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11:04 PM Thu, Aug 30, 2007 | Permalink
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February 2008
Categories
Movers and Shakers Pre-season Texas Stadium dallasnews.com
Sports Blogs |
You knew something was strange when tight end Jason Witten, nose tackle Jason Ferguson and wide receiver Patrick Crayton were wearing tennis shoes while in full uniform. It made sense not to play these guys, but did the Cowboys have to make it so blatant? This is one of the big problems with the preseason. I can't blame teams wanting to protect their regulars, but the ticket prices aren't reduced. It's a shame really. I'm on board with knocking out one preseason game and adding a 17th regular-season game. But there has to be some cap changes too because players will want an extra game check out of the deal. |
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Comments
Posted by DougO @ 11:15 PM Thu, Aug 30, 2007
If you subtract a preseason game and add a regular season game, they will just move the crappy preseason game to the third one, and rightly so. If anything, I would ADD a preseason game, but it would be the first one, for rookies and backups only.
Posted by JR @ 12:36 AM Fri, Aug 31, 2007
I don't think you can do 17 games, isn't that a little, um, odd? You'd have to go to 18. But the real issue is, can't owners and players just be satisfied with little less of that $6,000,000,000.00 and do the right thing? Or is someone going to eventually (groan) take legal action against the league for this farce? It's not out of the question; businesses have gotten heat for a lot less when it comes to bilking consumers.
Posted by Hanker @ 1:20 AM Fri, Aug 31, 2007
While I think ticket prices are to high (actually in all sports), I disagree with the premise that tickets for pre-season games should be reduced. You can read in various magezines and periodical of who is playing a little, or those who are not playing at all. So, do your homework and don't attend the game if you see Romo, T.O, Julius Jones, Jason Witten, etc. are going to sit out. I know I'm not shelling out the c-note's if these stars are resting.
Posted by Bill in DC @ 8:47 AM Fri, Aug 31, 2007
Doesn't 17 games mean half the teams get 5 home games, the other half get 4? Unless they plat the 17th game at a neutral site.
Posted by Rodney in Nashville @ 9:18 AM Fri, Aug 31, 2007
Yeah it's pretty sorry. They tie the preseason games to your ability to buy regular season tickets. They know that most of us wouldn't waste our time with preseason tickets, and rightly so. Not to mention that Texas Stadium has been like a furnace in August. I guess at least that part will change soon.
Posted by drhorton @ 9:21 AM Fri, Aug 31, 2007
Hanker, the problem is with the season ticket holders, who are forced to pay for these farces of preseason. The owners ought to move one or two preseason games to neutral sites, so other fans could get a glimpse. For example, the Cowboys could host a game in San Antonio or Oklahoma City.
Bill in DC, I would bet that the NFL will go to 17 real games with the extra game being played in other countries. England, China, Germany, Canada, and Mexico are all very real possibilities. Then the owners still will all have 8 home games each. The players will want more money though, but the TV contracts should cover that.
Posted by RichardScribe @ 9:25 AM Fri, Aug 31, 2007
Just wanted to point out a typo in this post of yours Todd.
Regarding owners charging full price for preseason games, especially those that feature players who will be sacking groceries by the end of next week, it isn't "It's a shame really"
It's a sham, really.
Posted by Jody @ 9:35 AM Fri, Aug 31, 2007
It would be a novel concept for NFL owners, but why not cut ticket prices in half for pre-season [or exhibition games] and not require season ticket holders to buy them. Then the really good seats would be available to regular fan types and no one could complain about spending so much to watch a watered down team. Of course, the owners would give up some money, so this will never happen.
Posted by drhorton @ 10:32 AM Fri, Aug 31, 2007
Jody, you are right, never going to happen. I like your option of not making these seats mandatory, which would allow normal folks to sit down low for a change.
Let's do the math. 60,000 tickets at half price. Let's say the average price is $50 per ticket. So half of that is $25.
60,000 x $25 = $1,500,000, or the cost of two veteran players for the year.
At least the owners could acknowledge this issue. Maybe charge full price, and give that other half to charity, then they could at least write it off at tax time.
Todd, why don't you ask Jerry about this some time. Feel free to give him my ideas. I would gladly sell them to you for a pair of field passes to the Ram's game. My upper deck seats just aren't good enough.
Posted by Steven @ 12:09 PM Fri, Aug 31, 2007
Its real simple. Leave the 4 preseason games but play them in High school or small college stadiums. Like baseball does in spring training. They play in minor league stadiums, charge minor league prices and play the game. Have the Cowboys play at SMU or NortH Texas or hell even Carroll HS. It would be a pretty cool atmosphere IMO.
Posted by colorado kool aid @ 12:30 PM Fri, Aug 31, 2007
Then why would the owners do that? If their revenue doesn't change and you want their expenses to increase -- what incentive is there to change? People, realize that the current revenue/expense structure is what drives the salary cap -- you want people to reduce their revenue and increase their expenditures . . . would YOU do that in YOUR business just for kicks?
Posted by Drewstew @ 1:21 PM Fri, Aug 31, 2007
It's silly that everyone thinks they should lower ticket prices for preseason. It's a free market. If you don't want to pay that much, then don't. If enough people quit attending preseason games, the owners would lower prices to attract more fans. Simple supply and demand.
Posted by drhorton @ 1:27 PM Fri, Aug 31, 2007
Kool aid,
The owner's revenue would increase with a 17 week schedule. The TV contracts would be reworked, because more people would watch the 17th week than the number of viewers for preseason week 4.
I feel very confident that the owners would figure something out that would make them more money. This current system is just crap.
Posted by Donovan @ 5:39 PM Fri, Aug 31, 2007
It's actually not about supply and demand for the preseason tickets when the owners group them with regular season games. It's about them recognizing that they have inferior games that nobody wants to pay full price for, yet they needed to find a way to get full price for.
I'm not sure if they still do it or not, but back in '92 and '93, Jerry wouldn't allow you to even buy an individual game ticket against the Redskins, Eagles, or Giants unless you also purchased a preseason ticket.