Report: The NFL is looking at a brand new way to piss off its paying fan base

[Boston Boxer]

Man, I used to get napalmed when I spoke out about Baddell a few years back...looks like the worm has turned

poor you. boo hoo

 

[terabthia2]

Perhaps, but to the extent the initiatives come to fruition it's because the owners are OK with them.

So if you want you can blame Goodell for thinking stuff up, but when it happens, you need to blame the owners, not Goodell, for encouraging/allowing it to happen.

It's pretty much like this in all of the sports leagues now. The owners say "jump!" and the commissioner says "How high?". The owners call all the shots. With so many billions now invested in pro sports, that's just how it is now.

Kennesaw Mountain Landis would never survive today.

 

[SB39]

https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/402101862939504640

How in the world does this piss the paying fanbase off? I honestly don't think you understand what this proposal entails. What they are saying is they may do away with the network assignments where, for all Sunday afternoon games, the road team determines the network.

Games can already be flexed all over Sunday. Early afternoon to late afternoon or evening, and vice-versa once we hit week 10. For example, we learned today that the Pats-Texans game is starting at 1:00 instead of 4:25 so that the national late-afternoon game will be the far better matchup: Denver-KC II. 7 months ago, NE-Hou looked like a great choice for the 4:25 game, but now it is obviously a much better idea to go to KC-Den.

All this is going to do is make for better late-afternoon national "game of the week" choices. Why anyone (other than a TV exec) would oppose this is beyond me.

 

[SB39]

So, how much advance notice would fans get? How I long for the days when our game wasn't being screwed with.

Am I the only one that realizes that they already flex games all over Sunday afternoon, with the Pats-Texans game in 2 weeks being such an example, and all this new proposal will do is permit an AFC game to be on Fox or an NFC game to be on CBS?

It never ceases to amaze me how much whining there is whenever the NFL improves the product. The 4:25 game is the one that usually gets broadcast to about 80% (or more) of the nation. 2 weeks from now that game was going to be NE-Hou, but now it will be the far superior matchup Den-KC.

Obviously people on this board are biased to want to see NE, but how can it reasonably be denied that Den-KC is a far better matchup for the national late-afternoon game of the week, and will get far more attention than NE drubbing Houston?

 

[Christiancat]

I can see both sides of the coin. From a business standpoint cross flexing TV games is an excellent decision since more money comes from the TV contracts than they do tickets sales. However, it messes things up for those fans who go to alot of live games and stuff. Which I could imagine would seriously upset those who purchase tickets frequently to go to numerous live games throughout the year. Nevertheless, it is unfortunate that the NFL couldn't and or wouldn't find away to appease both parties (TV stations and fans) without compromising those lucrative TV contracts.

 

[SB39]

I can see both sides of the coin. From a business standpoint cross flexing TV games is an excellent decision since more money comes from the TV contracts than they do tickets sales. However, it messes things up for those fans who go to alot of live games and stuff. Which I could imagine would seriously upset those who purchase tickets frequently to go to numerous live games throughout the year. Nevertheless, it is unfortunate that the NFL couldn't and or wouldn't find away to appease both parties (TV stations and fans) without compromising those lucrative TV contracts.

First of all, they already do shift games around on Sunday's. Sometimes a game will get flexed into the late night NBC game. But other times, a 4:25 game gets flexed to 1:00 (like Pats-Texans) so that a 1:00 game (Chiefs-Donks) goes to 4:25.

Second of all, I just don't see how going from 1:00 to 4:25 (or vice versa) is any sort of tremendous hardship for the paying public. Even people travelling from out of town generally aren't booking flights on the actual day of the game, so the time of the game doesn't really matter much.

This announcement doesn't change a single thing for the ticket-buying public. Yes a game can be shifted from 1:00 to 4:25, but that has been the case all along - which apparently absolutely no one in this forum except me was aware of.

 

[alamo]

Even people travelling from out of town generally aren't booking flights on the actual day of the game, so the time of the game doesn't really matter much.

I can't speak definitively as to "generally", but in my case you are wrong. Twice I have attended away games and flown the day of the game. Depends on where the game is whether this is optimal, obviously it's not possible for all games.

