NFL - Reduce tailgating time

[Raymond]

We don't even have a RIGHT to drink and smoke at home.

I disagree, If it comes down to the point where the Govt is legislating me to not have a cigar on my backyard deck with a Margarita or cold one , you can pry my cold dead hands off the lighter and bottle opener.

 

[farn]

I know you guys don't tolerate the occasional baseball sidebar that well, but... I went to a couple of ballgames this past week. After the 5th inning, it became almost intolerable to sit next to the booze hounds.

I like the Captain Morgan and Coke as much as the next guy. But I don't need drunken stooges yelling from their rears for half of a sporting event I spent money to watch. I suspect that is what happens a lot in many stadiums.

Whatever. I'll probably be retired by the time I get to see an NFL game live... maybe by then the new commish will be more "laissez faire".

 

[mgteich]

There would be no dead hands, just jail if the laws changed where you live. If you live in a rural area on at least a couple acres, there would of course be no issue.

There are indeed those in Canada and the US legislating against smoking if the smoke can affect those in other apartments or homes. There are already jusrisdictions where you would be arrested for having that cigar in your backyard. In other jurisdictions, where there is no law against smoking in your backyard, you could still be sued if someone next door was allergic to smoke and could be shown to be harmed by the smoke.

There are millions that are celebrating the new smoke-free environments of restaurants and most public buildings.

I disagree, If it comes down to the point where the Govt is legislating me to not have a cigar on my backyard deck with a Margarita or cold one , you can pry my cold dead hands off the lighter and bottle opener.

 

[Pujo]

I know it's annoying, but don't blame the NFL. Somebody gets drunk in a private parking lot before a game on their own booze and then hits someone on the way home, and who's to say the NFL won't be held liable? That's the reality of our society right know.

 

[mgteich]

What if they had an accident in the parking lot or got into a fight in the parking lot and broke someone's jaw. The team would lose the lawsuit.

I know it's annoying, but don't blame the NFL. Somebody gets drunk in a private parking lot before a game on their own booze and then hits someone on the way home, and who's to say the NFL won't be held liable? That's the reality of our society right know.

 

[Bluto]

I have wondered to myself in the past, "How could prohibition have ever happened? That's just silly".

Well... now I'm seeing the seeds of it. This whole use of the word "binge drinking" annoys me. Anyone who drinks enough to be drunk is "binge drinking" and the negative connotation makes it a bad thing. Guess what? I'm an adult. I can choose to be drunk.

AMEN! Next thing - - no cell phones at games - -

 

[lamafist]

People, get off your soapboxes about "Big Brother" and what this country is coming to with regards to personal responsibility and individual liberties. This has absolutely NOTHING to do with any of that.

The NFL is a privately owned company choosing to tweak an operating policy at their venues out of the owners' prerogative to do what they want to maximize profits. What could be more American than the unchecked exercise of the free market?

It's not even really an issue of liability when it comes to drunk driving. That might be a contributing factor, but the primary reason for this policy change is their attempt to dictate a less rowdy, more family-friendly gameday environment, because those are the kind of fans you make the most money off of.

Think about it: your typical die-hard, tailgating oldschool football fan brings their own food to the game, their own alcohol, already bought their Pats jersey/sweatshirt/hat, etc. a couple years back, and if they weren't at the game, they'd be at home watching the game on TV.

They've already gotten a lot of the money they're going to get out of this guy, so all they get by having an entire stadium full of them is seriously increased costs when it comes to security, cleaning and maintenance, and traffic control.

Now, not only are drunk people are a LOT more expensive to deal with, they also tend to shock + frighten other patrons who present many more profit opportunities. You ever see parents with a bunch of little kids at games? The kids are usually walking around with armloads of the various souvenir crap their parents have bought them to keep them quiet.

Then they have to buy their kids the over-priced hotdogs and fried dough, and with all the stress they're under, what the heck, they'll indulge in a glass of premium-priced beer or wine. Of course the kids still get bored 3 times during the game, so the parents have to take them around to all the various alternate entertainment opporunities the new stadiums have, thus feeding that revenue stream.

Face it: as long as the NFL is the most popular sport in the nation, it's just better business to keep a revolving door of parents + dilettante yuppies coming in and out of their stadiums, buying crap they don't need, and requiring half the crowd control.

