Will NFL Mean No Fans Left?

BillLawrenceOnline.Com ^ | 10-30-10

[Tribune7]

Fans of the San Diego Charges, Detroit Lions and Oakland Raiders will miss their teams on TV tomorrow as the teams failed to sell out the stadiums by the Thursday deadline.

This brings the number of NFL blackouts to 13 for the season which is more than half of last year's 22 with 60 percent of the games still to be played.

[BwanaNdege]

For the 2007 Super Bowl the average ticket price was $4,004 with attendance at 76,500... equals $306,306,000 for tickets.

Ad revenue for 2009 Super Bowl was $261 million.

[BwanaNdege]

For the 2007 Super Bowl the average ticket price was $4,004 with attendance at 76,500... equals $306,306,000 for tickets.

Ad revenue for 2009 Super Bowl was $261 million.

[bmwcyle]

I pod cast Coast to Coast.

[Alberta's Child]

I think you're all wrong about the NHL. When I became a fan in the late 1980s there were 21 teams in the NHL. Since that time, the following teams have joined the league as expansion teams:

1991 -- San Jose Sharks (frequently among the top teams in the Western Conference in the regular season in recent years, but have never appeared in the Stanley Cup finals)
1992 -- Ottawa Senators (won their first conference championship in 2006-07; no Stanley Cups)
1992 -- Tampa Bay Lightning (one Stanley Cup in 2003-04, the only season they've ever made it to the finals)
1993 -- Florida Panthers (Stanley Cup finalist in 1996, swept in four games, perennial losers most years since then)
1993 -- Anaheim Mighty Ducks (probably the most successful of the post-1990 expansion teams; Stanley Cup finalist in 2002-03, Stanley Cup champions in 2006-07)
1998 -- Nashville Predators (little or no on-ice success; regularly rumored to be moving elsewhere)
1999 -- Atlanta Thrashers (perennially one of the worst NHL teams)
2000 -- Columbus Blue Jackets (one playoff appearance; have never won a playoff game)
2000 -- Minnesota Wild (have won all of two playoff series in nine years)

That's two Stanley Cups and five appearances in the Stanley Cup finals among these nine teams by my count, which make up nearly a third of the NHL right now. I'd hardly call this an overwhelming record of success for these expansion teams.

[Alberta's Child]

You raise good points there. I agree with you 100%.

[Doulos1]

Another thing, having chicks on the sideline asking questions and giving “color commentary” is silly. I used to hit the mute button so quick they must have heard it in their ear buds. The chickafacation of men’s sports is ridiculous. Quit watching NFL last year. I will watch Super Bowl for the beer and pizza though.

[KarlInOhio]

How about out of the first 40 televised World Series, half went the full 7 games? So much for the expected bell curve.

If each team has a 50/50 chance of winning and the winner is determined randomly then these are the odds of each length of series:

4 games, 12.5%
5 games, 25%
6 games, 31.25%
7 games, 31.25%

[heye2monn]

Good point. The drinking and cursing are out of control. Who would ever want to take their kids there?

[CodeToad]

NFL: Negros, Felons, and Liberals. It’s what the NFL contains and it is primarily who I hear talking about watching it.

[heye2monn]

Pro football is a great sport, but it’s overkill now. Too many games, too many teams, and too many days of the week have games. Nothing special about Sunday afternoon any more.

You CAN have too much of a good thing.

[1010RD]

DeBeers should be the model for the NFL.

[Tribune7]

ping

[bobby.223]

Dead on’Tode!! Only children and young’ns not paying attention are fooled by the leftist/commie/socialists running the once great NFL. My God....Sammy Baugh....Otto G...Bart Starr...Bobby Layne...Jimmy Taylor....Paul Hornung...Johnny U., Where are you??! Now what is there? a bunch of savage looking tatooed young BB thugs that act like they have saved our country after the most common tackle or pass reception. Good God kids....wake the heck up! the NFL is a 100% micro. of the liberal agenda. The networks and their ‘blacks make whites look stupid or ignorant’ TV commercials follow right along also. But blacks ‘schooling whitey’ is where it is at now I guess on the ‘tube. To bad so many sucking this garbage up are to young to figure it out! Okay....old guy bitch done.

[heye2monn]

Pink DeBeers.

[Raider Sam]

The only SB I think that was fixed was the Seahawks/Steelers game. I think this year, one of the refs came out and said the bungled calls that helped Pittsburgh, and refs dont usually admit their mistakes.

Also, the Celtics were ok, but they didnt make the playoffs in 06 or 07, and then won the title in 08. That doesnt mean it was fixed (Boston signed a defenseman and a perimeter guy and their PG became a stud) but the Celtics werent anywhere near the top of the East before 2008.

[Colonel_Flagg]

The news about so much leftist political activism on the part of the NFL’s PAC is a significant problem for me.

That and the league has a significant officiating problem it simply refuses to fix. I don’t spend nearly as much time watching the league as I used to, and my family is better for it.

[Colonel_Flagg]

Or isn’t it peculiar that NHL expansion teams do so well, as in expanding the market appeal of those teams?

Frankly, I don't buy this particular part of your argument as a longtime NHL watcher. But I do feel there is an economic advantage for leagues to have their marquee teams do well, and that this is particularly pronounced in the NFL (Steelers, Packers, Patriots and last year, Saints) and the NBA (Celtics, Lakers).

Just my opinion.

[Colonel_Flagg]

When I became a fan in the late 1980s there were 21 teams in the NHL.

The NHL was a blast to watch in the early 1980s, right after the merger with the WHA with the young Oilers ripping up the league. It was never as good before then and it certainly isn't anywhere near as good now.

[discostu]

There were bad calls both ways in that SB, but nobody ever remembers bad calls that favored the losers. There’s at least 1 rough call every game, and more in the playoffs because they still “all star” the officiating crew rather than keep the team together. 20 years now various commentators have been complaining about how the NFL picks the officials in the playoffs and they still won’t listen.

In the free agency era 3 years near the top is a good run. Remember the Lakers weren’t near the top of the west before 08 either. Then both teams started peaking, which is why I said it seemed kind of inevitable, both teams started getting really good, Celts win in 08, Lakers in 09, something was bound to happen in 10.

[Temple Owl]

And bringing in a dog killer to run the team.