# Is declining NFL attendance due to the economy or other factors? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 6, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-declining-nfl-attendance-due-to-the-economy-or-other-factors/559720 "2010-11-06T18:48:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2010, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-declining-nfl-attendance-due-to-the-economy-or-other-factors/559720/21 "2010-11-07T17:50:12Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > This is a slight hijack but that right there is the main reason I can’t get into fantasy football. I am a Steeler fan and the one time I tried playing I found myself in positions where I had to in a sense root against the Steelers. To avoid this, my choices were to pick a sub optimal team or not play, so I never played again. I spent around 3 years drafting only Giants and Jets players so that I would never have to root against my own teams. It hamstrung my fabtasy teams, but it was fun. After a few years I had grown to enjoy FF enough that now I play any players, though of course I still have a strong homer-centric bent. You could easily play FF without conflict by drafting only Steelers and any team the Steelers don’t face that year. That would give you 19 teams to draft from each year. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-declining-nfl-attendance-due-to-the-economy-or-other-factors/559720/22 "2010-11-07T17:58:37Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > If they slashed ticket prices in half in weak markets they’d sell out, and probably make more money to boot at the expense of “devaluing” the market for the future when they actually put up a good team and people want to see them play. Which, of course, is why they don’t do it. Agreed. I feel the NFL has long since sucked the fun out of the game in pursuit of the allmighty dollar. What really saddens me is that the NCAA is following the No Fun League’s lead. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-declining-nfl-attendance-due-to-the-economy-or-other-factors/559720/23 "2010-11-07T23:20:23Z")
I hate the blackout policy. They get paid money to show the games on TV too. If they fall 1000 seats short, the game is blacked out in the home market… Short term greed causes people to forget about the game and the team after awhile. You can not imagine how many Lions games have been blacked out. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2010, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-declining-nfl-attendance-due-to-the-economy-or-other-factors/559720/24 "2010-11-07T23:47:36Z")
Feh. The Buccaneers have had all but one home game blacked out, and we’re _good_. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2010, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-declining-nfl-attendance-due-to-the-economy-or-other-factors/559720/25 "2010-11-07T23:50:14Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > For some reason, I don’t get the same experience at an NFL game as I do at baseball or **hockey**. Last time I saw a Yotes game on TV, half the 100 section seats were empty. Buy two tickets and get half the stadium to yourself! ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-declining-nfl-attendance-due-to-the-economy-or-other-factors/559720/26 "2010-11-08T00:30:08Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > See, I feel the opposite. It’s football. It’s a blue-collar sport for red-blooded adults. With all the ways the NFL makes it a pain in the ass to attend a game,\*\* shouldn’t fans at least be allowed to carry on like drunken idiots? \*\* My stepdad and my brother went to a game recently, and they were shocked by the number of cops and security guards keeping an eye on the fans. They said it felt like being in detention. You’re advocating FOR out-of-control fans in the stands? No way! If I pay hundreds of dollars to go to a game, why would I want to listen to screaming, cursing, and fighting fans? I don’t think NFL games have been “blue-collar” (which, from the above definition, is more like “trailer trash”) since the 1970s if not earlier. The only major sport that actively seem to market to that demographic is NASCAR, and even they have made attempts to go upscale. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-declining-nfl-attendance-due-to-the-economy-or-other-factors/559720/27 "2010-11-08T05:34:31Z")
The NFL has been a victim of it’s own success, I think the biggest aspect of declining attendance is the success of their television programming. I know people with multi-TV setups in their basement just so they can watch multiple games at once. When you get a setup like that, why would you bother going and freezing your ass off in person? ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-declining-nfl-attendance-due-to-the-economy-or-other-factors/559720/28 "2010-11-08T06:14:48Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > You’re advocating FOR out-of-control fans in the stands? No way! If I pay hundreds of dollars to go to a game, why would I want to listen to screaming, cursing, and fighting fans? I’m with you on the fighting, and I suppose I could be convinced about excessive cursing, but screaming? Fans damn well better be screaming when the opposing team has the ball. That’s their job. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-declining-nfl-attendance-due-to-the-economy-or-other-factors/559720/29 "2010-11-08T07:03:04Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I doubt I’ll go to another NFL game. I think I spent more time watching the game on the Jumbotron that I did watching the action on the field. I was also annoyed at the large number of asshole drunks. I know a sporting event isn’t a church service and I don’t mind profanity. But, so many of the people around me took it to another level. When we lived in Dallas my sister loved going to Ranger Stadium to watch baseball (especially on dollar hot dog day) but she didn’t care for going to Texas Stadium to watch the Cowboys play. Her reasons echo yours. Too many obnoxious angry drunks whereas the baseball games were more laid back and friendly. Rising ticket prices and the other costs associated with going to a game is something that’s been talked about for a number of years now. I remember Bill Maher on “Politically Incorrect” lamenting the high price of tickets for basketball games were starting to shut working class people out of going to games. I wouldn’t doubt that high prices are keeping people away from the games during turbulent economic times. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-declining-nfl-attendance-due-to-the-economy-or-other-factors/559720.md?page=1)