 

[Kontradiction]

Heh. You can tell who the old men are in here. Guess what? Being loud and obnoxious and hooting and hollering is part of professional and college sports. If you have a problem with the guy who is doing it, either grow a set and tell him to STFU or alert the nearest security guard/cop and tell him to watch out for the "guy in 56C". These so called "drunkards" paid for their ticket as well and, last I checked, the consumption of alcohol is legal and it's the person's right to know when he or she has exceeded the limit. If the person can't tell when that has happened then he or she should be escorted out of the game (she shouldn't be allowed to leave until she flashes the crowd though). Worried that the person is going to drive drunk? That's what better judgment is for. If better judgment does not exist then that's why cops chose the career field that they are currently in.

Prohibition is a broken system. If the NFL honestly tries to enforce this, it's going to blow up in their faces big time as people are just going to drink more to ensure that they can keep their buzz throughout the game. As a side effect of that, alcohol sales will surely go down at the stadiums.

 

[mgteich]

Prohibiting alcohol at sporting events will not blow up any more than prohibiting cigarettes in restaurants.

Heh. You can tell who the old men are in here. Guess what? Being loud and obnoxious and hooting and hollering is part of professional and college sports. If you have a problem with the guy who is doing it, either grow a set and tell him to STFU or alert the nearest security guard/cop and tell him to watch out for the "guy in 56C". These so called "drunkards" paid for their ticket as well and, last I checked, the consumption of alcohol is legal and it's the person's right to know when he or she has exceeded the limit. If the person can't tell when that has happened then he or she should be escorted out of the game (she shouldn't be allowed to leave until she flashes the crowd though). Worried that the person is going to drive drunk? That's what better judgment is for. If better judgment does not exist then that's why cops chose the career field that they are currently in.

Prohibition is a broken system. If the NFL honestly tries to enforce this, it's going to blow up in their faces big time as people are just going to drink more to ensure that they can keep their buzz throughout the game. As a side effect of that, alcohol sales will surely go down at the stadiums.

 

[Rob0729]

In all honesty, other than knocking a half an hour off the tailgaiting in the Patriots' owned lots, how does this affect us. Gillette already has a two beer per purchase limit and a 4 hour before the game tailgating start time. They only sell 20 ouch beers except in the club seats where I think they still adhere to league guidelines for winee and hard alcohol. The new league rules only knocks a half an hour off the tailgating times. The Patriots already have some strict policies in place when it comes to alcohol and the league rules are not much more stringent.

I know people love to bash Goodell and many times it is for good reason, but I don't see anyone's game experience changing all that much with the new league rules. Besides, it isn't even a rule. It is a request by the league office to the stadiums to adopt this policy. It isn't a mandate by the league.

 

[Kontradiction]

Prohibiting alcohol at sporting events will not blow up any more than prohibiting cigarettes in restaurants.

Two completely different animals that you are talking about. Restaurants do not sell cigarettes so their income was not hurt by the prohibition of it.

 

[Rob0729]

Heh. You can tell who the old men are in here. Guess what? Being loud and obnoxious and hooting and hollering is part of professional and college sports. If you have a problem with the guy who is doing it, either grow a set and tell him to STFU or alert the nearest security guard/cop and tell him to watch out for the "guy in 56C". These so called "drunkards" paid for their ticket as well and, last I checked, the consumption of alcohol is legal and it's the person's right to know when he or she has exceeded the limit. If the person can't tell when that has happened then he or she should be escorted out of the game (she shouldn't be allowed to leave until she flashes the crowd though). Worried that the person is going to drive drunk? That's what better judgment is for. If better judgment does not exist then that's why cops chose the career field that they are currently in.

Prohibition is a broken system. If the NFL honestly tries to enforce this, it's going to blow up in their faces big time as people are just going to drink more to ensure that they can keep their buzz throughout the game. As a side effect of that, alcohol sales will surely go down at the stadiums.

The thing is Gillette already enforces the guidelines that the league has set forth for many years now. You haven't been able to buy more than two beers at once as long as I can remember. If anyting, the amount of people coming to the game has been reduced dramatically (anyone who used to go to the games in Foxboro Stadium can attest to that).

