Dan Snyder Turns Your Time Into His Money

[Mark The Homer]

Mark, a question for you...

I haven't been to a game in Tampa or SF so I can't speak for those. I've been to the Georgia Dome, Qwest, Linc, Gilette, and of course the Ravens Stadium. I always spend way more money than I would at home. I usually focus on upper deck, as close to midfield as I can afford, which means sometimes I'm at the 10 yard line.

RFKFedEx can comment on this better than me. Park of the problem might be timing. The best deals at home are the week prior, and you don't have quite the same advantage when you're traveling to another town.

And I agree with you. I want to have the tickets IN HAND when I get there. And yeah, I'm gonna tailgate my ass off, and I'm not going to worry about finding some scalper.

[Larry Brown #43]

I haven't been to a game in Tampa or SF so I can't speak for those. I've been to the Georgia Dome, Qwest, Linc, Gilette, and of course the Ravens Stadium. I always spend way more money than I would at home. I usually focus on upper deck, as close to midfield as I can afford, which means sometimes I'm at the 10 yard line.

Interesting about the Georgia Dome, because as far as I know, the Falcons don't always sell out.

With that in mind, here's a theory...I'm thinking that because Skins fans travel well, it inflates the secondary market price of tickets at other venues when the Skins come to town. I've heard from people who have seen the Skins play in Arizona at the Cards' old stadium that sometimes Skins fans would outnumber Cardinals fans...in Arizona. The Georgia Dome might be a perfect example. I'm guessing that if the Falcons were hosting the Jags, the Falcons would be lucky to sell the place out. But when the Skins come to town...different story.

I once saw the Skins play down in Carolina, and the place was EASILY 50% Skins fans.

Anyway, just a thought. My guess is that great deals can be had just about anywhere (ok, maybe not in Green Bay), but if a team that travels well (Skins, Steelers, etc.) comes to town, the secondary market inflates, making it appear to Skins fans as though tickets are pricier than they normally are.

[roqnap1]

I used to have a gameday experience when I went to games in the late 80's through the 90's. We used to get there early, tailgate, see the game, buy some stuff, eat food, drink soda/beer (depending on how old I was).

Now my gameday goes like this. Get to the stadium, walk to my seats, watch the game, leave. ...and I can hardly afford that.

[Larry Brown #43]

I used to have a gameday experience when I went to games in the late 80's through the 90's. We used to get there early, tailgate, see the game, buy some stuff, eat food, drink soda/beer (depending on how old I was).

Now my gameday goes like this. Get to the stadium, walk to my seats, watch the game, leave. ...and I can hardly afford that.

Welcome to professional sports in the 21st century. FedEx Field isn't exactly unique in this regard.

[TK]

With that in mind, here's a theory...I'm thinking that because Skins fans travel well, it inflates the secondary market price of tickets at other venues when the Skins come to town. I've heard from people who have seen the Skins play in Arizona at the Cards' old stadium that sometimes Skins fans would outnumber Cardinals fans...in Arizona.

I was there. It wasn't so much as Skins fans travelled so well, but more of a huge group of Skins fans living out on the West Coast. But we did outnumber them. Badly.

[Mark The Homer]

Interesting about the Georgia Dome, because as far as I know, the Falcons don't always sell out.

With that in mind, here's a theory...I'm thinking that because Skins fans travel well, it inflates the secondary market price of tickets at other venues when the Skins come to town. I've heard from people who have seen the Skins play in Arizona at the Cards' old stadium that sometimes Skins fans would outnumber Cardinals fans...in Arizona. The Georgia Dome might be a perfect example. I'm guessing that if the Falcons were hosting the Jags, the Falcons would be lucky to sell the place out. But when the Skins come to town...different story.

I once saw the Skins play down in Carolina, and the place was EASILY 50% Skins fans.

Anyway, just a thought. My guess is that great deals can be had just about anywhere (ok, maybe not in Green Bay), but if a team that travels well (Skins, Steelers, etc.) comes to town, the secondary market inflates, making it appear to Skins fans as though tickets are pricier than they normally are.

Okay, I have to confess I didn't buy the tix at the Georgia Dome, they were provided for me. Not sure what they cost, but it was pre-Michael Vick.

