Football without fans

farn said:

I feel great about it. I watch for the competition. From my couch, on TV.

If there is competition on TV and a week’s worth of talking about said sport - I’m happy. The number of fans in the seats is irrelevant to me. Maybe I’m in the minority.

Football is a spectator sport, but really the $ comes from TV. And that $ is what matters to the 32.

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Can you imagine how lame it will sound on tv with nothing but the sounds of the players. Part of what makes the game worth watching is the crowd noise even through the tv.

tasmlab said:

Conservative math:
$100 ticket/concession revenue per audience member (ha ha I know)
60,000 seats per game = $6,000,000 per game
16 games a week...$96,000,000 per week
for 16 weeks... $1.5 Billion in lost revenue.

Does it work financially?

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That's a lot of money, no doubt, but football is the sport where actual ticket sales and stadium revenue is lowest in terms of percentage when compared to TV. The NFL can most survive losing fan attendance.

The math for the NHL and MLB without fans is a *huge* losing proposition for those leagues if they play.

Jangles said:

Can you imagine how lame it will sound on tv with nothing but the sounds of the players. Part of what makes the game worth watching is the crowd noise even through the tv.

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You and I are different. Part of what makes the game worth watching ? Not for me. I don’t care if I hear the crowd or no. It doesn’t really change my enjoyment.

Jangles said:

Can you imagine how lame it will sound on tv with nothing but the sounds of the players. Part of what makes the game worth watching is the crowd noise even through the tv.

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I agree it will be a different experience if it happens, but I think all of us understand why there is no crowd noise. It isn't like we are going to ridicule teams for empty stadiums. I, for one, would be plenty happy if they come up with a solution to play games this year - even if it has to be done in empty stadiums.

farn said:

You and I are different. Part of what makes the game worth watching ? Not for me. I don’t care if I hear the crowd or no. It doesn’t really change my enjoyment.

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I don’t think you’re really considering how hearing the crowds reaction to positive or negative plays really impacts the experience.

Go back and watch the some highlights on mute and I think you’d see how big of an impact it has

Brewskies said:

Congrats, that is some achievement. You have attended every Pats game played at Gillette Stadium. Do you know how many games the total is?

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Pro football reference states 167. Not sure if that number includes preseason...or the post season for that matter.

FWIW I have missed a preseason game every now and then. So I'm not perfect.

Yeah, the other day I was thinking about the possibility of there being an NBA playoffs without fans.......to me, that would be beyond lame. People thinking it will make no difference I think will be surprised to see how much a rowdy crowd plays a big part in the enjoyment of a big game. It just changes the whole vibe and atmosphere. Rather you're actually there or just watching on tv. This goes for all sports.

I have never liked the idea of watching sports games without fans. Better than nothing? I guess... But I'd hate to watch the playoffs or any big game that way. It just wouldn't feel the same, it wouldn't feel right.

Jangles said:

I don’t think you’re really considering how hearing the crowds reaction to positive or negative plays really impacts the experience.

Go back and watch the some highlights on mute and I think you’d see how big of an impact it has

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Haha.

What ? You don’t like liver ? I think your tastes are off... go back, eat 20 pounds of liver. You’ll love it !

Brewskies said:

I am a TV Football spectator fan. It is the on-field action I am watching, not the fans in the seats.

I feel strongly that it is the players that need the fans in the seats, and without fans in the seats, it will negatively affect their performance. I don't know if anyone else agrees with me?

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I don’t know if it will negatively affect performance but I agree without a doubt that it will have some effect. It would be interesting to see.

I think it will greatly affect how it feels watching it on tv as well. There’s nothing worse than watching a game with a quiet crowd. Feels like a funeral.

It will be strange but ill take it over no football. I saw wwe clips when gronk debuted just to see him, it was bizarre with no fans. But that might be more dependant on crowd than football

farn said:

Haha.

What ? You don’t like liver ? I think your tastes are off... go back, eat 20 pounds of liver. You’ll love it !

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Right that’s the same thing

The third down foghorn is going to sound awfully loud on TV, echoing around an empty Gillette stadium.

Jangles said:

Right that’s the same thing

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It is. You are telling me that my lack of excitement about cheering from strangers on TV (a subjective taste) is wrong and that if I try it again I’ll love it.

Most football fans are deeply stupid, so I’m fine with not having to hear them. The Jets fans don’t even deserve to go to NFL games anyways

farn said:

It is. You are telling me that my lack of excitement about cheering from strangers on TV (a subjective taste) is wrong and that if I try it again I’ll love it.

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I said watch highlights on mute and maybe you’d see what the crowd brings to the game. Not quite the same thing

signbabybrady said:

Pro football reference states 167. Not sure if that number includes preseason...or the post season for that matter.

FWIW I have missed a preseason game every now and then. So I'm not perfect.

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FWIW, preseason IMO doesn't count. Congrats again. I hope you can continue your accomplishments.

Go Pats and signbabybrady

pheenix11 said:

I don’t know if it will negatively affect performance but I agree without a doubt that it will have some effect. It would be interesting to see.

I think it will greatly affect how it feels watching it on tv as well. There’s nothing worse than watching a game with a quiet crowd. Feels like a funeral.

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The NBA players *****ed about it, loudly.

For crowd noise, the broadcasters could launch a phone app that lets fans at home record their reaction to the plays. People turn the app on and set their phones in the middle of their living room where their family and friends are watching. The broadcaster aggregates them into a single sound feed that they play while the game is watched. Hundreds of thousands REAL reactions are blended together to act as crowd noise.

I think we should just cancel life and we should all crawl into a hole with our facemasks and just ride it out until we have a bulletproof vaccine so the threat of all viruses and sicknesses are eradicated...
As a society, we just can't risk getting a flu, a cough, a corona or a fever...

Jangles said:

I don’t think you’re really considering how hearing the crowds reaction to positive or negative plays really impacts the experience.

Go back and watch the some highlights on mute and I think you’d see how big of an impact it has

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It won't be the same as watching on mute - and it certainly won't be the same as watching highlights on mute.

If you don't want to watch, no one is going to force you, but I doubt it will be a factor to the vast majority of sports fans.