What Happens to the Fan Base??

[amfootball]

It's been nearly two decades since the Pats had a losing season. Realistically, do they have enough goodwill to sellout the stadium regardless of performance for the next few years? Or, will the Waiting List and attendance shrink dramatically?

Boston isn't Atlanta or Miami. I'd like to think we are more diehard. What you say?

Only the Red Sox sell out in bad times/bad teams. For a long time the Pats were the 4th team in Boston behind the Sox, Bruins and Celtics. No one knows this better than Kraft. The team better at least be competitive or we will be back to black out games really soon.

 

[IllegalContact]

Only the Red Sox sell out in bad times/bad teams. For a long time the Pats were the 4th team in Boston behind the Sox, Bruins and Celtics. No one knows this better than Kraft. The team better at least be competitive or we will be back to black out games really soon.

As an owner of the Patriots, Kraft has sold out every game.....the pats have sold out since 1994.....7 years before their 1st SB

 

[denverpatsfan]

It will take (1) bad season and a recession to open up the season ticket waiting list. We already have the destructive recession part completed. Now for a 5-11 season? You will be next up!!

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

I can't wait to see the Pats lose the division to the Jets 5 years straight so I can finally be a real fan.

Guarantee: The "real" fans will start liking baseball again very soon.

 

[denverpatsfan]

As an owner of the Patriots, Kraft has sold out every game.....the pats have sold out since 1994.....7 years before their 1st SB

Parcells and #1 draft pick started the sell outs!

 

[IllegalContact]

Parcells and #1 draft pick started the sell outs!

it did not....was able to walk up and get tickets pats / bills Bledsoe’s rookie year

 

[tasmlab]

I’ve been a Pats fan since Bledsoe’s rookie year and live 8 hours away in central PA. Back then the only Patriots news I received was from PFW the newspaper. I’ll still root for the Pats. But in all reality I probably won’t shell out $300/year for NFL Sunday Ticket to be able to watch them play every game. And I doubt they will be televised nationally much after next year. I have 7 year old twin girls and will probably spend more time with them instead.

If the 2020 season is cancelled, I wonder if that could spell the end of Directv and their horrid monopoly on Sunday Ticket.

 

[Kontradiction]

It will take (1) bad season and a recession to open up the season ticket waiting list. We already have the destructive recession part completed. Now for a 5-11 season? You will be next up!!

Of course. Boston fans are fickle. We’ve already seen that. What would be really hilarious is if the attendance gets so bad that Kraft has to use PSLs.

 

[Keyser Söze]

Please enlighten us all by defining what a "real"/"true" fan is, and by informing us all what the minimum requirements are for achieving the "real fan"/"true fan" level of fandom.

Supporting the team whether they are good or bad. Did I really need to explain that?

 

[SHOWTIME15]

If the 2020 season is cancelled, I wonder if that could spell the end of Directv and their horrid monopoly on Sunday Ticket.

Half the time NFL Sunday ticket doesn't work. They really should strike a deal with Amazon or Youtube and put no geographic limitations.

 

[amfootball]

As an owner of the Patriots, Kraft has sold out every game.....the pats have sold out since 1994.....7 years before their 1st SB

We had Parcells and the #1 pick and then transitioned to Brady/BB. The question was how faithful will the fanbase be if we don't have success. I think Kraft has 1-2 seasons at most before the stadium is half empty. That being said, I am hopeful we will continue to compete because we still have BB.

 

[Deus Irae]

Supporting the team whether they are good or bad. Did I really need to explain that?

Yes, because that's not the definition/requirement of a "real/true" fan. Most Bruins fans, for example, could explain that to you. Just mention "Jeremy Jacobs, 1990's" for enlightenment.

 

[amfootball]

Yes, because that's not the definition/requirement of a "real/true" fan. Most Bruins fans, for example, could explain that to you. Just mention "Jeremy Jacobs, 1990's" for enlightenment.

Great example. I am not sure why any fan would be expected to support a terrible product.

 

[mgteich]

Parcells and #1 draft pick started the sell outs!

The sellouts began the week after Kraft bought the team.

 

[IllegalContact]

We had Parcells and the #1 pick and then transitioned to Brady/BB. The question was how faithful will the fanbase be if we don't have success. I think Kraft has 1-2 seasons at most before the stadium is half empty. That being said, I am hopeful we will continue to compete because we still have BB.

If the underwear brigade keeps their word, a bunch of people will leave this place....that’s what they promised to do between deflategate and the whole kneeling thing

I’ll keep watching

 

[amfootball]

If the underwear brigade keeps their word, a bunch of people will leave this place....that’s what they promised to do between deflategate and the whole kneeling thing

I’ll keep watching

LOL. I would imagine that threat may be the same as Hollywood actors threatening to leave the US.

