Is the day coming when NFL games are played in half-empty stadiums? In the future, will crowd noise be piped into games like the laugh track to a TV sitcom?
OK, that’s a stretch, but the NFL is facing a perplexing dilemma.
The game has never been more popular, and the league has the TV ratings to prove it. But attendance is falling, spurring real fears that rising tickets costs, coupled with an ever-improving TV experience is driving fans out of cramped stadium seats and onto their comfy couches.
There is little doubt that the NFL is the ultimate reality TV show.
Watching football on a big-screen, high-definition TV while munching on gooey nachos and swigging a cold beer is America’s favorite pastime.
TV ratings soared last season, up 15 percent from 2008 numbers. When the Vikings and Saints played in the NFL season opener on Sept. 9, the game drew 27.5 million on NBC, the most since the league began playing its opening game on a Thursday night in 2002.
However, seeing the game in person is a costly experience. According to a recently released study by Team Marketing Report, the average cost for a family of four attending an NFL game jumped again this season, rising by 4 percent to more than $420.
According to an excellent article in the average cost of a single ticket jumped 4.5 percent to $76.47. That’s up 30 percent from the $59 average ticket the NFL had in 2005.
The increased costs coincide with a third consecutive year of decreased attendance. According to the Washington Post story, the NFL expects attendance to drop for a third straight season and is projecting that as many as 20 percent of its regular season games will be blacked out on TV in the home team’s market when stadiums fail to sell out 72 hours before kickoff. It’s already happened three times in the first two weeks of the season.
League executives and franchise owners told Maske that they’re concerned that TV football has become so good, many fans are choosing to stay home during a tough economy rather than fight traffic, pay for outrageous price for parking and high-priced stadium hotdogs, and deal with obnoxious fans.
“We would have our heads in the sand if we ignored the trend,” Eric Grubman, executive vice president of NFL ventures and business operations told Maske. “We’ve spent 20 years building an at-home alternative that we think is nothing short of awesome. But we don’t want to do that at the expense of our in-stadium experience. We still think a stadium is the best place to watch a game.”
What do you think? Is the stadium experience still better than your own living room experience?
Trivia time
When was the last time the Broncos did not play in front of a sellout crowd at home? (answer below)
Quotable
“He’s sitting there as possibly the hottest quarterback in the National Football League at this time and deserves an opportunity to play.” — Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid upon naming Michael Vick his starting quarterback.
In case you missed it
Former Broncos offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak, now the Texans head coach, looked like a genius Sunday when he called timeout just before the Redskins’ Graham Gano’s kicked what looked like the winning field goal.
However, according to a story in “icing” an NFL kicker is not an effective tactic.
Since 2000, NFL kickers made 77.3 percent of field goals in the final two minutes or overtime when no timeout was called before the kick. But when a timeout was called, kickers made 79.7 percent these field goals, no matter the distance.
Trivia answer
Officially, at least, the Broncos still claim a sellout streak that dates back to 1969. The last time a team played a home game before a nonsellout crowd was Dec. 14, 1969 when the Broncos beat the Cincinnati Bengals 27-16 in an AFL game before a crowd of 42,198 at old Mile High Stadium.
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1720 or psaunders@denverpost.com
