The NFL is getting hammered after another game was played in a half-empty stadium
AP Photo/Jeff Chiu
"Thursday Night Football" gave football fans something of a surprise as the San Francisco 49ers hosted the Los Angeles Rams at Levi's Stadium in a barn-burner of a football game, ending with an enthralling fourth quarter by the Niners before falling just short of completing the comeback.
The Rams' 41-39 victory was a shootout — and some of the most exciting "Thursday Night Football" fans had seen in recent memory, featuring a successful onside-kick attempt, late turnovers, and a backdoor cover that sent gamblers home either elated or furious.
There was even an uptick in TV viewership, but the game also served as a reminder of one of the NFL's recent woes: poor attendance.
Shots of the stadium, like the one above, made clear that attendance was dismal for the primetime game. Despite claims that attendance was over 70,000, anyone with eyes could see that the stadium was largely empty, with even some of the best seats in the lower bowl left untaken.
As SFGate noted, tickets were available on secondary markets for just $14 — about the price of a beer and hot dog inside the stadium. And still, few people found the time to support the Niners in person.
People on the internet took notice, inspiring headlines including "The 49ers and Rams Played a Great Game in Front of an Empty Stadium" at The Big Lead and "It Appears Not Many People are Physically at the Rams-49ers Thursday Night Game" from Sports Illustrated.
Additionally, Twitter was quick point out the empty seats, sharing images far and wide of the empty stadium:
The Niners aren't the only team struggling to get fans into their stadium on game day — their opponents on Thursday have also started the season in an empty home.
Playing at the storied Los Angeles Coliseum, the Rams opened their season in front of roughly 25,000 people in a stadium that can hold almost four times that. And Los Angeles' newest team in town, the Chargers, have seen visibly poor attendance despite playing their season in a converted soccer stadium that can hold only 27,000 people.
Last weekend, both Los Angeles teams hosted NFL games, and their ticket sales combined didn't reach the number that USC and Texas drew to the Coliseum on Saturday night.
After years of fighting to bring one team — and now two — to Los Angeles, the NFL, as well as the Chargers and Rams, is going to have to figure out a way to start generating interest in the teams.
The Niners don't have another home game until October 22, when the Dallas Cowboys come to town. It's not a nationally televised primetime game like Thursday's matchup, so if attendance is low once again, at least fewer people will see it.
Trump has the best all star political intuition for his base, the growing majority of American people. This will be entertaining.
ReplyDeleteI used to get things done by saying please. Now I dynamite 'em out of my path."
ReplyDelete— Huey Long
The NFL has been wrapping itself with the American Flag for decades to the tune of hundreds of billions of Chi-Ching, Chi-Ching.
ReplyDeleteThere are sons of bitches and there are dumb sons of bitches, Roger Goodell is in the latter camp.
Let the culture war games begin.
ReplyDeleteTHIS IS CHOICE - HEADLINE WASHINGTON POST
ReplyDeletePerspective
NFL shows restraint in the face of vulgarity — and gets it right
Commissioner Roger Goodell and others in the league are getting it right by responding to the president’s baiting comments with civility.
By Sally Jenkins
Sally must be irony-challenged, she declares: Trump turns sports into a political battleground with comments on NFL and Stephen Curry
DeleteI thought a public display of defiance against American symbols was a political statement, a statement made in NFL stadiums, unanswered by the owners and mangers. Wow, one statement by Trump and he knocks the snot out of them.
There will be more uproar over overgrown man-brats playing a kids game, behaving badly, , than there was about the dismemberment of Libya by Obama and Clinton.
ReplyDeleteReport from the streets of ultra liberal NYC -
ReplyDeleteJudge Jeanine Pirro questions folks about "Rocket Man"
"Who is Rocket Man ?"
She must have asked 10 people and almost all knew, though some had trouble with the name.....the crazy guy from North Korea...fat boy Korea....half at least got the name exactly right.
"What should we do about Rocket Man ?"
'Blow him up'
'Blow him up'
'Strap him to a rocket'
etc
Only one or two suggested negotiating, and they were both white.
The blacks and latinos had no problem with blowing him up, and most of the whites too.
I got the feeling the average New Yorker didn't much care what the New York Times might have to say.
They just wanted their city safe and concluded the best way was just to blow the threat away.
Probably only one of these folks actually voted for Trump.
