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[George.]

You might be right on the Bills, last Sunday one of the sports channels were taking about ticket prices and how the Cowboys were the highest in the league. Every home game for Chiefs is sold out, it just surprising how people keep spending the money

Because it's honest competition between cities.
Unlike the NHRA, the NFL is selling new talent and new stars in a game that still has the same 100 yard field.
For the Bills, it's watching a soon to be household superstar Sammy Watkins, Marquise Goodwin, ageless Fred Jackson, and a tough defense try and pull themselves out of the gutter.

For Dallas, they are stuck with high prices because of Jerry Jones trying to pay a 1.2 billion dollar mortgage on the palace. It's all good because there is an ever evolving product to sell. It always stays fresh. Jerry is always someone to hate, and that's good also.

 

[Bullard Anderson]

? Has this thread gotten to 2 full pages without a mention of 1000ft? If so you guys are letting me down.

 

[George.]

Less always equals more, right?

 

[Ice Bucket]

It is interesting motorsports seems to be struggling, but stick and ball is doing well in terms of attendance. I often wonder what pro stick and ball would be like if you could buy your way to the top like in motorsports. Could the fact their talent is the pinnacle of their trade help the following? Bought rides don't allow for super stars. While not a big factor (yet) in NASCAR or in the lesser known sprint car ranks, 80%+ of the seats in NHRA and Indy are paid for. It is not a deal breaker to me as a fan, but I am not nearly as impressed with a driver who can prove how much of their parents $ they can spend as I am with the driver who made it on talent alone.

 

[mick]

george that's a great analogy 'nfl selling new talent and new stars'. IMO for many years motorsports of many varieties sold
new technology, faster speeds, lower times.....new record qualifying at the indy 500, at talledega, and of course the nhra was always
based on new records, as often as they could with the rite weather.
then everyone hit a plateau....the heroes that chased those records are only a memory (foyt, unser, earnhardt, petty, garlits, muldowney,
prudhomme, mears, johncock, bernstein, andretti, etc.), now replaced with young kids, most unknown, some clinging to a sirname,
driving cookie cutter cars that don't get faster, styles that change very little.....the romance is gone. indy, nascar and nhra
still play the game, but they are not what they were.

 

[Nunz]

George if you follow the Bills and Sabres you must be in my neck of the woods, I'm in a suburb of Rochester.

 

[vegasnitro]

I will disagree stick and ball sports are doing well ... 20 years ago in a dump of a stadium the Cincinnati Reds drew 35,000 every game. Now, in one of the best stadiums in the league, they are lucky to get 20-22K a game. There were even tickets available for Opening Day ... which NEVER happens in Cincinnati. The Bengals face a blackout for at least half of their home games, and there were game day tickets available for the playoff game against the Chargers this past season. The Raiders and Jaguars have tarped over significant portions of their seats to avoid having to count them towards attendance to get around blackout rules. Daytona removed 20,000 seats before Speedweeks this year. There are wide swaths of seats available at every NASCAR event. The needle is moving the wrong way in all spectator sports as a whole.

IMO, the issue is two fold. The economy is an obvious place to start, it is not as good as they want you to believe, and the prices for everything just go up. Secondly, it is just not conducive to the modern lifestyle, particularly to those under the age of 30, to dedicate 3 or more hours to one recreational event in your day. They can get the scores on their phones, watch highlights on their phones or catch 30 minutes of Sportscenter and it is almost like you didn't miss anything.

 

[George.]

Chris, come to the Bills game this weekend, or a Sabres game..
...if you can find a ticket.
Try a Steelers, Browns, Jets, Giants, Pats, just about any NFL game, other than the teams you mentioned..
Cincinnati doesn't seem to support their teams as well as most, but they are the minority.

Nunzio, I live in Fredonia.
Know Fletchburger and Donna?

 

[Toejam]

I commend any sports fan who supports his team whether they win or not! Most fans are Band wagon jumpers!

 

[vegasnitro]

Chris, come to the Bills game this weekend, or a Sabres game..
...if you can find a ticket.
Try a Steelers, Browns, Jets, Giants, Pats, just about any NFL game, other than the teams you mentioned..
Cincinnati doesn't seem to support their teams as well as most, but they are the minority.

