While Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer with its barbecues and games of golf, it also signals the beginning of another significant period in the American calendar: NFL football season. Hundreds of thousands of fans will flock to stadiums this weekend to watch their favorite teams play. However, this may (and should) be the first and last time these fans do so. More and more folks are staying home to watch football due to the practical concerns that a day at the stadium entails, and the NFL has only itself to blame.
Innovations over the last decade, such as the widespread ownership of big screen televisions, the NFL Sunday Ticket, and the Red Zone channel, all highly promoted or created by the NFL itself, have given fans more incentive to stay home than to attend games. In this newfound age of technology which prioritizes multi-tasking, wide availability of viewing content, and convenience, why would any fan want to pony up thousands of dollars a year for season tickets to eight regular season games, when they can watch eight games all at once on any given Sunday?
For example, as a diehard New York Giants fan, if I wanted to attend a typical 1:00 p.m. game, here’s what my expensive ticket would cost me. Primarily, it would entail a whole day’s worth of commitment. To drive to the stadium, I would have to leave my house by 10:30 at the latest, hope there’s no traffic, as well as worry about where to park inside the labyrinth that is the stadium parking lot.
Once at the game, I’m going to having to deal with stupidly inebriated fans, adapt to the outdoor weather conditions, and pay exorbitant prices for concessions. In addition, I’m going to have to guess every time whether a close play resulted in a first down or whether a wide receiver got both feet down in time on a reception. And if the Giants are struggling or blowing out the opponent, there’s no such thing as changing the channel.
By the time the game is done and I arrive back home after some lengthy traffic jams, it’s 7:00 p.m. already and I’ve managed to watch only one game. This experience is not unique to me.
Now, take that same day and replace attending the game with watching the game at home. First off, the distance to my living room can be measured with a yardstick instead of an odometer. Secondly, I’m not just limited to watching the Giants game. I can tune into all the games being played, thanks to Sunday Ticket and Red Zone. I can watch my fantasy football team’s players in real time rather than tracking them on my phone from the game. I can be plenty comfortable with my home’s heating or air conditioning and not have to worry about frigid temperatures or the elements. I can eat as much food as I want and not even come close to paying what I would for the average concession at a stadium. And with the replay and the first-down graphic, I can see right away whether a running back’s knee was down before he fumbled or whether the quarterback’s arm extended enough for the first down on a sneak play.
Which experience would you rather have? I think the answer is pretty obvious. The NFL is starting to come to that conclusion too, but in the wrong way. In response to this trend, teams have started to outfit their stadiums with new amenities such as bigger screens, bigger seats, and more food options. At least so far, however, these efforts have been made available to only the more highly priced season seat holders, leaving life-long, working to middle-class season ticket holders out of the fold.
I understand that the game-day experience can be exciting, what with the tailgating to the crowd atmosphere and the roar one feels when the home team sacks the opposing team’s quarterback on third down, but people respond to incentives and right now the current in-home experience is dwarfing the live experience. If sports leagues, such as the NFL, do not find an adequate way to respond to this trend, sports fans everywhere will be changing the channel on buying tickets to professional sporting events.
