THIS & THAT, SEASON PREVIEW & WEEKEND REVIEW
Randy Covitz of The Kansas City Star's Red Zone Blog reports the Chiefs are doing something other teams started a few years ago. If you want single game tickets for either the Cowboys or Steelers game at Arrowhead Stadium, you'll be required to buy a ticket for a preseason game as well. Covitz reports there are 3 reasons for this; it increases overall revenues selling tickets to preseason games that would normally go unsold, it decreases the chance of preseason blackouts & it will help keep Steeler & Cowboy fans from coming to Arrowhead. I can remember attending a Green Bay game at Arrowhead & the number of Packer fans was shocking. Now it does penalize the Chiefs fans who don't choose to buy season tickets for one reason or another & just want a game or two. Now they're forced to buy a ticket to a preseason game vs Houston or Seattle in order to have the 'privilege' of buying a ticket to see the Steelers or Cowboys.
I want to correct a mistake I made last week. I told you the Oakland Raiders had cut an unsigned draftee, 6th rounder, Stryker Sulak, before ever seeing him perform in pads. That part was correct, what wasn't, was saying that since Sulak was unsigned, he received nothing from the Raiders & then they cut him. Wrong. Sulak traveled from his home in Texas out to Oakland for the Raider mini camp & for that he received $130 a day. I don't think this even covered his travel expenses, to say nothing of the Raiders perpetuating the notion they are a pretty classless organization, but I wanted to set the record straight, even though I think the correction makes the Raiders look even cheaper.
I told you a few weeks ago about the inability of the New York Giants to sell seats in their new stadium, which will open in 2010. The Giants had gone thru all 121,000 people on their season ticket waiting list & were still left with over 4,000 "premium seats". Those seats carry a $7,500 personal seat license & were $400 per game. Now the Giants have made a "marketing adjustment" regarding those unsold seats. The PSL price remains the same but they lowered the per game price from $400 to $250. I've been saying here for months that current economic conditions will hurt the NFL. The teams, as well as the league office, have been making "marketing adjustments" on the fly. Look for an adjustment in the NFL blackout policy. The required sellout by noon on Thursdays is going to have to be changed temporarily. Without an adjustment, I think as many as 15 teams will experience TV blackouts this season. This will hurt the league's TV ratings & their advertising revenues, can you say sacred cow? Any industry or business that fails to address changing market conditions, is destined to fail or see revenues decrease substantially enough to require a bailout. Roger Goodell & the NFL braintrust, thankfully, is smarter about their product & it's placement in the marketplace. DeMaurice Smith, NFLPA head, is also a major player here. There's certainly some of the arrogance of other big business, but I believe Goodell & company will make the hard choices required to keep the NFL light years ahead of the other sports leagues. Please Mr. Smith & Mr. Goodell, don't insult your fans, don't take them for granted, baseball did that in 1994. Sadly, even steroid enhanced home run hitters were able to bring back only a small percentage of the fans & they're still way behind the NFL. Please pay attention to the fan that makes true financial sacrifices just to see one game, sometimes having to travel hundreds of miles & don't forget the fans that shell out hundreds to watch the NFL on Directv? In an economy with over 25 million people out of work, the league knows millions of the unemployed are NFL fans & ignoring them isn't a marketing plan for the long term.
You know those two quarterbacks I refuse to write about until something has been resolved? You know, the two that are on virtually every "Sportscenter", "NFL Live" & "NFL Total Access"? I just didn't want to fill space with the rampant speculation regarding each man. I think I'll have to mention both by name very soon as I think each story will shake out as early as this Friday. Until then tho, nothing on these pages.
In the very near future I will provide a Big-12 Preview, which will include in-depth stories on each team. There will be previews of every major conference as well. The NFL camps will open this month & I'll have extensive coverage of all the camps. Finally, you'll be able to read fresh, new football news every day here at richsfootballreport.com. I hope you'll check in daily to get your football fix & pass the site onto any friends or associates who love football like we do.
Linda & I spent the weekend in Kansas City, primarily to attend a wedding. But we were able to have dinner Friday evening with some old friends we hadn't seen in many years, which was very nice. The wedding & reception was as beautiful as the bride, a young woman we've known since birth. It was wonderful to see so many old friends & since 5 hours at the reception wasn't enough, we spent more time with some of them back at our hotel, talking & laughing hysterically. Sunday morning, we agonized thru the British Open, with Linda's family. The last putt by Tom Watson & the playoff will be the single most painful golf memory, forever etched in my brain. Our trip concluded with a visit with my buddy Chuck & his wife, Lynda. Chuck has been a sideline photographer at Arrowhead Stadium during every Chiefs game for over 20 years. A torn quad tendon & the resulting surgery have put his string in jeopardy. I hope the 2 hours of laughing & the 10 minutes of serious conversation made him feel better, I know we enjoyed it. Get better Chuck! Our weekend was filled with laughter & friendship, two things we cherish & as we near the start of the football season, we hope to see some of these characters one more time before I am immersed in the 16-hour days of the football season. And to the newlyweds, God Bless, we wish you a wonderful life together & thank you for including us in your special day.
