NFL to examine quality of preseason, lower ticket prices

[papazoid]

The NFL still is looking at different formats for the split of regular-season and preseason games -- 18-and-2, 16-and-2 or 17-and-3. The league will examine this year's preseason to figure it out.

 

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000227448/article/nfl-to-examine-quality-of-preseason-games-lower-ticket-prices

[eball]

I don't care about the number of preseason games -- it's the pricing of the tickets that chaps my ass. It's a crime to charge fans full price for exhibition games. I usually give my preseason tix away; the most I've ever gotten for a ticket is $15 or $20. These tix should be half-price at most.

[Chandler#81]

I don't care about the number of preseason games -- it's the pricing of the tickets that chaps my ass. It's a crime to charge fans full price for exhibition games. I usually give my preseason tix away; the most I've ever gotten for a ticket is $15 or $20. These tix should be half-price at most.

 

NFLN 'heads' said lower Pre-season prices are one of the main considerations of this e v a l. Lengthening the reg season is just asking for disaster, IMO, as no team can get through training camp anymore without key players lost to injury. Yet there has to be a game-condition process to effectively evaluate new players and assure those returning from injury are still capable of their previous talent & skill. The 4th PS game is a joke anymore with most/all starters sitting, but is essential to bubble players and coaches fine tuning their final rosters. At least the League is attempting to correct. It's a BIG step, considering they're willing to sacrifice $$..

[Meatloaf Sandwich]

They should be free I mean come on they don't count.

[Metal Man]

It is nice they are finally looking at something that people have been complaining about forever. It always felt like a punishment having to buy two of these meaningless games at full price a year as a season ticket holder.

 

With the exception of kids day at Ralph I can't imagine that many "non-season ticket" seats actually get sold to these games so why not make your season ticket holders happy while at the same time increasing the chances someone would actually walk up to the gate and buy a seat to these meaningless games?

[papazoid]

I don't care about the number of preseason games -- it's the pricing of the tickets that chaps my ass. It's a crime to charge fans full price for exhibition games. I usually give my preseason tix away; the most I've ever gotten for a ticket is $15 or $20. These tix should be half-price at most.

 

while I agree with ya, no way they take less revenue.

 

if they kept the 16-4 schedule (2 home preseason games) they could cut the preseason games in half, but then they would just increase the regular season tix price to make up for it.

 

I think the final answer is going to be to stay at 16 regular, go down to 2 preseason and then ADD either one or two more playoff teams from each conference (up from the current 6) so that the added revenue comes from playoff games.

[KRT88]

I think the 17-3 concept could work. At least for a while

 

Per season one home, road and neutral site game.

 

Regular season, 8 home, road and one international game.

 

London 3 or 4 games, Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Tokyo, China, Mexico City, Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto (besides the Bills) and a couple more.

 

 

[OCinBuffalo]

I think the 17-3 concept could work. At least for a while

 

Per season one home, road and neutral site game.

 

Regular season, 8 home, road and one international game.

 

London 3 or 4 games, Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Tokyo, China, Mexico City, Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto (besides the Bills) and a couple more.

So you're a 3 birds with one stone kinda guy, huh? Hmmm...interesting.

 

The TV revenues would be neutral, and I figure that alone would cover most if not all of the cost of the 16?(right?) international games. The gate would be the difference maker. I wonder if you'd lose some novelty by having so many "off-site" games in one year, and doing it every year. Might hurt the ratings some. However, when we are talking about the entire world, that's a lot of cities that can easily support an NFL ticket price, or, even an inflated NFL ticket price.

 

I wonder if the NFL marketing people have this configuration on their list? I'm sure they have to, don't they? I would imagine they have every combination possible, and have evaluated and projected each one. That's seems to be the right thing.

 

Of course, these are the same people who have been unable to find a fix for the Pro Bowl. Maybe you should submit this idea?

[eball]

while I agree with ya, no way they take less revenue.

 

if they kept the 16-4 schedule (2 home preseason games) they could cut the preseason games in half, but then they would just increase the regular season tix price to make up for it.

