Post by TheShadow on Sept 20, 2004 17:35:59 GMT -5
www.oaklandtribune.com
WHEN A cynical long time colleague first came up with this prophecy a decade ago, it sounded a bit to Orwellian to be believable. Maybe it wasn't.
His take: Professional football was doomed to become a "studio game." In other words, because the NFL appeared determined to cater to television and not to the in-person customer, soon games would be contested in private, in large blimp hangars -- and no distractions such as fans to gum up the works.
Games would be taped, later to be televised on a pay-per-view basis, say two games a day, seven days a week, at 40 bucks a pop. To steal from Joe Starkey, what a bonanza (financially speaking).
Results could be choreographed to achieve the peak level of interest and drama. Just call it sort of a reality show with no true reality involved.
Well that's a silly notion of course. It is, isn't it?
Then it struck me that given TV's impact on the sport, maybe we are headed that way. At least when it comes to the part about games being played without "interference" of fans.
Personally, I feel for the fans, at least for those of them who are committed. The cost of going to a game has gone from expensive to prohibitive, and the publicity wonks are claiming this is an indication of the game's popularity. More on that later.
Today, the cost for a family of four to attend the average NFL game is $312.62 per game, according to Chicago-based Team Marketing Report, Inc.
The average ticket price is now $54.75 ranging from $75.33 in New England to $37.13 in Buffalo.
In New England, it costs $35 to park. In Baltimore and Washington, it's $7 for a beer. Washington nicks customers $5 for a hot dog.
Not surprising given the cost of living in the Bay Area, the 49ers are the third most expensive team to watch ($380.50 for a family of four). The Raiders charge the 13th highest prices ($331.53).
The average ticket in San Francisco is $64 (seventh highest), in Oakland it is $58.89 (12th).
Then there are the "must buy" preseason ticket packages -- hamburger products at lobster prices -- that many fans pay for and don't bother to attend. Needless to say, frustration is running amok out there.
It makes one wonder: When will enough be enough for the average fan already forking out the better part of three days' post-tax wages to go see a game?
Yes, the supply-and-demand curve dictates prices will escalate until that crucial intersection occurs where the result is a loss. But the question now becomes whether the NFL is paying attention.
Check it out this week -- there are 16 games on tap. Three were declared non-sellouts as of Thursday, resulting in blackouts.
It's happening in San Diego, Jacksonville and (of course) Oakland. It's been happening here in the East Bay for a decade. There's a new phenomenon in San Diego, where until this year the city had indemnified the club by promising to buy any unsold tickets. Jacksonville has now failed to sell out its second straight home opener.
This has to be an embarrassment to the NFL. It has scheduled Super Bowl XXXIX for Jacksonville on Feb.6.
I'm no economist, but it strikes me that at some point the NFL must come to the conclusion that its blackout rule is killing its marketing of the sport.
The blackout policy occurred because they were afraid free football would chase customers away. Instead, prices are.
The NFL is going to have to start selling its game again ... which means making those games look attractive at the prices they insist on charging. You don't sell by limiting your product.
Then again, they could lower prices. Or head in the direction of those "studio games."
If that happens, we all lose.