Nunzio, I live in Fredonia.
Know Fletchburger and Donna?

https://buffalo.craigslist.org/tix/4709085904.html

2 tickets, 5 rows from the ice, $84 UNDER face value for the 10/17 Sabres game. I understand there is always a secondary ticket market, but for an in-demand commodity or market, they will always get at least face value plus.

http://sabres.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=82007

The Sabres website shows tickets still available for all games, with Family Packs available for most games. So, if I was in Buffalo, and decided to go to a game, it appears I would have no problem going without even having to hit the secondary market, though I probably would because I am likely to SAVE money.

The Bills page is more opaque, but it does appear there are seats still available for most games. The secondary market is strong for this weekend's game against the Patriots, but looks real soft for the next game against the Vikings (tickets discounted all over the place).

Historically, Cincinnati has supported it's teams very well ... Just something has switched in the last 8-10 years, even with the Reds and the Bengals making the playoffs in recent years. Besides the fact they are my favorite teams, I think it bears watching from a global sports perspective, sort of a canary in the coal mine for the health of spectator sports/entertainment.

 

[cantdrive55]

Anyone that thinks stick and ball sports are struggling right now is crazy. Franchise owners are doing just fine. The NBA just recently signed a 2 BILLION dollar per year TV contract with ABC/ESPN/TNT/TBS/FS. The NFL is around 7 Billion a year between all their networks, and MLB has an 8 year 12.4 Billion deal that started this season. I don't know how that breaks down per team, but it's a lot! And that's just TV money. Ticket sales might not be what they once were. But all the money is in TV and merchandising. NASCAR is getting big TV money as well, Fox and NBC, so the gate isn't as important as it used to be for them. Even though they continue to tow the company line regarding "sell outs". Considering NHRA is paying ESPN to be on TV, it makes all the difference in the world. Even collegiate sports out earn just about every form of major Auto Racing known on the planet.

As a former Ohioan, I think the fact that the Bengals always find a way to lose along with the fact that the owner has allowed the current coaching staff to remain in place sells the public that the Bengals are fine with mediocrity. The Browns have one of the best fan bases in the league, but the owner has no faith in coaches or quarterbacks, it's a revolving door.

 

[Nunz]

I know Fletchburger, lol. At Maple Grove, we had 3 local guys in S/S: Fletch, D'Agnolo, and Comella. Also Frank Affronti in his B/EA. All Rochester area guys.

 

[Reese]

I commend any sports fan who supports his team whether they win or not! Most fans are Band wagon jumpers!

Joe, the Saints been sucking for a lot of years before they won the super bowl and even then most games was a sell out. Of course most of the fans were wearing bags but still a sellout.

 

[George.]

https://buffalo.craigslist.org/tix/4709085904.html

2 tickets, 5 rows from the ice, $84 UNDER face value for the 10/17 Sabres game. I understand there is always a secondary ticket market, but for an in-demand commodity or market, they will always get at least face value plus.

http://sabres.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=82007

The Sabres website shows tickets still available for all games, with Family Packs available for most games. So, if I was in Buffalo, and decided to go to a game, it appears I would have no problem going without even having to hit the secondary market, though I probably would because I am likely to SAVE money.

The Bills page is more opaque, but it does appear there are seats still available for most games. The secondary market is strong for this weekend's game against the Patriots, but looks real soft for the next game against the Vikings (tickets discounted all over the place).

Historically, Cincinnati has supported it's teams very well ... Just something has switched in the last 8-10 years, even with the Reds and the Bengals making the playoffs in recent years. Besides the fact they are my favorite teams, I think it bears watching from a global sports perspective, sort of a canary in the coal mine for the health of spectator sports/entertainment.

https://buffalo.craigslist.org/tix/4709085904.html

2 tickets, 5 rows from the ice, $84 UNDER face value for the 10/17 Sabres game. I understand there is always a secondary ticket market, but for an in-demand commodity or market, they will always get at least face value plus.

http://sabres.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=82007

The Sabres website shows tickets still available for all games, with Family Packs available for most games. So, if I was in Buffalo, and decided to go to a game, it appears I would have no problem going without even having to hit the secondary market, though I probably would because I am likely to SAVE money.

The Bills page is more opaque, but it does appear there are seats still available for most games. The secondary market is strong for this weekend's game against the Patriots, but looks real soft for the next game against the Vikings (tickets discounted all over the place).

