Yeah. So, welcome to my article.
I know why you're here. You want to know if the humor guy has finally slipped a nail file past the brain warden. NFL preseason ticket prices...too low? Um, right.
Have I been drinking the bong water or what?
Well, the answers are: Yes, NFL preseason ticket prices are too low; and no, I don't drink.
But I do read.
And today, my local newspaper ran its 473rd editorial about NFL preseason ticket prices and how the mean old NFL is ripping off the public every summer by charging full price for what amounts to two practice games.
The sentiment that permeates most of these letters is that the NFL is callous and cruel. You know, the same kind of sentiment usually reserved for people who don't recycle or people that eat hamburgers.
And it's about as true as Pamela Anderson's bust size.
Now, before you start reflexively whining about how the NFL owners' force fans to purchase these games in order to be season-ticket holders, let me ask you one simple question:
So what?
"But Jim, those games are meaningless. They're played by a bunch of guys destined to be car salesmen or accountants by September. That's why, as expensive as they are, I usually just give my preseason tickets away, or eat them."
First of all, as a snack, those tickets are not very filling. Secondly, I don't care.
"But as a season ticket holder, I think it's just ridiculous to make me buy those games in order to keep my season package."
And yet, you do.
Every aspect of the NFL has been covered ad nauseum by the media, and only a fool or an Amish go-go dancer could claim that they weren't aware that the NFL is a big business.
When a player is cut, "it's just business." When a team moves, "it's just business." When a free agent bolts for more zeroes and commas in the paycheck, "it's just business." When I accidentally pee on my shoe while waiting in line for the mustard, "it's just business."
But leaving it to the consumer to decide whether the price of two meaningless games is worth eight that matter is "unfair."
Wah, wah, wah, Chachi.
Let's go back to my original question. The one about NFL preseason ticket prices being too low? (Yeah, that was a long time ago, I know.)
Ladies and gentlemen, isn't it obvious that fans are not buying NFL preseason tickets to see the preseason games themselves, but to be included in their team's full season package? And if you agree that this is true, then couldn't it be argued that preseason tickets could be sold for more money than they currently are?
Do you think that if the price of tickets for the regular season stayed the same, but preseason tickets went up one dollar per game, most fans would give up their season tickets over the increase?
No, me neither.
But how about for two dollars? Or five dollars? Do you see what I'm saying?
The NFL is a business, neither caring nor cruel. If it finds a way to make more money, it will.
You don't need to enter a rehab clinic or get a prescription for Methadone if you decide you don't want to be a part of it anymore. If you don't want to get "ripped off" by the NFL's big-business practices, you already know what to do. Vote with your wallet.
Not your local newspaper's editorial section.
22 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment
Sean Crowe 10 months ago
My only beef is that they force you to buy them. I understand that unless people stop, they'll continue to sell them. But nobody is going to stop buying season tickets because they have to spend an extra $200 on the pre-season.
If PSLs don't stop people from buying season tickets, nothing will.
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Jimbo 10 months ago
I understand what you are saying, Sean. But my point is that there must be a line that, when crossed, would cause fans to decide the price of preseason tickets was not worth the "privilege" of owning season tickets. That line has not yet been crossed.
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Michael Brown 10 months ago
If I go to a preseason game (which is rare), I'm usually content getting my 1-3 quarters of starters, but Belicheck doesn't always cooperate. I went to the Pats-Ravens game, and Tom Brady, NFL MVP, didn't play. At all. In fact, Randy Moss didn't either. So instead, I was forced to watch Matt Cassel go up against the Ravens first-string defense (and get booed off the field after falling down on third-and-long). Between four tickets, paying $40 to park, buying gas, and buying food, it turned into a $600 night. And I didn't even see Tom Brady.
Of all the pro sports leagues, the NFL is the best at making money. But they have to be. The NBA and NHL have 41 home games. MLB has 81 home games. The NFL has 8 (10 with preseason). But football players make about as much as other athletes, with the exception of A-Rod and others.
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Jimbo 10 months ago
That's an interesting point you make about the number of games in the NFL, but if the league made less money, it would just mean that the players would, too.
Sounds like you had a great time at the Pats preseason game. How about next time you just give me $300 and I'll kick you in the crotch? That way, everybody wins! ;)
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Jimbo 10 months ago
By the way, Michael, my $300 kick in the crotch comment was because I thought that would be cheaper and less painful for you than sitting through another preseason game, not because of anything you wrote. :D
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Michael Brown 10 months ago
It's a sad day when I've had more fun tailgating then inside the stadium.