 

I think the final answer is going to be to stay at 16 regular, go down to 2 preseason and then ADD either one or two more playoff teams from each conference (up from the current 6) so that the added revenue comes from playoff games.

 

Here's the thing -- I don't care if they "fool" me by raising the regular season ticket price to make up for a reduced preseason price. I'll pay the same overall money; just don't try to tell me an exhibition ticket has the same value as the regular season opener against the $%#&$! Patriots*.

[CodeMonkey]

I don't care about the number of preseason games -- it's the pricing of the tickets that chaps my ass. It's a crime to charge fans full price for exhibition games. I usually give my preseason tix away; the most I've ever gotten for a ticket is $15 or $20. These tix should be half-price at most.

We go to the kids day preseason game every year and the most I have paid for tickets is $8 for lower bowl, with the exception being last year when some scheduling bozo made that game against the Stillers. Stillers fans were buying up the tickets and I had to pay $15. Got this years for $6.

 

It does take a lot of nerve on the part of the NFL in my opinion to charge anyone full price for preseason games. And giant brass ones to do that to your life blood, the season ticket holders.

[Bills fan since 87]

I'm going to go to the Viking preseason game just because I feel like I have since it came with my seasons....Well that and I'm a Bills junkie.......a shot gun couldn't make me go to the fourth preseason game however

[SDS]

Examine quality of the preseason? Uh... They don't know this already? Let me help:

 

Garbage product. Confiscatory prices. Alienation of season ticket holders.

[PromoTheRobot]

Once again here is PTR's simple, elegant solution to this problem. Lengthen the season without adding more games by adding a second bye week. Then add a tue or wed prime time game and have teams coming off the bye play them. Then drop one or two PS games.

 

You're welcome, NFL.

 

PTR

[Nanker]

They should drop two of them and mandate a TC scrimmage between two non-divisional teams before the 1st preseason game. Rosters should be expanded to include 4 more players and 2 players should be able to be put on IR with recall after 6 weeks if they want to go to 17 or 18 games.

 

Every team should play a rubber match game in LA against a Divisional opponent. That would put a game each week in LA and shut those !@#$ers up about stealing another city's NFL team.

 

They should also have all divisional opponents take their bye week at the same time. It's not that hard Mr. Brainiac NFL Schedule Makers.

[bowery4]

There are a lot of good and nice ideas here, I wish the NFL would see them. and

[BillsWatch]

I do think adding bye weeks is part of the solution for it adds weeks and gives players time to recover without more games which can lead to more injuries but think preseason is a different issue. For Bills fans preseason is a low cost game but for other teams it is not always the case since the other teams have less tickets to sell. Look at Green Bay who sells out preseason and stadiums are full.

[Cash]

The NFL still is looking at different formats for the split of regular-season and preseason games -- 18-and-2, 16-and-2 or 17-and-3. The league will examine this year's preseason to figure it out.

 

http://www.nfl.com/n...r-ticket-prices

Thanks for posting!

 

Hmm, I wonder which format the NFL will recommend? Maybe the 18-game regular season they've been jonesing for for 2 years? Well, now that they've cracked down on bounties and eliminated concussions forever with Heads Up Tackling , they might as well.

 

The NFL, particularly Goodell, is spectacularly full of BS. They know how unpopular an 18-game regular season is, which is why they keep trying to wrap it in an issue that people will swallow -- reducing preseason games. So far, every attempt they've made has been rebuffed, because the fans and more importantly the players' union are too smart to fall for this nonsense. But every time they get smacked down, they just come back for more. They think they can win a war of attrition, and they may be right.

 

I don't care about the number of preseason games, and the price doesn't affect me because I live out of town, but I do feel for you season-ticket holders having to pay full price for them. I agree with papzoid that there's no way the NFL proposes or accepts a format that gets them less revenue. Now, it might be possible that reducing preseason ticket prices (but not concessions, parking, etc.) could result in more revenues, because 60,000 fans at half price will produce more revenue than 30,000 fans at full price. Or maybe you make kids under 12 free across the board, figuring that families are typically good for more food/merchandise sales than individuals or groups of adults. If other teams do similar "Kids Day" promotions like the Bills do, there might be data to suggest what effect lowering ticket prices would have on overall revenue.