Your theory is probably correct to a degree, but there weren't a whole lot of Redskins fans at the Linc, or Gilette, or Qwest. There were some, but we weren't running the place over. The prices were high though, and I think a lot of it has to do with the simple fact that they are smaller stadiums.

I used to have a gameday experience when I went to games in the late 80's through the 90's. We used to get there early, tailgate, see the game, buy some stuff, eat food, drink soda/beer (depending on how old I was).

Now my gameday goes like this. Get to the stadium, walk to my seats, watch the game, leave. ...and I can hardly afford that.

You need to tailgate. Seriously. You can't afford not to. It doubles your fun, for a fraction of the added price. I highly recommend it. <pretend the normal yellow winky guy is in this spot>

[SonnyandSam]

I've been going to games for 8 years now. I have never waited longer than five minutes at a gate to get in. Usually, it is more like 2-3 minutes max. And that is about a half hour before game time. The worst wait is getting in line for the single escalator going to the upper deck. THAT is far worse than going thru the turnstiles.

I don't get you guys and your complaint about the gameday experience. It is what you make of it. My son and I always arrive 2-3 hours early; sometimes more. Sometimes we join in at a tailgate planned by Extremeskins or hailRedskins or others; but most of the time we do our own thing. We bring our own BBQ grill, favorite foods, drinks, etc. I have a hi def 22 inch TV that I run off my car's battery. While cooking, we watch all the pregame shows. We eat, drink and talk with the faithful around us who are tailgating; maybe throw the football. Then we go watch the game; and I mean watch the damn game! Not stand in line to buy expensive beer; not trudge up and down the steps to stand in line to take a piss; not stand in line to eat. We actually WATCH the entire game. Who cares about watching TV in the darn stadium?? You're there in person for a reason. Stay home if a jumbotron is so important to you.

Then after yelling our lungs hoarse, we make our way down to the lower level behind the Redskins Band and listen to the percussion section jam for about an hour; never miss it; always a blast. Then we head back to the car; watch the 4pm game of the day with lots of fans around us, and cook dinner. We eat dinner and we're on our way back to PA for a 2.5 hour drive. It's a blast for 8 weekends a year. You guys don't know what you are missing.

As for those who buy tickets on stubhub, craigslist, etc. ...yeah, I understand and you get to sit in different parts of the stadium which I think is the coolest part of buying tickets that way. But you miss the friendships you develop with people around your season ticket seats. And more importantly, I'm guaranteed to get in when the Skins start winning consistently. Once the Skins begin winning, the bandwagon fans will stop selling their tickets and start showing up. Then the secondary market will dry up and the prices will inflate. Of course, if the Skins stay mediocre.....your way will be cheaper....

[Titaw]

WOW! This is shocking! Dave McKenna writing about how much money Snyder makes? Say it ain't so!

[Monkfan63]

I gave up my season tix this year and I am really glad I did.

[PCS]

WAit. Dave McKenna? Really? He wrote this?

*

:yawnee:

[Skin Deep]

2 things:

Keep in mind, McKenna posted this on 8/27/08, not after our regular season performance. Capitalism capitalizes, I don't know why anyone's surprised here.

Secondly, what's the point here? How Snyder is evil and we are doomed forever because of his heartless ways? I mean, c'mon.

Karma only happens in the afterlife :peace1:

[Mark The Homer]

As for those who buy tickets on stubhub, craigslist, etc. ...yeah, I understand and you get to sit in different parts of the stadium which I think is the coolest part of buying tickets that way. But you miss the friendships you develop with people around your season ticket seats. And more importantly, I'm guaranteed to get in when the Skins start winning consistently. Once the Skins begin winning, the bandwagon fans will stop selling their tickets and start showing up. Then the secondary market will dry up and the prices will inflate. Of course, if the Skins stay mediocre.....your way will be cheaper....

Maybe it's different where you're sitting, but I sat in 446 row 1 for YEARS, and the people on BOTH sides of me were different every game. Then I moved to 454 Row 8 and sat there for YEARS and, again, the people on BOTH sides of me were different every game! There were no friendships to be made! Okay, there was somebody behind me that I high fived a lot, but that was it.

