It just boggles the mind how three teams are chomping at the bit to abandon their loyal fan bases for the opportunity to be the next LA franchise. Can you imagine being a fan of one of these teams (rhetorical question)? Apparently Gordon Gekko is alive and well in the NFL.....greed is good.
Great op title Remember this before going thru the turnstiles or ordering that 300 Odell beckham jersey
I assume you're talking about the Raiders, Chargers and Rams? Or are you including the Jags? All have been rumored to be the next LA team. None of these fan bases are what I would call "loyal" though. Outside of the Chargers situation where they want a new stadium , these teams never sell out games. Which is inexcusable in the NFL when there are 8 home games in a year. If a team city cannot sell out or atleast come close, they should be moved. And Im not in favor of Los Angeles getting one of these teams. Transplants that live there already have their teams that they follow. California already has too many teams as does Florida.
I hadn't heard that the Jags were in consideration. Whose fault is it that they aren't selling out? If you don't win, you don't sell out. Are you saying the Rams didn't sell out in the late 90's when they had some SB runs? Or the Raiders in the early 2000's? All three of these teams were in LA at one time but left because they had to play in the antiquated Coliseum and got lucrative offers from other cities. Moving is a quick fix for not selling out. Of course, they'll do well when they start playing in their new digs, but what will happen if they still aren't winning after a few years? Do you think the fans will still come out? All I'm saying is that these fans deserve better than seeing their team pull out after they invested their tax dollars building modern stadiums for them to come. If the NFL wants a team in the LA market, then let them put an expansion team there, then the "transplants" can root for a team that's really their own.
Jags have been linked to LA for years. IDK if there is much traction behind it but their name always comes up when relocation is brought up. I imagine winning teams will always do better with attendance though. But I also cant compare attendance records from 20 years ago to what they are today. Between ticket/concession prices and it really being a lot better to watch from home today , its not a shock that these teams are not drawing. Thats why I cant consider the fan bases loyal. Loyalty is showing up when a team isnt good.
of course the nfl couldn't careless about the fans. if they did they wouldn't flex games. the ultimate insult to ticket purchasers is changing the time of the game they already have tickets to.
The Jags have had more London rumors these days, their owner's pretty much first in line if (when?) the NFL goes to that market. They probably realize they're behind the pecking order for LA regardless.
NFL is all about money. First, second and third. Now more than ever. Godell is at the top of the money whore pyramid, as are most of the owners, right next to the NFL network, ESPN and the plathora of ex NFL analysts milking the system. It might even come a day were most teams will reside oversees. The NFL does not give two shits about the fans, or the military services they so highly praise, unless they charge them for the privilege, or any other humanitarian cause not sanctioned by the money machine through the sale of NFL gear. All you got to do is see at the ridiculous amount of money the bastards charge for parking nonetheless, never mind the cost of the ticket, as they can continue to line their pockets with millions. Fans are the captive audience they exploit.
It's funny too because of how much money the NFL already reels in. Yet it's all about more more more, they can't set aside a little of that yearly increase in profit to improve fan experience. Eventually it will kill the business, but probably not before all the current profiters are all 6 feet under.
My son edits NFL games and says NFL mandates 7 commercial breaks per half, but he counts at least 12-15 every half....like I always say they should play a football game between all the commercials
the ultimate F--- you to fans is charging season ticket holders full price for preseason games. the ultimate F--- you to the community is demanding public funding for their football stadiums
I hear you, but i am thinking of the guy that works nites, buys a ticket for the 1pm game to find out its flexed and he can't go now. The examples you give, season ticket holders know before they purchase and voters can vote no.
Because of lazy reporting..... They actually have better attendance than the Bucs and Dolphins and Shad Khaan recently spent a ton renovating the stadium (they have 2 Jerry Jones esque video boards) Now London one day? I'd say they'd be the 1st candidate for that.
I get what you're saying, but in fairness, it is easier for some metro areas to fill arenas than others. But Jacksonville only has 1 1/4 million peeps in its metro area. The NY/NJ area that the Jets and Giants can draw upon is more than ten times larger and we wealthier as well. Now I have no doubt that ticket prices here are more expensive, but sometimes I wonder about the demographics of some of these franchises. Let me explain.... Let's say your typical NFL stadium is 50k seating on average for this discussion. For an area like NY/NJ with 15 million plus to fill that sort of stadium you'd only need to attract .33% of the population. I know these numbers rent quite correct, but essentially you need only convince a fraction of a percent of people to come to games. Now let's look at Jacksonville.... To fill the same stadium you'd need to get 4% of the population! In other words, you need twelve times the level of commitment in Jacksonville that we need here to fill the same exact stadium (assuming all other variables are the same). I use the term commitment because going to football games, and sporting events, is generally quite expensive nowadays for a family. Now here is the amazing thing: the Jags stadium apparently holds over 66k! That actually requires 5% of the entire population of the Jacksonville metro area to fill. I know the counter argument to this is Green Bay, but think about how incredibly rare that example is. In fact, I think it is unique so far as I am aware. And still, despite the decades of zealous support from GB fans, back before the Favre era the Packers were hurting. They were a bad franchise and struggling from what I recall. So even the most zealous fan base started to peel away because there just wasn't enough flow of people. Anyway, I'm not trying to dismiss what you're saying IW03. It is true that some fanbases are more loyal and fanatical than others, but do the attendance numbers always indicate that? I'm not sure. I don't know the individual states of those teams, so I'm open to counter-argument of course. Still, as a Jets fan we are lucky in that we can field a damn near high school quality team and still fill the stadium for almost any game (or so it seems, Kotite tried), other franchises just have to work harder and I hate to see those fans lose their teams when it is really the ownership at fault. Just my $.02.
Good post, however, there has to be more to it than just population. Jacksonville is the 12th largest city in the US (Information Please.) San Diego is the 8th. Teams like New Orleans (50th), Cleveland (48th), Miami (44th) aren't threatening to leave their cities. Green Bay (not in the top 50) probably draws from Milwaukee (31). True, Oakland is 44th and St. Louis is 58th but Cincinnati is 65th and Buffalo is 73rd. Two other factors that play into it, in my opinion, are 1) Age and condition of stadium and 2) willingness of municipality to contribute to the building or modernization of the facility.
history is also a huge thing. teams that have been around for decades have fanbases that are more invested, there are more multi generation fans than newer teams. Jacksonville only came into existence 20 years ago? they are still really on their first generation of fans. most of those fans in that area were or still are dolphin, tampa or Atlanta fans. I think that you also have to look at the metropolitan area more than the city. half the state of ct are giants or jets fans. everyone in northern jersey, southern new York and even north east pa are jets or giants fans. its a big area with a TON of people in it.
Profiteering used to be a negative term, but it may as well replace "capitalism" at this point, because the men raking in money at breakneck pace in pretty much every financial arena are practiced profiteers with big government protecting them at almost every turn. The NFL is no different.
