Press Release: #REDSKINS ANNOUNCE NEW FAN-FOCUSED SEASON TICKET ENHANCEMENTS

[MarkB452]

I wonder if the mythical sell out streak will officially end this season.......

[dyst]

Well its been plainly obvious for years now that the stadium does not sell out (certainly not with our own fans) and tv ratings are dropping despite the BEST RUN this franchise has had in years.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Ah, I'll miss the BS stories about the waiting list.

 

 

[ThomasTomasz]

On 6/14/2018 at 12:21 AM, hail2skins said:

Atlanta is the only other NFL team that I know publicized price reductions last year similar to what Baltimore is doing. The thing with the ATL numbers is that they also moved into a new stadium last year, which I assume probably had more concession areas than the Georgia Dome, so not sure how that played into the numbers. Baltimore of course is staying at M&T so it'll be interesting to see what their concession revenues show at the end of this season,

 

Saw this tweet from Darren Rovell showing what the Skins have advertised as the number of peeps on the wait list through the years:

 

 

 

Atlanta just didn't do price reductions, they broke the mold for stadium concessions across the board.  They got rid of the middle man.  At every professional sports stadium we have, the teams sell their concession rights to any number of companies.  I believe the Redskins are Aramark, but I could be mistaken.  The Naval Academy has Sodexo.  The Orioles use Delmarva North.  So essentially all of the money collected from concessions goes into those companies pockets, and they pay the team a fee for each item and keep the rest of the profits.  This means that that company takes on the risk of hiring, staffing, payroll, benefits etc.  

 

The Falcons hired everyone directly to the team, and were able to slash prices almost in half for what other stadiums charge for similar items.  That's the big difference in what they are doing.  I'm not sure how it will catch on, but it is certainly worth watching down the road to see how the model does. 

[hogdirty]

People keep bringing up Atlanta and other stadiums put don't want to mention the MASSIVE seat licences fee you have to pay.  If you want season tickets at Fedex you just pay the price shown plus $25.  I don't see why people complain about the concessions because the best part is the tailgate when you bring your own stuff.  Hail BBQ and Xtreme Skins tailgates are free.  I used to go to Xtreme Skins before they moved to the Red Zone.

[samy316]

There is only one remedy that will cure all of this, and that is WINNING.  They haven’t won more than 10 games in a season in 26 years.  Even worse, they’re barely below .500 since the team moved to Fed-Ex in ‘97.  That means that there’s greater than a 1 in 2 chance that when you see the Skins at home, they’re likely to lose.  It’s unconscionable how atrocious that stat is.  Look at the decent and good teams over that same span.  If the Skins win 10, 11 games every year, and are in the playoff chase, the fans will come back.

[hail2skins]

2 hours ago, hogdirty said:

People keep bringing up Atlanta and other stadiums put don't want to mention the MASSIVE seat licences fee you have to pay.  If you want season tickets at Fedex you just pay the price shown plus $25.  I don't see why people complain about the concessions because the best part is the tailgate when you bring your own stuff.  Hail BBQ and Xtreme Skins tailgates are free.  I used to go to Xtreme Skins before they moved to the Red Zone.

I agree that nobody is forced to purchase concessions. However, Rick Snider thought the perks the Skins want to start to offer now is part of a strategy to cultivate a STH base ahead of the new stadium, which almost certainly is going to include seat licenses. 

[hogdirty]

11 hours ago, samy316 said:

There is only one remedy that will cure all of this, and that is WINNING.  They haven’t won more than 10 games in a season in 26 years.  Even worse, they’re barely below .500 since the team moved to Fed-Ex in ‘97.  That means that there’s greater than a 1 in 2 chance that when you see the Skins at home, they’re likely to lose.  It’s unconscionable how atrocious that stat is.  Look at the decent and good teams over that same span.  If the Skins win 10, 11 games every year, and are in the playoff chase, the fans will come back.

 

This is the reason I believe the fans in this area are more fairweather than anything (never bought that transient city narrative).  I think it’s crazy to judge a team of a 20+ year span.  Too many things change.  In the last few years under Gruden the Skins played well at home.  Win or lose I will still have fun at the games

 

11 hours ago, hail2skins said:

I agree that nobody is forced to purchase concessions. However, Rick Snider thought the perks the Skins want to start to offer now is part of a strategy to cultivate a STH base ahead of the new stadium, which almost certainly is going to include seat licenses. 

 

These new stadium seat licenses will suck.

I don’t think people realize the situation were in.  There is only a short time (I’ll say about 7 to 8 years) before a new stadium is here and I think it may suck for most of us when that time comes.  People want to clown the Skins about this wait list thing but there aren’t a lot of places you buy lower level tickets without buying psl’s first.  I can see not buying season tickets because you can get good deals on the secondary market

[hogdirty]

I was listening to the radio and they were talking about Lafemina.  They asked people is this enough to give in for season tickets.  Somebody calls talking how much better it is downtown around capitol one because metro and all the restaurants.  I can agree with metro but do people want to go to a restaurant before or after a football game?  Wouldn’t it be way too crowded? Tailgating is way more fun and cheaper.  These are probably the same people who would complain about concession prices but will pay more to be in restaurant.