 

[lamafist]

Heh. You can tell who the old men are in here. Guess what? Being loud and obnoxious and hooting and hollering is part of professional and college sports. If you have a problem with the guy who is doing it, either grow a set and tell him to STFU or alert the nearest security guard/cop and tell him to watch out for the "guy in 56C". These so called "drunkards" paid for their ticket as well and, last I checked, the consumption of alcohol is legal and it's the person's right to know when he or she has exceeded the limit.

Yes, consuming alcohol is legal. But if you read the back of the ticket, you'll find that when you bought it, you conceded to the NFL the right for them to eject you from the game at any point they see fit, for whatever reason. So if you support people doing whatever they're legally entitled to do, you'd be fine with the NFL sending anyone they think is acting the tiniest bit drunk home five minutes after they've gone into the stadium.

So why do you support the person's right to drink, but not the NFL's right to run their business as they see fit?

Two completely different animals that you are talking about. Restaurants do not sell cigarettes so their income was not hurt by the prohibition of it.

This is true. But ask yourself this: why don't any big movie theater chains choose to sell beer at their concession stands?

Because when you can get people to pay $5.50 for a watered-down soda, why bother with beer?

 

[wizwor]

Managing privately owned parking lots is the NFL's prerogative. They can choose to prohibit alcohol in the lots or open and close the lots closer to game time. I'm not sure this is good for the gate. Tailgating, sausage, and beer are a big part of a big Sunday for many.

Question is, "Why?" Tailgating is only indirectly related to poor behavior. It would be better to manage the problem -- unruly patrons (which many teams -- including our Patriots -- already do).

I think it's political. Drinkers are the next target after smokers. Where I work -- a big company with the initials G.E. in Lynn, smokers are required to stand 30 feet from a building to partake. Alcoholics and drug addicts are sent away (with pay) for treatment.

I imagine the Beautiful People sit in cigar bars on the cape scheming against common drunks and smokers.

I think an appropriate response is to tell owners and the NFL that tailgating is part of their product and that the value of their product will be less if tailgating is removed. Remind them that their best customers are cooking out in the lots (look around at the shirts, caps, and bumper stickers).

If they persist, simply boycott team merchandise. They have a right to manage their lots, but we have a right to wear an BC shirt to the game too.

 

[Patjew]

I'm actually surprised that tailgating is allowed as much as it is now. I'd think that the NFL and the team/stadium owners would worry about the liability.

 

[WhoaDirty]

Two completely different animals that you are talking about. Restaurants do not sell cigarettes so their income was not hurt by the prohibition of it.

Prior to the smoking ban in restaurants, there were vending machines in restaurants - did you not have this in your locale?

 

[Patjew]

Prior to the smoking ban in restaurants, there were vending machines in restaurants - did you not have this in your locale?

Cigs were sold in bars too.

 

[godef]

This should not be a problem for anyone that's a responsible drinker. Prohibition? Oh, please, you're killing me.

 

[Kontradiction]

Yes, consuming alcohol is legal. But if you read the back of the ticket, you'll find that when you bought it, you conceded to the NFL the right for them to eject you from the game at any point they see fit, for whatever reason. So if you support people doing whatever they're legally entitled to do, you'd be fine with the NFL sending anyone they think is acting the tiniest bit drunk home five minutes after they've gone into the stadium.

So why do you support the person's right to drink, but not the NFL's right to run their business as they see fit?

Hehehe. If you'll look in the post of mine that you quoted, you will see that I support the NFL's right to kick a person out if he or she is being too offensive (i.e. - racially heated remarks, filthy curse words, public nudity, the inability to stand, etc.). I just think that some of the guys in here are complaining about people that get drunk and are just loud and obnoxious but not offensive. I'm defending those kinds of people because, well, I am that type of person.

This is true. But ask yourself this: why don't any big movie theater chains choose to sell beer at their concession stands?

Because when you can get people to pay $5.50 for a watered-down soda, why bother with beer?

Because soda doesn't give you a buzz.

 

[BradfordPatsFan]

I enjoy tailgating before a game but not to the point where I will either:

A. Be so #*)$ faced that I won't remember the game.

Or

B. Be so #()@ faced that I make a fool out of myself and annoy those around me.


I understand what the NFL is trying to do but I am not sure it is realistic.