BTW, any person that would spend any portion of their time on a football board is a die hard fan or a troll.

 

[Deus Irae]

Great example. I am not sure why any fan would be expected to support a terrible product.

It's pretty easy to look at the sub-labels and come away with a pretty accurate picture:

1. Bandwagon fan - One who is a fan only because the team is popular. They go to be part of the in crowd. There are not fans of the team, but of the event. This is the only subgroup that is not comprised of "true/real" fans.
   
2. Fair weather fan - One who is a fan of the team, but who's interest and energy wanes considerably when the team is not winning.
3. Regular, generic fan - One who is a fan of the team, sticks by through an amount of struggle, but doesn't stick around if things don't eventually turn around
   
4. Die hard fan - One who sticks by the team through most of the bad times, but has a limit beyond which it's time to check out.
5. Hardcore fan a/k/a Sucker - One who thinks that the measure of a fan is to stick with the team under all circumstances, not realizing that such a position actually makes one an emotional slave rather than a free-thinking fan. These are the ones who put up with any manner of malfeasance by teams, and come back no matter how much of a garbage product is put out, and, by doing so, empower the teams to continue with the malfeasance or poor product.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Yes, because that's not the definition/requirement of a "real/true" fan. Most Bruins fans, for example, could explain that to you. Just mention "Jeremy Jacobs, 1990's" for enlightenment.

"Jeremy Jacobs, 1975-present"

Sick f*ck.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

It's pretty easy to look at the sub-labels and come away with a pretty accurate picture:

1. Bandwagon fan - One who is a fan only because the team is popular. They go to be part of the in crowd. There are not fans of the team, but of the event. This is the only subgroup that is not comprised of "true/real" fans.
   
2. Fair weather fan - One who is a fan of the team, but who's interest and energy wanes considerably when the team is not winning.
3. Regular, generic fan - One who is a fan of the team, sticks by through an amount of struggle, but doesn't stick around if things don't eventually turn around
   
4. Die hard fan - One who sticks by the team through most of the bad times, but has a limit beyond which it's time to check out.
5. Hardcore fan a/k/a Sucker - One who thinks that the measure of a fan is to stick with the team under all circumstances, not realizing that such a position actually makes one an emotional slave rather than a free-thinking fan. These are the ones who put up with any manner of malfeasance by teams, and come back no matter how much of a garbage product is put out, and, by doing so, empower the teams to continue with the malfeasance or poor product.

6. Fake fan - One whose father got season tickets for the fledgling franchise, and who attended games with his brothers. But instead of rooting for the team and appreciating its many heroes on the field, is consumed with hatred and resentment at ownership along with disgust for its cheapness and incompetence. This precludes any emotional attachment to the team, along with any kinship, awareness or empathy for real fans of the team. Then, when his effective maneuvering puts him on the precipice of purchasing the team, he only suddenly "falls in love" with a mediocre edition closing out a losing season with a meaningless referee-aided victory in the last game at home to eliminate a division opponent from the postseason. He then promptly overpays for the team, and embraces the insulting makeover perpetrated by his predecessor who is not from nor knows or cares anything about Boston or New England, and also is all in with decades of denigration of the team by local and national media. Thus, the new owner christens a new cult of bandwagon/fair weather fans, none of whom knew or cared anything about the team in its first 33 years, except the endless propaganda diatribe that the team was a "laughingstock" since the Beatles broke up. This cult, along with the owner himself, thus endorses and encourages this ongoing unwarranted disparagement, cultivating and preserving it, so that it is fresh to dump upon any subsequent success or accomplishments the team may achieve going forward.

Ironically, without moving the team, he exacted the kind of alienation upon the team's long standing, loyal fan base that he experienced as a youth, when the Braves moved to Milwaukee.

Robert Kraft earned the credit for keeping the Patriots in New England and Massachusetts, for building CMGI Field/Gillette Stadium and winning six world championships so far.

He's better than Jeremy Jacobs. But then, anyone is. He's also a nice man.

But here are three statements from him to illustrate his beliefs, which are never open to evolution or reconsideration:

"I prefer the old logo. Replacing it was financially necessary. The Flying Elvis is now, like Drew Bledsoe, the face of the franchise." "Drew Bledsoe is in the same class as Bill Russell, Bobby Orr and Ted Williams."

"Roger Goodell is not to blame for [CryGate] and [DefameGate]. He was compelled to do what he did due to pressure from the other owners."

"I wanted and prayed for him to stay, but Tom Brady did not want to keep playing here."

 

[Ochmed Jones]

"Jeremy Jacobs, 1975-present"

Sick f*ck.

jacobs catching heat for not doing enough for garden workers,