[hail2skins]

51 minutes ago, hogdirty said:

 

This is the reason I believe the fans in this area are more fairweather than anything (never bought that transient city narrative). 

I can understand fans not wanting to the games against, say, Arizona and Denver last season when the Skins were out of the playoff hunt.

 

What has mystified me are certain early-to-mid season games in recent years where demand has been so low that you could get club seats for $50 or less the week of the game. 

[hail2skins]

35 minutes ago, hogdirty said:

I was listening to the radio and they were talking about Lafemina.  They asked people is this enough to give in for season tickets.  Somebody calls talking how much better it is downtown around capitol one because metro and all the restaurants.  I can agree with metro but do people want to go to a restaurant before or after a football game?  Wouldn’t it be way too crowded? Tailgating is way more fun and cheaper.  These are probably the same people who would complain about concession prices but will pay more to be in restaurant.

I pick up a relative from out of town and we go to a restaurant in the city before heading over to the stadium. Just more of a variety of options (some folks like to have breakfast/brunch-type stuff on Sunday mornings, and that isn't offered at the stadium concessions. Plus, even though you can argue food is food, the quality is much better at restaurants than at the stadium too.

 

I went to the Skins game in Indianapolis in 2014 and Lucas Oil is pretty close to downtown Indy. Was kind of cool to see folks coming from and to the multiple bars there before and after the game. Seemed like there was ample parking for tailgating near their stadium too. It'd be interesting to see how it'd work in DC. 

[samy316]

13 hours ago, hogdirty said:

 

This is the reason I believe the fans in this area are more fairweather than anything (never bought that transient city narrative).  I think it’s crazy to judge a team of a 20+ year span.  Too many things change.  In the last few years under Gruden the Skins played well at home.  Win or lose I will still have fun at the games

 

 

 

 

I disagree with this.  You absolutely HAVE to figure in the 20 year span of mediocrity.  There’s literally NO incentive to go to games nowadays, no matter the mediocrity or the lack of a fan friendly atmosphere.  I know plenty of people who had season tickets for decades - some passed down from their father or grandfather who simply cut their loses after such a long period of ineptitude.

 

You gotta realize, having 8-8 seasons or 9-7 seasons once in a while aren’t enough to entice fans to come to the stadium, even if this is technically the most successful period we’ve seen in 20 years (how sad is that).  Look at our home record the last few years:  2015: 6-2 (great), 2016: 4-4, 2017:  5-3.  If you’re a team trying to turn into a winning franchise, we need to see more 6-2 records at home each year, and no more 4-4 records.    Like I said, winning more at home will get fans to the stadium each year.  Even die-hard fans are starting to see the lack of ROI in attending home games.  You’d rather save your money and stay home watching from your big screen.

[Cooleyfan1993]

whats wrong with the dream seats? aren't those the first two rows in the lower level on the 50 yard line? what are the blocked views? (seriously asking cause I've seen the dream seats section and it looks pretty nice to me...)

[hail2skins]

16 minutes ago, Cooleyfan1993 said:

whats wrong with the dream seats? aren't those the first two rows in the lower level on the 50 yard line? what are the blocked views? (seriously asking cause I've seen the dream seats section and it looks pretty nice to me...)

When FedEx opened the dream seats were not there and the first row of the LL was up high enough so that the people in those seats did not have to stand up to see over the players standing on the sideline to see the game on the field.  But when Snyder installed the dream seats (in 2004, I think), it created the dynamic where the people in those seats (which were lower down than the original LL seats) have to stand to see over the players standing on the sideline to view the action. It causes a ripple effect where everyone in the 100 level on the sidelines has to stand throughout the game.

 

The dream seats are just not at the 50...….they circle the whole field. The ones in the corners and in the end zones don't have the same issue with the standing. 

[c slag]

37 minutes ago, hail2skins said:

When FedEx opened the dream seats were not there and the first row of the LL was up high enough so that the people in those seats did not have to stand up to see over the players standing on the sideline to see the game on the field.  But when Snyder installed the dream seats (in 2004, I think), it created the dynamic where the people in those seats (which were lower down than the original LL seats) have to stand to see over the players standing on the sideline to view the action. It causes a ripple effect where everyone in the 100 level on the sidelines has to stand throughout the game.

 

The dream seats are just not at the 50...….they circle the whole field. The ones in the corners and in the end zones don't have the same issue with the standing. 

Remember Gus's famous headbut

That would have never happened if the dream seats were there 

[Barry.Randolphe]

On 6/16/2018 at 9:53 AM, samy316 said:

There is only one remedy that will cure all of this, and that is WINNING.