Historically, Cincinnati has supported it's teams very well ... Just something has switched in the last 8-10 years, even with the Reds and the Bengals making the playoffs in recent years. Besides the fact they are my favorite teams, I think it bears watching from a global sports perspective, sort of a canary in the coal mine for the health of spectator sports/entertainment.

Chris, the secondary market has nothing to do with it. Out of 70k seats, things will swap around. People can't go, scalpers are buying and selling, and people are also buying on game day.
I'm sitting in Disney right now celebrating my sons 21 birthday with his friends at the wine festival at Epcot.
I gave away my 4 cherished tickets to the best game of the week to my lawyer and my orthopedic surgeon and their wives. Yeah, I cause trouble and break bones now and then... Good friends actually..

Anyway, the Sabres are going to have another last place season, and the Bills are clawing back. On game day, both venues will be filled to capacity, with people like me who are spending a lot of money for a game that's is a live, FREE option on TV.
Think about that.

 

[WB_Strip]

As a long time Drag race Fan I find that the races now are boring. The count down has not helped, How many National event are won by Lane choice, it would be better to see 2 cars run all the way down the track with out smoking the tires or blowing up at a slower et and speed then 1 running 300 mhp

 

[Jim]

FWIW: Most sports seem to be under the same "lack of fannies in the seats" problem. Big screen HDTV is often a more enjoyable (cost/benefit) and blamed for the problem.

One of the ENORMOUS edges NHRA Drag Racing has over nearly EVERY other form of sport entertainment is the fact that the in-person experience is not nearly duplicated on TV (No matter how GREAT your sound system might be).

NHRA promotion "Every ticket's a Pit Pass" should be tweaked a bit to capture the visceral and impactful in-person experience. I sincerely believe if you're within reasonable driving distance to a National Event (and can invest the time, money etc.), TV should hardly be a choice.

 

[Toejam]

IMO, the issue is two fold. The economy is an obvious place to start, it is not as good as they want you to believe, and the prices for everything just go up. Secondly, it is just not conducive to the modern lifestyle, particularly to those under the age of 30, to dedicate 3 or more hours to one recreational event in your day. They can get the scores on their phones, watch highlights on their phones or catch 30 minutes of Sportscenter and it is almost like you didn't miss anything.

Don't forget the 60-70" Plasma screens with Surround sound, I bet that is taking a dent out of attendance more than anything!

 

[JF]

TV takes away the down time. I love drag racing but sitting in the stands to watch 30-45 min of track prep and the two cars go down and one oils the track and the we watch 30-45 min of cleanup followed by 10 of track prep and then two cars go down one crashes and we watch 10-20 min of track cleanup and then six pairs make it down and we watch 10- 20 minutes of track prep before the next class.

TV takes that all away. Sure we could go to the pits during track incidents but who is going to tell us its done so we can go back.?

I still think we should go to races but TV does make it better. Some other things to consider when I went to races back in the 70s & 80s. You were right next to the track (20-30 ft away) Now your 200+ feet away, You could go right up to the cars in the pits. Now your kept away by a rope line and can generally only see the rear of the car because of the hospitality trailer next to it that is roped off also for special guests. Tshirts were sold from the back of trailers and usually the driver sold you one at a reasonable price because he had nothing else to do, no interviews or sponsor commitments. They were not sold from a guy who could care less if you got a shirt or not.

Here is what it comes down to. I told Scotty Richardson this a couple of years ago at a race I was attending. He asked what makes me choose a race to go to. My answer was FUN. I pick which races I go to by how much fun I'm going to have. If its not fun I don't go. Simple as that!
Cost? I can justify the cost if its fun, I can't if its not.

Lately its not fun! Too many rules, restrictions, egos, delays, etc and that's just as a spectator (What I am now)

 

[d'kid]

As a long time Drag race Fan I find that the races now are boring. The count down has not helped, How many National event are won by Lane choice, it would be better to see 2 cars run all the way down the track with out smoking the tires or blowing up at a slower et and speed then 1 running 300 mhp

Lanny, sometimes I think I had more fun playing BURNOUT than I do watching on TV or even in person at the track... But then, I always raced the AMX instead of a Vega... Funny thing is, Just got rid of my last Notebook from the gaming days... repeat after me: Dang, Lag Is Horrible Tonight...

RoxyNova aka d'kid

 

[Litefoot]

I know NHRA pays ESPN to broadcast the races, wouldn't that also mean they own the money brought in from the TV advertising