my pledge if games are missed.

[IllegalContact]

The NFL and all of its teams will never get another dime from me. Sure I will still watch the games and be a fan just as I always have, but I will not spend another dime on any NFL product or any commercial product that is being advertised during a game. I will also not buy any product endorsed by any player. Simple as that.

 

[BelichickFan]

I won't buy any NFL merchandise other than NFL Sunday Ticket. I can't go without that but I wear almost exclusively NFL (Patriots) T Shirts, Sweatshirts and Hoodys. If a minute of regular season time is missed I have bought my last piece of NFL merchandise. I can save a lot of $$$ buying a $10 Wal Mart sweatshirt over a $40 Patriots one.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

I don't believe such pledges for a minute but for those intent on Quixotic quests I suggest that you write a letter to the team's sports shop informing them of your pledge not to buy jerseys, etc. That might have a slight chance of being effective should hundreds do so.

 

[Deus Irae]

I don't believe such pledges for a minute but for those intent on Quixotic quests I suggest that you write a letter to the team's sports shop informing them of your pledge not to buy jerseys, etc. That might have a slight chance of being effective should hundreds do so.

I haven't watched a MLB baseball game, or bought any MLB merchandise, since they took away the World Series. However, a few people here and there mean nothing to the leagues.


edit: The above is only mostly correct. I did buy a Florida Marlins T-shirt for $1 about 8 years ago.

 

[BelichickFan]

I don't believe such pledges for a minute

You don't know me (or others) very well. I can hold a grudge a VERY long time. And I will NOT buy NFL merchandise if a game is missed. Write it down in ink.

 

[Nikolai]

but I will not spend another dime on any NFL product or any commercial product that is being advertised during a game.

So no Coors Light for you. What a shame.

The "never again" part, I have a hard time believing, but good on you guys if you follow through. I'm not a big merch spender anyway, so if I made such a pledge, they'd be losing about $10/year from me probably.

 

[dhamz]

I pledge to play golf on Sundays in the fall.

Well, until the games start back up again. Then I will pledge to sit on the couch, eat pizza, drink beer, and watch all the games.

 

[Ghost of Ben Dreith]

I will still keep my Cardinal season tix and still watch the Pats on Direct TV NFL package.

But....I will change my beer choice to spite their advertising goals....yeah....that will show em.....well....maybe not changing beer, but I WILL change my choice of chips for salsa/nachos!

 

[Wolfpack]

1) By watching the games, you are contributing to the NFL's primary source of income.

2) Not buying NFL merchandise would be a reasonable boycott to engage in.

3) Not buying any products of ANY NFL sponsor is absurd. Not only would that be a tough thing to keep track of, but you'd probably have to change your entire lifestyle.

 

[Tunescribe]

You don't know me (or others) very well. I can hold a grudge a VERY long time. And I will NOT buy NFL merchandise if a game is missed. Write it down in ink.

I made a similar commitment when MLB lost a season years ago over the same nonsense. And I've stuck to it. Why? Because I was only a very casual MLB fan and now am pretty much a non-fan. But I've been a Patriots season ticket holder since 1994 and the NFL is my most serious hobby, so I can't see myself making that separation despite being pissed at both the players and owners for letting this reach impasse stage.

Here is how I'm dealing with it: To me, the wrangling between the two sides is a lot of noise and I'm not going to get caught up in it. I mean, what's more insane than billionaires fighting millionaires over money? It's of no relevance to my personal reality and the sheer excessive greed on both sides just makes me angry. So I'll keep abreast of the headlines but not pore over the details. I'll follow the draft closely. If we lose games, I'll find other things to do and consider it an "intermission" of my fanship. When play resumes, I'll be there as always. I just hope they don't do something really stupid like field scab teams or try to start a season in November. If they lose significant games, just cancel the whole season and start fresh in 2012.

 

[PittPatriot]

edit: The above is only mostly correct. I did buy a Florida Marlins T-shirt for $1 about 8 years ago.

Relatively speaking, that is not a whole lot more than what Marlins ownership wishes to spend on their team.

 

[PittPatriot]

1) By watching the games, you are contributing to the NFL's primary source of income.

2) Not buying NFL merchandise would be a reasonable boycott to engage in.

3) Not buying any products of ANY NFL sponsor is absurd. Not only would that be a tough thing to keep track of, but you'd probably have to change your entire lifestyle.

