 at 4:21 pm
Chris,
I had my season tickets for almost 20 years before I gave them up in 2010 because I could no longer afford $4,000 for a family of 4. (more like $7500 when you included parking, tailgating & stadium costs) I have to give the owners credit though; the same tickets I used to have will now cost me $2250. Youth tickets are no more than $30 and my $90 seat is down to $60. I have absolutely no ties to the Bucs, but I have to give them credit for at least trying. If I read the pricing right; I think there will be walk up tickets available for like $50 which again like you say no one will pay $90 for a game day walk in ticket. This should greatly increase game day sales!
May 31st, 2011 at 6:06 pm
Logistical/hypothetical question here: Let’s say that there are 10,000 tickets remaining to be sold 72 hours prior to the game. Glazers petition the NFL to get the blackout extension. 24 hours prior to the game there are 6,000 tickets for sale, but the Glazers decide that they want the game to be aired and pick up the remaining 6,000 tickets. What happens to the tickets? (I realize that the Glazers are really only spending 35 cents on the dollar to pay the opposing team’s cut.) Now that the game is “sold out”, can you still walk up and buy tickets to a sold out game? Granted, it’s very likely you pick up tickets from random folks outside the stadium, but can you buy a ticket at the ticket office the day of the game? Does anyone know how this works logistically? Just curious…
May 31st, 2011 at 7:30 pm
If the owners/players keep up with this stupid lockout then I say this:
SCREW THEM ALL. BOYCOTT THE DARN SEASON AND LET THE PLAYERS PLAY IN EMPTY STADIUMS.
Sorry but this whole mess is just stupid. I stopped watching baseball because of their strike induced season and guess what – I don’t miss it!
May 31st, 2011 at 7:41 pm
Finally looking at changing the stupid blackout rule. It’s about freakin time. I’m going to the games anyway, even if they only play a few. It’s who I am. It’s what I do. I’m a Bucaholic, and no, I won’t go to BA or try to control the things that are beyond my control.
BTW, I don’t miss baseball either, but I do miss hockey and it hasn’t been a week yet. Go Lightning! I knew Steve Yzerman was going to right that sinking ship.
June 1st, 2011 at 9:20 am
@Joe
I have never seen anyone hang onto such a wrong conclussion as you are, Joe. lol
Alright…convince me that this is all Goodell’s doing. I’m an open slate. This is your chance to prove your point. If you do, than no one here would be justified in saying you are wrong about this.
Wow. This is an angle of the lockout I hadn’t even thought of. After lockouts and strikes, public relations usually take a dive for sports leagues. If the NFL changes the bloackout rules in an effort to promote the games and teams more, than this lockout is well worth it.
That would be allowing the fans to get something worthwhile out of this mess.