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Nathan Blunck 10 months ago
i do like the point about the number of games the NFL gets, but doesn't the increased stadium size make up for it--at least compared to the NBA.
avg NBA attendance we'll say 18,000 people.
NFL around 80,000 people + higher ticket prices and you're almost right there.
4*8=32. almost equal to the 41 games.
obviously it doesn't compare to baseball where the cubs can get 41,000 people for 81 games with no problem at all.
it is a VERY valid point though.
good article, too
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Nick Caso 10 months ago
hey I was at that game...the tickets I had were $117 EACH for a game in which the Legend Tom Brady didnt even take the field. the prices are way too high
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Rob Ohlstrom 10 months ago
"But football players make about as much as other athletes, with the exception of A-Rod and others."
They don't get the guaranteed money that athletes in those other sports do. Of the four the NFL is by far the worst league to be a player in.
(Yes, I had to open another tab on firefox and go to webster's to look up guaranteed. U before A dammit!)
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Daniel Muth 10 months ago
I would submit that you just like touching people's crotches with the top of your foot. And then getting paid for it. You my friend, are a prostitute. As for NFL pre-season ticket prices, well, if the market is there why not? Personally, it's the only time that the Lions are capable of beating the former Superbowl champs!
p.s. pee on your shoe while waiting for mustard? HaHa! Let me guess, $300.
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Daniel Muth 10 months ago
And yes, that should be in a mastercard commercial.
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Jimbo 10 months ago
I do NOT like touching people's crotches with the top of my foot.
Why do you think it costs $300?
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Daniel Muth 10 months ago
HaHa! Good point. Hmmm, how do I get in on this action?
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chase ruttig 10 months ago
As a Canadian who is seeing people pay $250 for tickets to the Steelers-Bills game that is nearly sold out at the Rogers Centre, I must say that they are not too low
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Michael Brown 10 months ago
Because you don't have the NFL in Toronto, that makes it worth it. If it doesn't sell out, then the game becomes a failure since the Bills would sell the game out if it were in Buffalo. Every year the Pats sell out their individual game tickets in 90 minutes or less from the time they all (including preseason) go on sale.
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Rob Ohlstrom 10 months ago
That's some nice work Jim.
If you're willing to pay for it, don't complain
don't pay for it.
Tickets are so expensive (To be fair it's not the tickets that bother me, it's everything else, $40 parking, $8 beers, etc) that I'm not willing to put down the cash unless ownership fields a winner. It is a business after all, and I'm not about to pay for a defective product.
No matter how much I enjoyed it when I was eight.
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Dan Boone 10 months ago
When we get a pay per view super bowl plastic faced Jerry Jones, after all these long years, will finally get wood again....
PSL's are the most sickening development in the history of sports.
"Raise the revenue, cut the expenses--everything else in business is bullshit"' Bob Tisch, owner, New York Giants [from Forbes}
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Matt Strachman 10 months ago
If only usa was a communist nation everything would be so much easier...*sigh*
The almighty dolar rules all, but its what makes this country great at the same time
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Dan Boone 10 months ago
Well the dollar isn't so tough anymore....and when oil is sold in euros, psl won't matter so much.
Disliking PSL's isn't a Karl Marx march....no its a dislike for billionaire owners manipulating politicians to build stadiums on the tax payers dime then come right back and jam the psl's down the fan's throats.
And the choice, of course, is just not to go....
Perhaps soon the only ones gathered at the stadiums for an NFL event will be the very rich or the corporately connected...
How many folks can afford to drop a thousand or so bucks for a family of four to attend a game?
Much less eight games and the pre season b.s....
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Gil Becerra 10 months ago
Pre-Season tickets too low? Sh...... You must NOT be one of us Season Tix holder spending 4 digits on tickets.... I could easily spend those extra $200 on a zip of some grapes to smoke for tailgating...
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Michael Brown 10 months ago
Our tickets run us 4 digits, but that doesn't justify the extra $500 for the preseason tickets.
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EndZoner 10 months ago
I have season tickets for my favorite team and there is NO WAY I would go to the preseason games if I hadn't already paid for my tickets. I am lucky to get 50% of face value for my preseason tickets.
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