DeleteClarification:
DeleteThe blacks and latinos had no problem with blowing him up, and most of the whites too.
Meaning most of the whites too had no problem with blowing Rocket Man up, not that the blacks and latinos had no problem with blowing the whites up, too.
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DeleteAre you sure you have it right now?
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Can you understand it ?
DeleteI was trying to make certain that you could.
NFL fans may just begin to join Quirk in watching the NHL, eating hot dogs, and drinking beer -
ReplyDeleteSeptember 24, 2017
NFL may lose bigly with social justice antics
By Brian C. Joondeph
It's DEFCON 1 this weekend – not between the U.S. and North Korea, despite the battle of insults between "Dotard" President Donald Trump and "Rocket Man" Kim Jong-un. Instead, the war is between the president and the sports world, specifically the NFL and NBA. It led the Drudge Report on Saturday.
Drudge Report Photo
Since when have professional sports become political? Long before Trump moved into the White House. The NFL is famous for its activism. Support for Black Lives Matter after Ferguson. Solidarity with Trayvon Martin. Lectures from Bob Costas – not on the upcoming game, but on gun control or global warming. Now it's disrespecting the National Anthem by taking a knee or sitting down. Colin Kaepernick popularized this before Trump was president. It's activism is spreading through the NFL and beyond, even to eight-year-old football players in Illinois.
NFL TV ratings are down. The 49ers and Rams played to a half-empty stadium, despite selling tickets for $14, less than the price of a hot dog and a beer. Declining advertising revenue is predicted to cost networks $200 million, a number likely to increase. As Rick Moran wrote recently in American Thinker, "Have we ever seen a pro sports league self-destruct? Stay tuned."
President Trump, true to form, demonstrating why he was elected, is taking on the NFL in the same aggressive manner as the way he is going after Rocket Man and North Korea. Realizing that most American adults disapprove of recent NFL antics, Trump is effectively utilizing several of Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals." Specifically, "ridicule is man's most potent weapon." And "a good tactic is one your people enjoy."
In his recent speech in Huntsville, Alabama, Trump said, "Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners? When somebody disrespects our flag, you'd say, 'Get that son of a b---- off the field right now. Out! He's fired." Boom. Ridicule. His supporters, tired of the unpatriotic, virtue-signaling NFL, cheer someone verbalizing what they have been feeling. Trump is forcing already unpopular NFL commissioner Roger Goodell into zone defense, whining about Trump's "divisive comments."
Divisive? Really? Most Americans already disapprove of the NFL's posturing and preening. Instead, the NFL is doubling down on its losing formula, hastening its self-destruction.
DeleteThe media, the left, and #NeverTrumps are predictably and perpetually outraged. Here is Trump the rube, once again venturing into something he knows nothing about. Is that so? They likely don't remember that Donald Trump owned a USFL football team, the New Jersey Generals, for a few years in the 1980s. Did anyone else running for president in 2016 own a professional football team? Hillary Clinton's only professional football experience was pushing the Washington Redskins to change their name.
Trump understands who his supporters are – and who NFL fans are. Apparently, Roger Goodell does not. NFL fans happen to mirror Trump supporters quite closely. Note the Scarborough Research chart below.
NFL fans lean Republican and turn out to vote, just like Trump supporters. Is it any wonder Trump's comments are resonating among his base? Seems most NFL fans are among Mrs. Clinton's "deplorables." Further alienating them is bad business for the NFL.
The Democrat-leaning NBA may fare better going to war with President Trump. Stephen Curry, not wanting to visit the White House, was disinvited by Trump, followed by the entire team disinviting themselves. Time will tell if such posturing hurts the NBA as it will the NFL.
The NFL is learning that its right-leaning fan base will find other weekend activities that are far less expensive than overpriced NFL tickets. There is plenty to watch on TV besides NFL games: Netflix. Amazon Prime. A good book. A walk through the neighborhood. Tuning out Roger Goodell and his league of malcontents will not be difficult.
College football is even more right-leaning, as are the Olympics. Ditto for MLB and the NHL. It will be interesting to see if they have the sense to stick to sports rather than social justice.
Brian C. Joondeph, M.D., MPS is a Denver-based physician and writer. Follow him on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/09/nfl_may_lose_bigly_with_social_justice_antics.html#ixzz4tZiwD59T
By the way, Quirk looks super in goalie pads and face mask, especially after drinking beer.