I went to the Cincinnati game this year, flying out of Boston. 1PM game, booked the 8PM flight home via Chicago. My next best flight option was Monday, and on Monday morning flights you are competing for seats with business travellers. The fare would have gone up considerably, plus another hotel night. I could have limited the increase by flying back Monday night, but that has its own problems.

This is with flights bought >1 month ahead of time, if the game flexes with a week to go it's much worse. If I had had to fly Monday it would have increased the cost enough that I wouldn't have been able to go.

I was aware I was taking a chance of either a game reschedule or getting stranded due to a missed flight connection. I did calculate the likelihood of that happening and decided it was an acceptable risk, you can never completely eliminate such risk. As it was it all worked out well even though I almost got stranded in Chicago due to the horrible weather in Cincinnati that afternoon, luckily my connecting flight was also delayed significantly.

(I'll probably be looking to do it again in 6 years, it was a lot of fun except for the game result, and it was especially nice to walk 10 minutes from the hotel to the stadium for the game. The stadium is downtown and thus lots of hotels nearby).

 

[Kontradiction]

Goodell should be flexed out of office.

 

[mgteich]

Surely I am missing something. Folks keep on complaining about the actions of the league. What has been the result of these actions since Goodell came to power?

1) Are the owners making less money?

2) Are fewer fans watching games?

3) Is the league selling less league product?

4) Is NFL becoming less popular?

5) Is the current game less attractive to fans?
=================================

Let's be real. The league office is doing whatever it can to make the teams more profitable for the owners. Thankfully for us, that means that league office also wants to maintain and improve the perceived quality of the product.

NFL football has never been more popular. Never has the NFL been more financially secure. Part of the reason for that has been the actions of the league over the past couple of decades.

And certainly, NFL has never been better for us. Since Kraft bought the team, we have been the best franchise in pro sports. And yes, complain as you will about league actions. No one has more influence over those actions than the Krafts.

 

[chasa]

Huge slap in the face of the fans who actually travel to the games but they aren't where the money is, the money's in the TV contracts so from a business perspective this makes a ton of sense.

Hardly, Its a same day flex, You don't fly out to watch a game the same day as the game, so really the biggest inconvenience is going to be watching the game earlier, watching the game later.

 

[Patsrock]

Honestly the only new policy in this is networks can show games that they can't right now.

They move 1pm to 4pm all the time.

And on fans flying into the game. Boo hoo. Don't book a flight after the game. I travel to enough Bruins/Revs games on the road to know times of games can change. And with MLS they frequently do. So I always book travel to leave day after the game.

 

[Nikolai]

I'm actually not a fan of having Pats games on Fox...in Connecticut, that means more games being pushed in favor of the ****** Giants. Connecticut's pubs just did a little jig.

 

[SB39]

I can't speak definitively as to "generally", but in my case you are wrong. Twice I have attended away games and flown the day of the game. Depends on where the game is whether this is optimal, obviously it's not possible for all games.

I went to the Cincinnati game this year, flying out of Boston. 1PM game, booked the 8PM flight home via Chicago. My next best flight option was Monday, and on Monday morning flights you are competing for seats with business travellers. The fare would have gone up considerably, plus another hotel night. I could have limited the increase by flying back Monday night, but that has its own problems.

No offense, but I think that's a pretty risky thing to do and I honestly have very little sympathy if it backfires. That Cincy game could easily have had a weather delay, like the one they had in Chicago yesterday.

I know there are a lot of people, myself included, who fly in for football games. But fans who are actually flying on the day of the game itself are such an extreme minority that it would be silly to make such huge accommodations on their behalf. I bet it is no more than a couple hundred at most, and probably even less than that.

 

[SB39]

Surely I am missing something. Folks keep on complaining about the actions of the league. What has been the result of these actions since Goodell came to power?

The hatred for Goodell in this forum borders on the irrational. Anytime I see someone go overboard with their criticism of Goodell I can tell they only started rooting for the Patriots in 2001 because they obviously have no idea who Paul Tagliabue is or how messed up this league was in the 90's. They would have only come on board following football at the tail end of the Tagliabue reign.

