NFL Fans Should Pay For Their Tickets, Not Stadiums

By David Levy-Fan Experience Reporter-Football Reporters Online

The Georgia Dome in Atlanta remains a perfectly fine building for professional football. Still a teenager, it is nowhere near long in the tooth. Capacity is enough to accommodate nearly every Atlanta Falcons fan willing to buy tickets.
Arthur Blank, the team owner, craves a new stadium. That seems akin to trading in your car after it has logged only 20,000 miles, but he can well afford it.  Blank, the former owner of the ubiquitous American home improvement store chain called The Home Depot, has a net worth of $1.2 billion, according to Forbes, and the franchise value has risen 52 per cent since he bought it in 2002 for $545 million.

But wait. Blank expects the quasi-public agency that operates the Dome and the proposed site of a new stadium to issue bonds that would pay some of the costs. That should be 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct, sticking it to taxpayers at the same time that funding for public schools in Georgia is being cut.


This sickness is spreading among NFL team owners. In Minnesota, the Vikings' Zygi Wilf has capitalized on the collapse of the Metrodome's inflatable roof amid a once-in-a-lifetime snowstorm and the fear of the franchise relocating to Los Angeles in his campaign for a replacement stadium. Of course, citizens would contribute to the project. Never mind that Blank might expect Wilf, worth $1.3bn, to pick up their lunch bill.

The shameless nonchalance of these folks who seem detached from reality has generated a shifting of the winds.  We have already experienced it here in New York and New Jersey.

The public, which normally sides with management during labor disputes in American sports, is sympathetic toward the players in a stand-off with owners that has pushed the league to the brink of a lockout.  In a poll conducted by Seton Hall University, 35 per cent who participated backed the players, compared to 22 per cent for their bosses. This, even though the same study found that most contend the players are overpaid.

Taxpayers are increasingly fed up with being forced to become stadium-erecting partners with Rolex-wearing, yacht-sailing jet-setters. Economists nowadays agree on little, but one belief they share is that public support of professional sports offers almost nothing financially in return.

The Giants and Jets grew tired of their shared arena and convinced the government to pitch in for a new-and-improved one. The old Giants Stadium was torn down despite carrying more than $100m in debt that must be paid off by the good people of New Jersey.  Plus, the season ticket holders are also helping flip the bill on the new one with PSL's.  Isn't that double dipping?  The nerve!

Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner, stands complicit in this wasteful building boom. From his office comes a wink-nod promise of the ultimate in ego gratification for owners: host your own Super Bowl! Just throw up a stadium and you will get the big game. How you bankroll it, that's your business.

Which explains why the 2014 Super Bowl was awarded to New Meadowlands in a region where the average low temperature in February is -2°C.  Which also explains why 22 of 32 teams have moved into fresh digs or had their existing ones totally made over in the last two decades.
In that time, teams have been blessed with more than $7bn in taxpayer subsidies for construction and renovation, according to the NFL Players' Association.

The players union reports that, on average, taxpayers put up 65 per cent of the financing for those projects. Owners found a way to avoid putting in any money for 10 of them; for nine others, their contribution amounted to less than 25 per cent.
Further driving public sentiment toward the players are reports on the sport's inherent physical risk, particularly for victims of post-concussive syndrome that has ravaged retirees. Fans are looking beyond the average salary of $1.9m and discovering other statistics:

$770,000, the median yearly pay.  Three-and-a-half years, the average length of career.  Eleven, the average number of players per team on injured reserve this past season.

While many of us might trade places with the players, the figures show that most of them accumulate more aches and pains than enough wealth to last them a lifetime.

For team owners, it is a different story. Admittance into the club all but guarantees going from rich to richer, experienced from the comfort of a stadium luxury suite.

Fine. That is the American way. But those who knock on government doors seeking handouts to finance mostly unnecessary arenas should instead heed the marketing message aimed at customers of Blank's old home improvement stores.
Do it yourself.

Follow me Twitter @LevysBakeryProd or at LevysBakeryProductions.com

Do PSL's Really Make Football Better, Or Worse For Fans

(Photo: Capt. Jet)

Do PSL's Really Make Football Better? Or Worse For Fans

By David Levy-Fan Experience Reporter-Football Reporters Online/Pro Football NYC

Since August of 2008, I have been filming a documentary about the New York Jets PSL situation and how the fans have had their ups and downs with it. Over this past season, many fans have kind of settled into new positions in the new parking structure. Set up like the hierarchy of rings that used to exist in medieval times. Where the royalty would be in the middle close to the castle and the further you went out, the lower in class it became. The higher priced parking passes are closer to the stadium. Ones with non PSL seats have to park over by the Izod Center. You tell me what type of message the Jets are sending to their fans.