 

As for the regular season, I remain adamantly against expanding it. If anything, it's too long, but I get that there's no way it'll be reduced. I really think the winning move would be to go back to the 16-game, 18-week (2 byes) schedule that they tried one year in the 90s. The owners wouldn't get any extra game-day/ticket revenue, but an extra week of NFL football means a bigger TV deal. The players don't have to play any extra games and actually get more rest, plus the bigger TV deal increases the salary cap. As fans, we now have to suffer 2 weeks without our beloved team, but honestly, that's a good opportunity to either watch RedZone channel all day or go to a sports bar and see as many games as possible.

[Kellyto83TD]

It's tough. Coaches love 4 games because it allows them to evaluate young/ Fringe roster talent. I say keep it at 4 with an agreement NO veterans past 3 years tenure are allowed to even dress the last game. Use game 4 as a pure evaluation of that talent you want to see, NO Veterans.

 

this gives the Vets 2 weeks recovery before playing an actual full on game again. I also agree costs of these games should be cut down drastically, even 1/2 price. Players aren't paid until weeks 1-17

 

Thanks for posting!

 

Hmm, I wonder which format the NFL will recommend? Maybe the 18-game regular season they've been jonesing for for 2 years? Well, now that they've cracked down on bounties and eliminated concussions forever with Heads Up Tackling ™, they might as well.

 

The NFL, particularly Goodell, is spectacularly full of BS. They know how unpopular an 18-game regular season is, which is why they keep trying to wrap it in an issue that people will swallow -- reducing preseason games. So far, every attempt they've made has been rebuffed, because the fans and more importantly the players' union are too smart to fall for this nonsense. But every time they get smacked down, they just come back for more. They think they can win a war of attrition, and they may be right.

 

I don't care about the number of preseason games, and the price doesn't affect me because I live out of town, but I do feel for you season-ticket holders having to pay full price for them. I agree with papzoid that there's no way the NFL proposes or accepts a format that gets them less revenue. Now, it might be possible that reducing preseason ticket prices (but not concessions, parking, etc.) could result in more revenues, because 60,000 fans at half price will produce more revenue than 30,000 fans at full price. Or maybe you make kids under 12 free across the board, figuring that families are typically good for more food/merchandise sales than individuals or groups of adults. If other teams do similar "Kids Day" promotions like the Bills do, there might be data to suggest what effect lowering ticket prices would have on overall revenue.

 

As for the regular season, I remain adamantly against expanding it. If anything, it's too long, but I get that there's no way it'll be reduced. I really think the winning move would be to go back to the 16-game, 18-week (2 byes) schedule that they tried one year in the 90s. The owners wouldn't get any extra game-day/ticket revenue, but an extra week of NFL football means a bigger TV deal. The players don't have to play any extra games and actually get more rest, plus the bigger TV deal increases the salary cap. As fans, we now have to suffer 2 weeks without our beloved team, but honestly, that's a good opportunity to either watch RedZone channel all day or go to a sports bar and see as many games as possible.

 

You know I understand this is bad to say, But I really wish Goddell would have some sort of heart issue, stroke soemthing that doesn't permenately screw him over, but makes it where he must step down as NFL commish. I mean Honest to God this assclown has screwed this game up more than all the other commissioners have combined and I don't even think he can go out in public anymore without protection.

[jimmy10]

Yeah, paying for preseason tickets is a PITA, but I just donate them to worthy causes like the Boys and Girls Club and take the tax deduction for the face value.

[Just Jack]

I like 17-3, teams have 2 home and 1 away PS game, swapped the following year with 1 home, 2 away. No need then to extend the season either, simply return Labor Day weekend as the season opener, giving people back that 3 day football weekend we all knew and loved.