Now I move around and I'm a lot happier.

Regarding the secondary market drying up and prices inflating when we start winning again (haha), I used to think that too. But not anymore. I remember there being TONS of seats available for the playoff game in Jan '00. Granted, we played Detroit, but still, it was a playoff game. WTF.

Anyways, I saw a damn good game. I snuck DLSF into the Club (she was only 10) and we had a good time.

[MarkB452]

The stadium was built and designed for 78,000 people. It now seats 91,000. The only improvements to the original stadium that I can name are the escalators to the upper deck. There have been no improvements to the roads, no additional bathrooms, and now fewer gates into the stadium (the conversion of the entrance at the end of Arena drive to a beer garden entrance is particularly galling considering how many people walk down that road from the blue, red, and parts of the green lots). The outer walkways are lined with vendors peddling credit cards, beer, etc making it claustrophobic/difficult to get to your seat once you get into the place. Snyder has created a mess and the only thing they are willing to do is tell people to get there earlier or buy the cut in line passes. There are not enough security folks to conduct proper patdowns and they do a half-*** job that accomplishes nothing other than to waste everybody's time (and keep out dangerous outside food and drink that could harm Danny's bottom line). It would not surprise me if these special passes eventually apply to the elevators as well (which are only supposed to be used by the handicapped) or to one part of the escalators.

If you've been going to 3-4 games a year for the last 10 years, you know what I mean. I had actually planned to sell off my tix this year, but ended up splitting one with a friend. I will be at the Saints game this weekend, so we'll see how it goes.

[MarkB452]

2 things:

Keep in mind, McKenna posted this on 8/27/08, not after our regular season performance. Capitalism capitalizes, I don't know why anyone's surprised here.

Secondly, what's the point here? How Snyder is evil and we are doomed forever because of his heartless ways? I mean, c'mon.

Karma only happens in the afterlife :peace1:

>> I think the Pats are getting a strong dose of Karma.

Get caught cheating and then run up the score on everybody.

18-0 and lose the SB when an unknown WR catches the ball with his head which leads to a TD? QB lost for season in the first game?

[SkinsFan991]

I agree with some earlier sentiment. We all know that Danny is a greedy ****, but we can vote with our money. At the end of the day, free will and choice do exist.

I do not live in the D.C. area, but even if I did, I would much rather watch the game on T.V. with access to all of the replays and save a whole bunch of money. The best part of it all would be not contributing to Dan Snyder's pockets.

[MarkB452]

Surprised he hasn't figured out that the lines to enter are a capitivated audience for advertisement.

Additional revenue could be generated by installing video screens above the turnstiles. Loud audio would force people to watch the ads during their 10 minute wait to enter.

AHHHH!!!!! NOOO!!!! I was directly under a speaker in my old seats. They blasted rap music and ads so loud during pregame I could not talk to the people sitting next to me.

[MarkB452]

Oh boo hoo. Evil Danny Snyder makes more money then me. Boo hoo.

Bottom line is, if you're willing to give him your money, I'm pretty damn sure he'd be willing to take it. But is he twisting anyone's arm for it by offering new services? No.

>> By offering poor service (stadium entry and video highlights), he is pushing premium services as an alternative. These services would not be necessary or nearly as profitable if he was providing services in an acceptable manner (like most other NFL teams).

[chipwhich]

The stadium was built and designed for 78,000 people. It now seats 91,000. The only improvements to the original stadium that I can name are the escalators to the upper deck.

Really? Then you aren't very knowledgeable of the stadium prior to snyder.

But hey thats how things get perpetuated around here.

[BuryYourDuke]

Interesting about the Georgia Dome, because as far as I know, the Falcons don't always sell out.

Well one thing going on in Atlanta, is that they actually enforce ticket scalping laws. There are signs all over the Phillips Arena/GA Dome area saying no ticket sales. This obviously drives down the supply of tickets for sale, thus driving the price up. I went to the Monday night game down there (vs NYG, yuck) and had a very difficult time finding tickets from scalpers. I eventually walked up to the gate and they still had tickets haha.

[MarkB452]

Really? Then you aren't very knowledgeable of the stadium prior to snyder.

But hey thats how things get perpetuated around here.