Many long time season ticket holders who have had tailgating groups for years feel cheated by not just the new parking system, but from the PSL's as well. Many were not able to get seats next to friends like they have in years past. Those with cheaper PSL's or NON PSL seats can not sit with those in the lower bowl. Also, Mary Lou Wilson who parks in the Green parking said some long time friends they tailgated with in old section 13A have the non PL seats do not want to bring all their gear over to the green parking. Even though Mary Lou and her kids can park over there, they still have friends in the green parking to tailgate with. Who wants to lug all that gear and waste time just to have to drag it all back early?

Bruce Speight, Senior Director of Media Relations, told me they did what they could to appease fans. But you can not please them all. I wonder what true steps they took to find out what the fans wanted. I know they did send a survey out via e mail two years ago. But did anyone from the Jets organization act like the Census and go from tailgate to tailgate to get the fans opinions. Probably not. They do not mind sending face painters out there to charge for face painting. Maybe if the team spent time walking through the lots talking to fans and truly got to know what they wanted, sales could have gone faster.

This is something sports writers do not cover, especially sports beat writers. there is always a focus on the players, coaches, on and off the field events, and even trades. There are not many sports writers that cover the business decisions teams makes, how it affects the fans, or even the fans in general. Occasionally, there are stories that appear about fans. But not too often. They mainly come about during the season, after a team or player has already made news about an issue. It may not be front page news, but is it news nonetheless. If there were no paying fans to show up, it would just be a bunch of guys playing ball. I guess while filming my documentary I had to take it upon myself to cover them and tell their side so they feel they have a voice. Fans care about news regarding the teams and their players. So the teams and players should care about what is going on with their fans.



Many long time tailgating groups have crumbled and become a shadow of its former self. I have talked about the Jets Pack a few times, but I have yet to talk about the Jets Nuts. The Jet Nuts have been coming just as long as the Jets Pack. You can always tell where the Jet Nuts are by their huge bus they always have. They are on their fourth bus right now. They have had hundreds over the years. But according to the organizers, it has dwindled down significantly. It is coming to a point where they are laying out more money than they are receiving from fans wanting to share in their tailgate. Many tailgate set ups charge a small fee to eat and drink at their tailgate. Rather than shrink it down they just might call it quits by years end. PSL's have not just separated fans in the stadium, but even in tailgating as well.

PSL's, for some, are a necessary evil. The Jets and Giants never said what other financing options they looked into before settling on the PSL's as a final option. If the New England Patriots can do it then any team can. Even though their stadium is in the middle of nowhere, small screen, no escalators, they still managed to do it all without PSL's. Sometimes I wonder if the new stadium was built for the fans or for the teams owners friends to enjoy a lavish place to watch football games and network for more business. Make it their own upscale country club. The Jets and Giants had no idea how much they tore their fan base apart.



Sports teams need to wake up and realize that bigger and better is not necessarily the way to go. There has to be a happy medium. The Jets have already doe this and is evident every time I film in the parking lot. I am here for the fans to be their voice. Hoping to show other sports franchises what PSL's can to do their own fan base. I know some fans do not care, they are willing to spend their money and do what the team says to do to keep going to games. Others have the kind of disposable income where they can afford to spend and do not care about what other fans think. It is this kind of thinking that shows team owners win and can do what they want.



The fans have the real power. If the fans were all on the same page then the teams would have to change how they set their prices and policies. The Jets learned this already with the PSL's and lowered prices. If the fans kept showing that solidarity, then we all win in the end. Not just the ones with deep pockets. Some will agree, others will disagree. But we all want to enjoy our game day experience with our friends and have that bond for years. Not to lose it because some friends who used to be able to afford tickets now can not. Makes me proud to be a reporter of the fans. Not just because I care, but because I am one of the ones who could not afford to keep my tickets. The fans are a story and I am the only one who sees it.

New York Jets Single Game Seats Pros & Cons

New York Jets Single Game Seats Pros & Cons

By David Levy

This past Tuesday the Jets announced they would be selling single game seats, but only in the upper bowl. These are the NON PSL seats. Matt Higgins, the Jets Executive VP of business operations said the Jets would not sell single game seats when the Giants made their announcement two weeks ago. He was referring to the PSL seats, not the non PSL seats. Obviously, the Giants had no choice but to offer PSL seats as all their seats have PSL's. This was a great move for the Jets organization. The fact the upper bowl seats do not have PSL's makes it easier for the team to offer them on a single game basis.
But like any decision there are the good point and bad points to this. Let us start off with the good points:

1-With about 2000 seats available on a per game basis, those who did not want to purchase season tickets can now purchase certain games, albeit they are not sold out by the time it gets to them. Someone can go to 2-3 games instead of being responsible for a whole season. Makes it easier on some peoples wallets.