There is no way whatsoever any objective analysis could conclude this league was more well run during the Tagliabue era than it is right now. The NFL is easily the most popular and best run league in American sports. The Commissioner, and the owners, deserve some credit for that.

 

[jmt57]

Hardly, Its a same day flex, You don't fly out to watch a game the same day as the game, so really the biggest inconvenience is going to be watching the game earlier, watching the game later.

It's not so much the flight there, it's getting back.

If for example somebody from flew to Miami to watch a 1:00 game and booked a 7:30 flight home, what happens when the game gets flexed to a 4:30 kickoff?

Maybe the airline will accommodate, maybe they'll say 'you bought the lower-price tickets that cannot be changed, too bad', or maybe they don't have any flights getting you back home until Monday morning.

 

[Zeus]

I tailgate with a group includng nine other guys who are all are successful businessmen with families. I can tell you from personal experience that late notice on flexing games is a legitmate source of aggravation to us as season ticket holders.

The league says all the right things about making the game day experience better but it's just lip service because the interests of those who attend the games in person are always going to be secondary to anything that will give the owners a penny more in revenue.

 

[SB39]

I tailgate with a group includng nine other guys who are all are successful businessmen with families. I can tell you from personal experience that late notice on flexing games is a legitmate source of aggravation to us as season ticket holders.

You get 2 weeks notice for flexing, except week 17 where you get 1 week notice. Who the heck are these people that can't handle making a Sunday schedule adjustment with 2 weeks notice??!

The only thing I would consider reasonable to find aggravating for ticket holders would be flexing a game into the late night game. But sorry, as an NFL fan with no game to go to yesterday, I sure preferred watching KC-Den at night instead of the sad sack Giants and 3rd string GB quarterback. So I really can't find much sympathy for the Broncos fans inconvenienced by the change.

 

[chasa]

It's not so much the flight there, it's getting back.

If for example somebody from flew to Miami to watch a 1:00 game and booked a 7:30 flight home, what happens when the game gets flexed to a 4:30 kickoff?

Maybe the airline will accommodate, maybe they'll say 'you bought the lower-price tickets that cannot be changed, too bad', or maybe they don't have any flights getting you back home until Monday morning.

what happens if that game goes to overtime and lasts nearly the whole 15 minutes, and there was a weather delay of 2 hours?(ravens/bears)

What happens if there is an accident trying to get out of the parking lots and you get stuck in a traffic jam that lasts 2 hours?

There are too many factors to make flying home the same day as the game a good idea.

 

[Zeus]

You get 2 weeks notice for flexing, except week 17 where you get 1 week notice. Who the heck are these people that can't handle making a Sunday schedule adjustment with 2 weeks notice??!

The only thing I would consider reasonable to find aggravating for ticket holders would be flexing a game into the late night game. But sorry, as an NFL fan with no game to go to yesterday, I sure preferred watching KC-Den at night instead of the sad sack Giants and 3rd string GB quarterback. So I really can't find much sympathy for the Broncos fans inconvenienced by the change.

Not sure whether you doubt my veracity or you feel I'm not entitled to my own opinion. It's not unusual for me (and others that I know) to have to make business (and occasionally family) commitments more than two weeks in advance. In general, moving the game earlier is not a problem but moving it later can royally screw things up.

 

[SB39]

Not sure whether you doubt my veracity or you feel I'm not entitled to my own opinion. It's not unusual for me (and others that I know) to have to make business (and occasionally family) commitments more than two weeks in advance. In general, moving the game earlier is not a problem but moving it later can royally screw things up.

Let's just say I'm calling bullcrap, so yeah I guess you could say I'm doubting the veracity of your statements.

If you have pressing business or family commitments that you absolutely need to attend to on a Sunday, then I suggest you not plan on attending a professional football game on the same day - especially one in Foxboro which is out in the middle of nowhere and even on a good day, you're in about 2 hours of traffic getting out.

Sorry, but if your wife's sister is getting married on the same day the Patriots host the Broncos, then guess what.... you're not making the game, whether they play at 1:00, 4:25 or 8:30.