I stand corrected, the capacity was 78,600 when it opened (I still have the brochure that went out to ticket holders/wait list people in 1996). Snyder reconfigured the parking lot in 1999 after the opening day Dallas disaster and eliminated the on site cash parking (some could count that as an improvement I guess). I've had tickets in my name since 1999 and access to tickets since the stadium open. I can't think of anything that Danny's done to make it better (and he can't take credit for Morgan Blvd. Metro stop). BTW, have you ever tried to use the bathrooms on the lower level behind the visiting bench?

[Godfather151981]

I'm sure the Ravens' and Raiders' motivations for selling the Fast Lane option are completely honorable, whereas the Skins' motivations are inherently sinister.

Can someone please explain to me how this situation is any different from any other stadium in the league that has a waiting list? Actually, I'll save you the trouble--it's not any different. But because Snyder owns the Redskins, there is a sinister motivation at play here, to be sure.

What a pathetic fool this McKenna is. Here's his recipe for a column: Take a situation that is standard practice around the league, make it sound to gullible readers as though the Redskins are the only franchise to take part in the practice, then wrap it up by saying, "That Snyder, what an a-hole!" Works every time...

You know what?...I totally agree. No doubt Daniel Snyder has found new ways to squeeze money out of fans. But in this case, it's not like you're required to purchase the thing. I usually walk into the stadium when it opens (two hours before kickoff), so I've never had a problem getting through in time. Last season it was Kangaroo TV that became the big thing where Snyder was trying to squeeze fans, so this season it's going to be the fast pass into the stadium. But the thing is that nobody's requiring anyone to get these things.

[Godfather151981]

Exactly. Plan ahead and get there early. Enjoy the pregame festivities. If you leave your house in Virginia 30 minutes before kickoff, then yeah, you're going to run into problems. Duh.

That's the problem. You have these naive twits that think they can leave home at the last minute and prance into the stadium at kickoff. I've got news for these people...you bring 90K people someplace and there will be traffic and overcrowding problems. No way around it, and that's not Daniel Snyder's or anyone else's fault besides your own if you come late.

[Godfather151981]

Did those other stadiums have 90,000+ capacity, sold out every game? I've gone to V-Tech games befor, and I've waited in line there longer than I ever have in FedEx.

Are you really so sure there aren't wait lines at other NFL venues? If the Raiders and Ravens feel they too can turn a profit from "fastlanes" then wouldn't that mean there is a demand, hence they have wait line issues too? Unless you've been to every other NFL venue, or have links to articles saying the wait lines aren't bad at the other venues, then you really don't know. My guess is you've only been to a handful of other NFL venues, and you are using a sample size of 3-5 to represnt a claim of all 31 teams outside of the Skins.

The other thing is that if there's truly a demand for this service, then what a lot of people aren't taking into account is that (in theory...) the lines at the normal entrances will be thinner.

[Mark The Homer]

Well one thing going on in Atlanta...

You know what I remember most about my trip to the Georgie Dome? Before the game, the owner took the mic and addressed the fans. And the fans cheered him! They cheered him!

The fans here at FedExField do not cheer Mr. Snyder. Quite the opposite.

[Larry Brown #43]

You know what I remember most about my trip to the Georgie Dome? Before the game, the owner took the mic and addressed the fans. And the fans cheered him! They cheered him!

The fans here at FedExField do not cheer Mr. Snyder. Quite the opposite.

Interesting, but not really surprising when you think about it. The Falcons have been a laughingstock, doormat franchise for the vast majority of their existence. When Art Blank took over the team, Falcons fans likely saw him as a new hope--the dawn of a new era for the franchise.

Whereas with the Skins, our glory days were pre-Snyder. So our fan base is nostalgic for the good ol' days, and until the Skins start winning consistently again, it'll be tough for Snyder to get the benefit of the doubt.

However, I thought Snyder got a nice ovation out in Canton when his name was mentioned in one of the speeches. On TV it sure seemed like he got a warm ovation anyway. But of course people who'd make the trek to Canton are diehard and loyal. I wouldn't expect him to get such a warm reception at FedEx Field, for example.

Anyway, I think you have two completely opposite situations in Atlanta and with the Skins.