2-It gives the Jets breathing room in selling off those seats. They may go little by little, but at least those seats will be sold. Instead of sitting on blocks of season tickets, they now will only sit on seats for certain games. Depending how the Jets do over the season, those seats could go fast or slow. Anyone wanting to get last minute seats for a game can now do so.

3-For those 2000 seats not sold, it would have been revenue lost. Now that revenue can be made. Once again, slow revenue made but it can be made. With prices ranging from $95 to $125 for season ticket holders and $105 to $135 to the public the Jets will be able to make money on a game by game basis. Unfair the general public has to pay more but what can you do. That revenue can range from $200,000 to $260,000 per game estimated, depending on how many seats are sold. But only if all 2000 seats are sold per game.

Now for some bad points on the seats:

1-Those from the general public that do buy them will not have a parking pass. I do not think that is part of the deal. One will have to park off site and take the shuttle or whatever parking the Jets designate. Once again, some fans will be shafted on the parking.

2-The Jets will lose revenue once again. They will not have guaranteed blocks of season tickets sold along with parking. Instead it is a game by game basis and there is no guarantee every seat will be sold. The Jets lowered certain PSL's & seats by 50%. They have to make up that lost revenue somewhere to pay for the stadium. That was the intent all along. Will ticket prices, parking, and other costs go up over the years to compensate for those prices being lowered? Time will tell.

3-The Jets will now be responsible for ticket sales, or TicketMaster. The Jets wanted to take ticket sales out of their hands and leave it to the fans. Now, they have that responsibility once again. This is one aspect I am sure is a burden and a responsibility no one wanted going forward. Having TicketMaster handle the sales will make it easier for the Jets, but nothing they can breathe easy about.

4-Why would those who purchased PSL's in the lower bowl want to buy seats in the upper bowl? Maybe to give to friends or family that could not afford the PSL's? Perhaps. Maybe to have options for family who come in from out of town, to use for business, or whatever else those have the money to spend them on. Would make it easier on those with parking passes to buy them for friends so they have a ride to the stadium and not park off site. But anyone who bought a PSL who buys upper bowl seats will not be sitting in the upper bowl. Guess the Jets were being nice in offering the seats to them first.

I am sure there are other factors I have not thought about. If anyone has any of their own feel free to leave them. The whole PSL/Non PSL system the Jets thought about obviously has not worked for them. They have had to change many of their original plans as the market dictated back to them what to do. Lowering prices, single game seats, last minute sales are factors they never thought about or did not want to. Even the New York Yankees had to lower prices and did not sell out their best seats well into the season. Just shows the market you look for you may not find.

I know a lot of fans are happy about this and others not so happy. I have come across many different fans over the past two years when it comes down to the new stadium and its seating. Seems a great number of ticket holders from the 60's and 70's feel the PSL's are ludicrous. Something they would not pay for and feel it is a slap in the face to long time season ticket holders. Younger fans who have had seats since the 80'sinto today feel like it is a necessity these days if one wants to see a football game. A purchase like this to them is like purchasing a car or house, just another payment on top of the ones they already have.

Some season ticket holders see a PSL as a status thing. Having one to them is like having a BMW, a beach house, a promotion at work, or anything else that they can brag or talk about to friends. I have seen this in the past few months. Some try to one up the other in regards to seat location. It is not about being a fan, it is about how much one is laying out to show they are a bigger fan than someone else. I can imagine what some are saying that have seats in the Coaches Club section.

I actually had a conversation with someone who runs a Jets blog about the PSL's. He is actually proud of not just the money he spends on the PSL's, but tailgating, merchandise, food in the stadium, and everything else to show how much of a fan he is. Some people just love to show how much they spend to be a fan of their team. Wonder if some would pay for the PSL's above their kids education. Do not laugh, I am sure some have. Some fans just have the wrong priorities.

Many fans though do the right thing. Weather it be investing in a PSL or watching from home. Everyone should know their limits. The single game seats will be good for those with tight budgets who still want to go to a game. In time, those will be able to get PSL's or season tickets. I am sure people will sell them down the line. Others will hold onto them for their kids and grandchildren.

The season begins in a week. The parking lot will be filled and I am sure many will be tailgating and having a great time. Will be interesting to see if there are any empty seats all around. Be hard to see on TV because of the color of the seats. Many will Tweet from the game and talk about it afterwords. Might even see a lot of scalping going on for some of those seats. Maybe those seats will be sold to those seeking season tickets in the future. Something to keep an eye on.