DeleteHe almost got arrested once staggering around that way, but the cop was a Red Wings fan too.
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DeleteThat wasn't so bad but the scary clown costume didn't go over well at all.
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Were you arrested ?
DeleteOr able to talk your way out of it again ?
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DeleteMade a run for it. Lucky to escape. Especially given those damn clown shoes. Just made it to the car in time. Of course, getting into it was another matter.
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ReplyDeleteFootball?
The NFL's attendance is down for a number of reasons. Primarily, it's oversaturation. Monday, Thursday, Sunday, odd games in England you can start to watch while you eat breakfast. In 2018, there will be two games played in London and one each in China and Mexico. Add to that the fact the product kind of sucks recently and rule changes are changing the nature of the game and you've got a problem. Then when you consider the NFL games like most professional games run way too long (you can still be watching the Thursday night game at midnight) and you can see why people are streaming these games, editing for the highlights, and spending more time on their fantasy teams. Why pay hundreds of dollars to sit in a seat surrounded by drunken bums shouting profanities at each other, the officials, the other team, just to watch two piss-poor teams duking it out for way too long when you could be sitting at home drinking a beer and not worrying about lines to get to the toilet?
IMO, these are the things fans are thinking about. I doubt many of them are worrying about who the hell stands or sits for the national anthem. All they care about is the entertainment value not some isolated political statements.
One, if the players want to make a statement or an ass of themselves its their right as long as it doesn't violate the player's contract.
Two, some out there will bitch about the actions of some of these players but if their team is doing well you can bet they'll be somewhere watching their team play on Sunday. And if their team sucks they probably won't be seeing any of the protests anyway.
As for the team owners not-caring, you might want to talk to Colin Kaepernick about that. Better yet, talk to his mom. I heard she was a bit critical of the Donald.
“In Charlottesville, he would not call out the Nazis, not call out the white supremacists, but he’s calling out these guys who are peacefully kneeling and asking for their country to do better,” she told Deadspin.
This was just one more piece of red meet that Trump could throw to his base.
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DeleteIt probably says less about Trump than it does his base.
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One, if the players want to make a statement or an ass of themselves its their right as long as it doesn't violate the player's contract.
DeleteCorrect !
200 points for Quirk.
He's now at only -1583 points.
DeleteIt probably says less about Trump than it does his base.
Hopefully
Off the current topic but on a topic often seen here, and very interesting -
ReplyDeleteSeptember 24, 2017
It Was the Deep State that Colluded with the Russians, not Trump
By Clarice Feldman
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2017/09/it_was_the_deep_state_that_colluded_with_the_russians_not_trump.html#ixzz4tZs0b75Q
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ReplyDeleteSpecial Prosecutor/Counsel Investigations
I found an article talking about the length of times these investigations run.
How long will the special counsel’s investigation of Russia take? Possibly years.
Watergate is the shortest. Of course, that's because Nixon stopped it. The Cisneros is the longest by far. I remember Cisneros but I didn't recall the perjury investigation.
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Isn't Cisneros some kind of Mexican breakfast cereal ? Perjury investigation ? I recall something about false advertising, but my memory is nearly as dim as yours.
DeleteMeuller ought to end, if he were honest, the investigation next week, it having run out of steam.
It's nothing but politics now, not law, it's a rigged farce with the 'investigators' numbering about 90% Hillary donors.
Meuller himself ought to be investigated.
DeleteIt's a very bad disgusting joke.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteHeh. I noticed towards the end of the posted video Judge Jeanine - whom I love ! - and the two other guests all agreed that Senator McCain wasn't going to be voting his 'conscience' on the health care bill, but his spite at being dissed by The Donald !!
ReplyDeleteHey, it's just what I thought.
So, he's going out on a spiteful note, rather than as an honest man fulfilling his campaign pledges to his constituents.
Which doesn't erase his well known stellar qualities, but it is a sad ending to the old guy, whom I once voted for, and would do so again given the same choices.
Having Sarah at his side did help, I admit. I would have voted for him anyway, though.
It's sad. McCain's all too human decision only makes him another swamper.
DeleteThird generation swamper, that YOU supportrd whole heartedly for President
DeleteYour hypocrisy is showing ... one more time
When you side with a man ...
You side wit him, bobal ...
You still do not know what it means to be a man, do you?