I want to correct a mistake I made last week. I told you the Oakland Raiders had cut an unsigned draftee, 6th rounder, Stryker Sulak, before ever seeing him perform in pads. That part was correct, what wasn't, was saying that since Sulak was unsigned, he received nothing from the Raiders & then they cut him. Wrong. Sulak traveled from his home in Texas out to Oakland for the Raider mini camp & for that he received $130 a day. I don't think this even covered his travel expenses, to say nothing of the Raiders perpetuating the notion they are a pretty classless organization, but I wanted to set the record straight, even though I think the correction makes the Raiders look even cheaper.
I told you a few weeks ago about the inability of the New York Giants to sell seats in their new stadium, which will open in 2010. The Giants had gone thru all 121,000 people on their season ticket waiting list & were still left with over 4,000 "premium seats". Those seats carry a $7,500 personal seat license & were $400 per game. Now the Giants have made a "marketing adjustment" regarding those unsold seats. The PSL price remains the same but they lowered the per game price from $400 to $250. I've been saying here for months that current economic conditions will hurt the NFL. The teams, as well as the league office, have been making "marketing adjustments" on the fly. Look for an adjustment in the NFL blackout policy. The required sellout by noon on Thursdays is going to have to be changed temporarily. Without an adjustment, I think as many as 15 teams will experience TV blackouts this season. This will hurt the league's TV ratings & their advertising revenues, can you say sacred cow? Any industry or business that fails to address changing market conditions, is destined to fail or see revenues decrease substantially enough to require a bailout. Roger Goodell & the NFL braintrust, thankfully, is smarter about their product & it's placement in the marketplace. DeMaurice Smith, NFLPA head, is also a major player here. There's certainly some of the arrogance of other big business, but I believe Goodell & company will make the hard choices required to keep the NFL light years ahead of the other sports leagues. Please Mr. Smith & Mr. Goodell, don't insult your fans, don't take them for granted, baseball did that in 1994. Sadly, even steroid enhanced home run hitters were able to bring back only a small percentage of the fans & they're still way behind the NFL. Please pay attention to the fan that makes true financial sacrifices just to see one game, sometimes having to travel hundreds of miles & don't forget the fans that shell out hundreds to watch the NFL on Directv? In an economy with over 25 million people out of work, the league knows millions of the unemployed are NFL fans & ignoring them isn't a marketing plan for the long term.
You know those two quarterbacks I refuse to write about until something has been resolved? You know, the two that are on virtually every "Sportscenter", "NFL Live" & "NFL Total Access"? I just didn't want to fill space with the rampant speculation regarding each man. I think I'll have to mention both by name very soon as I think each story will shake out as early as this Friday. Until then tho, nothing on these pages.
In the very near future I will provide a Big-12 Preview, which will include in-depth stories on each team. There will be previews of every major conference as well. The NFL camps will open this month & I'll have extensive coverage of all the camps. Finally, you'll be able to read fresh, new football news every day here at richsfootballreport.com. I hope you'll check in daily to get your football fix & pass the site onto any friends or associates who love football like we do.
Linda & I spent the weekend in Kansas City, primarily to attend a wedding. But we were able to have dinner Friday evening with some old friends we hadn't seen in many years, which was very nice. The wedding & reception was as beautiful as the bride, a young woman we've known since birth. It was wonderful to see so many old friends & since 5 hours at the reception wasn't enough, we spent more time with some of them back at our hotel, talking & laughing hysterically. Sunday morning, we agonized thru the British Open, with Linda's family. The last putt by Tom Watson & the playoff will be the single most painful golf memory, forever etched in my brain. Our trip concluded with a visit with my buddy Chuck & his wife, Lynda. Chuck has been a sideline photographer at Arrowhead Stadium during every Chiefs game for over 20 years. A torn quad tendon & the resulting surgery have put his string in jeopardy. I hope the 2 hours of laughing & the 10 minutes of serious conversation made him feel better, I know we enjoyed it. Get better Chuck! Our weekend was filled with laughter & friendship, two things we cherish & as we near the start of the football season, we hope to see some of these characters one more time before I am immersed in the 16-hour days of the football season. And to the newlyweds, God Bless, we wish you a wonderful life together & thank you for including us in your special day.
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