All of this is true - but I'd love to see a fan reaction that would resonate through not only the NFL but also other sports. The NBA is the next league due for a lockout.

I wonder if boycotting the buying of NFL Merchandise would hurt businesses that are stocked with jerseys and sweatshirts more than the actual NFL? I'd hate to hurt a small local vendor who needs to move this merchandise on a daily basis just so the NFL can see a blip of a difference.

 

[Frezo]

I'll boycott games. We as fans run the NFL and we could teach them a lesson. Even a 40 to 50% drop in TV ratings would show them that an organized fan base is not to be trifled with.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

I was just thinking about ways for fans to get back at both the NFL and the players. Merchandise was one area. I'll probably repeat this in a future thread but apparently all merchandise sales are governed by the NFL Trust, with 12% of the profits divided up amongst the franchises. This is shared revenue that is included in the CBA, so both players and owners would be impacted.

It's hard to estimate the overall impact. My rough guess is a minimum of $4M in merchandise sales money goes to each franchise. That's based off of 2005 sales figures, though I expect they've increased since then. Obviously people would still buy some stuff, and the impact wouldn't be as huge as say a decrease in TV contracts or ticket sales. But every little bit counts, and it's not a huge personal sacrifice to buy a $250 jersey the next few years. It's actually a pretty good idea considering the current economic climate.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I'll boycott games. We as fans run the NFL and we could teach them a lesson. Even a 40 to 50% drop in TV ratings would show them that an organized fan base is not to be trifled with.

We fans don't run anything. We're an audience with lots of divergent views aside from football, in case in posting here you haven't noticed. We watch the game, and most of us will continue to do that provided there are any to watch. Otherwise we will watch something else or (god forbid) do something else with our time until we can watch them again...at which time most of us will. We are creatures of habit. We enjoy what we enjoy and aren't truly inclined to cut off our own noses to spite our own faces. Although we like to talk as if we absolutely are...

Football may even find it has more casual fans than ever, given the nature of audiences these days, especially if any of this ever makes it onto Court TV...

 

[IllegalContact]

So no Coors Light for you. What a shame.

The "never again" part, I have a hard time believing, but good on you guys if you follow through. I'm not a big merch spender anyway, so if I made such a pledge, they'd be losing about $10/year from me probably.

it'll be easy unless blue hills brewing company starts putting adds on during the game.......then I will have to stop drinking their dunkelweizen

 

[IllegalContact]

1) By watching the games, you are contributing to the NFL's primary source of income.

2) Not buying NFL merchandise would be a reasonable boycott to engage in.

3) Not buying any products of ANY NFL sponsor is absurd. Not only would that be a tough thing to keep track of, but you'd probably have to change your entire lifestyle.

1) how so? what am I paying to watch the game?
2) its easy, in fact
3) not really......there's only a couple of things.

its not really significant anyway. but I would stick to it just to make a point.....

 

[Frezo]

We fans don't run anything. We're an audience with lots of divergent views aside from football, in case in posting here you haven't noticed. We watch the game, and most of us will continue to do that provided there are any to watch. Otherwise we will watch something else or (god forbid) do something else with our time until we can watch them again...at which time most of us will. We are creatures of habit. We enjoy what we enjoy and aren't truly inclined to cut off our own noses to spite our own faces. Although we like to talk as if we absolutely are...

Football may even find it has more casual fans than ever, given the nature of audiences these days, especially if any of this ever makes it onto Court TV...

That doesn't change the theory behind my message. A successfully organized boycott would have far reaching implications.

 

[Ring 6]

The NFL and all of its teams will never get another dime from me. Sure I will still watch the games and be a fan just as I always have, but I will not spend another dime on any NFL product or any commercial product that is being advertised during a game. I will also not buy any product endorsed by any player. Simple as that.

So you will not buy any product advertised during an NFL game, or endorsed by an NFL player.
Good luck living in the monestary and eating what you grow.

 

[Wolfpack]

I'll boycott games. We as fans run the NFL and we could teach them a lesson. Even a 40 to 50% drop in TV ratings would show them that an organized fan base is not to be trifled with.

A 10% drop in ratings would be significant. 40% to 50% would be catastrophic to the league.

Of course, all these fan promises of boycotts never actually come to pass, so the powers-that-be aren't worried in the slightest. Once this is all eventually settled, they'll organized the same tired old "let's generate some good P.R. by having players meet and greet the fans" events.