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DeletePure nonsense, rat.
Where do you come up with this shit.
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...Trump's idea of patriotism has deep roots in America's past.
ReplyDeleteAfter the uprisings of 1848 against the royal houses of Europe failed, Lajos Kossuth came to seek support for the cause of Hungarian democracy. He was wildly welcomed and hailed by Secretary of State Daniel Webster.
But Henry Clay, more true to the principles of Washington's Farewell Address, admonished Kossuth:
"Far better is it for ourselves, for Hungary, and for the cause of liberty that, adhering to our wise, pacific system, and avoiding the distant wars of Europe, we should keep our lamp burning brightly on the western shore as a light to all nations, than to hazard its utter extinction amid the ruins of fallen or falling republics in Europe."
Trump's U.N. address echoed Clay: "In foreign affairs, we are renewing this founding principle of sovereignty. Our government's first duty is to its people ... to serve their needs, to ensure their safety, to preserve their rights, and to defend their values."
Trump is saying with John Quincy Adams that our mission is not to go "abroad in search of monsters to destroy," but to "put America first." He is repudiating the New World Order of Bush I, the democracy crusades of the neocons of the Bush II era, and the globaloney of Obama.
Trump's rhetoric implies intent; and action is evident from Rex Tillerson's directive to his department to rewrite its mission statement - and drop the bit about making the world democratic.
The current statement reads: "The Department's mission is to shape and sustain a peaceful, prosperous, just, and democratic world."
Tillerson should stand his ground. For America has no divinely mandated mission to democratize mankind. And the hubristic idea that we do has been a cause of all the wars and disasters that have lately befallen the republic.
If we do not cure ourselves of this interventionist addiction, it will end our republic. When did we dethrone our God and divinize democracy?
And are 21st-century American values really universal values?
Should all nations embrace same-sex marriage, abortion on demand, and the separation of church and state if that means, as it has come to mean here, the paganization of public education and the public square?
If freedom of speech and the press here have produced a popular culture that is an open sewer and a politics of vilification and venom, why would we seek to impose this upon other peoples?
For the State Department to declare America's mission to be to make all nations look more like us might well be regarded as a uniquely American form of moral imperialism.
Pat Buchanans the author of "Nixon's White House Wars: The Battles That Made and Broke a President and Divided America Forever."
Mr Trump's actions do not match his rhetoric.
DeleteHe has drawn 'Red Lines' that have already been crossed by the historical enemy of the US, North Korea.
US military presence across the globe has been stepped up dramatically, leading to the deaths of at least a dozen sailors.
3,000 additional troops have been sent to Afghanistan, to do what 100,000 couldn't.
US subsidies to NATO remain at Obama levels. While the US prods NorK with its annual war games and agitative, aggressive rhetoric, NATO frets about a few Russian soldiers in Belarus.
By the time Mr Trump's behaviour matches his rhetoric we will all be laughing, at the punchline to Mr Muellers's joke.
Commentator and legal immigrant Mark Steyn said he "did the boring thing" by following American immigration law, and therefore gets none of the sympathy that DACA recipients receive.
ReplyDelete"I'm a non-DREAMer. Nobody sentimentalizes me," he said of Democrats who use tales of illegal immigrants' hardship to defend the rights of the undocumented.
Steyn said many of the DACA supporters talk about "brave journeys" through the desert.
"Nobody ever says that about me and my kids," the Canadian immigrant to New Hampshire said. "We did the boring thing and filled out the paperwork."
We don't have a TV here but for the first time I wish we did. I could drive into the CdA Casino and watch today's games in the bars but I don't like that much.
ReplyDeleteI'll follow along on Fox. I'm betting there will be fewer fans and lots of knee taking, and it might be the beginning of an NFL boycott by the fans. Trump is suggesting it.
A boycott by NFL fans would certainly get the attention of the owners, and fast.
Donald J. Trump Verified account
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If NFL fans refuse to go to games until players stop disrespecting our Flag & Country, you will see change take place fast. Fire or suspend!
3:44 AM - 24 Sep 2017
As was noted in the article that initiated this thread ...
DeleteViewership, on TV, for the Thursday night game was up.
The 49er's have been fielding a poor team for a while, now. Not much of an excuse for a Thursday date night, or reason for the kids to have a late night or necessitate them skipping school on Friday.
The NFL has come out firmly on the side of their players.