 

While I agree with you, the stadium experience still sucks. It's just not a fun atmosphere even when they are winning. The old geezers telling people to sit down while the Redskins are on defense are some serious fun suckers.

[Skins8989]

The stadium sucks. Bathrooms are a pain. Traffic is atrocious. Opposing fans all the time. Bees everywhere in the fall. Terrible on field product. Oh yeah, the team across the street just won a championship. The Nats and Wiz are on the right path. 

[Howie411]

11 hours ago, Skins8989 said:

The stadium sucks. Bathrooms are a pain. Traffic is atrocious. Opposing fans all the time. Bees everywhere in the fall. Terrible on field product. Oh yeah, the team across the street just won a championship. The Nats and Wiz are on the right path. 

 

What Stadium has good bathrooms?   At the Redskins game I can go in and out quickly.  When I go to a Caps game, I wait in a line for 15 minutes to pee.   

[MarkB452]

On ‎6‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 9:40 PM, hogdirty said:

People want to clown the Skins about this wait list thing but there aren’t a lot of places you buy lower level tickets without buying psl’s first.  I can see not buying season tickets because you can get good deals on the secondary market

 

JKC did not implement seat licenses.  I have the original brochure and he makes a very strong point about there not being PSLs as long as he's around (...oops), well that did not last long).

PSLs can be "justified" if the team pays for the cost of the stadium and needs to recoup those costs. 

 

On ‎6‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 10:39 PM, hail2skins said:

I went to the Skins game in Indianapolis in 2014 and Lucas Oil is pretty close to downtown Indy. Was kind of cool to see folks coming from and to the multiple bars there before and after the game. Seemed like there was ample parking for tailgating near their stadium too. It'd be interesting to see how it'd work in DC. 

 

>> Saw the Skins in Cinn about 9 years ago.  We went to Skyline Chilli before the 1 PM kickoff.  Parked at the Chicataca banana HQ for $5.  (Yep, $5)

..can't imagine a football stadium in downtown DC....

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

15 minutes ago, MarkB452 said:

 

JKC did not implement seat licenses.  I have the original brochure and he makes a very strong point about there not being PSLs as long as he's around (...oops), well that did not last long).

PSLs can be "justified" if the team pays for the cost of the stadium and needs to recoup those costs. 

 

 

>> Saw the Skins in Cinn about 9 years ago.  We went to Skyline Chilli before the 1 PM kickoff.  Parked at the Chicataca banana HQ for $5.  (Yep, $5)

..can't imagine a football stadium in downtown DC....

 

1. Cincy has ample parking since they razed all the public schools in order to pay for the Stadium,

 

2. I hope you enjoyed your diarrhea from the chili.

[NoCalMike]

Are concessions at FedEx all that much worse than most other stadiums?  I am not justifying anything, just have a feeling this is a league-wide problem with the exception of a small handful of teams.

 

I typically tailgate when I go to an NFL game, rarely buy anything other than beverages once inside.  Beer pricing is always atrocious no matter where I go.

[pjfootballer]

If you go to stadiums, arenas or outdoor facilities (fairgrounds, etc.) and are expecting gourmet food, you’re fooling yourself. Does it have to be edible and somewhat tasty? Sure. But this food is shipped in by the bulk and not exactly “cooked.” Think TV dinners without the box.

[hail2skins]

1 hour ago, NoCalMike said:

Are concessions at FedEx all that much worse than most other stadiums?  I am not justifying anything, just have a feeling this is a league-wide problem with the exception of a small handful of teams.

NoCal, I doubt they really are from a price perspective. Occasionally, you'll have those surveys which show what the average cost of a hot dog/soda/beer is at each NFL stadium, but I tend to mistrust those surveys because they often seem to rely on dated information. I do think, however, in an era where you might have issues with attendance due to better home entertainment options, teams that decide to lower concession prices should be commended. Heck, you wouldn't think Atlanta would've had an issue last season, just coming off a Super Bowl appearance and moving into a shiny new stadium, but they decided to slash prices anyway.

 

40 minutes ago, pjfootballer said:

If you go to stadiums, arenas or outdoor facilities (fairgrounds, etc.) and are expecting gourmet food, you’re fooling yourself. Does it have to be edible and somewhat tasty? Sure. But this food is shipped in by the bulk and not exactly “cooked.” Think TV dinners without the box.

I pretty much agree with this, and I think the Redskins have gotten better in recent years in trying to deliver at least more of a variety of offerings. I think where they can make more of an effort to at least offer more of a gourmet product is on the club level. They have had this pregame buffet up there for a few years, but I know the first year they were asking $100 for it and it was an absolute joke.......a far cry from what you'd even get at a mediocre Vegas casino.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

I worked in a concession stand in an outdoor ampitheatre (like Merriweather Post) for a summer in college. You do not want to know how the food was handled, stored, prepared etc. That $5 box of popcorn was probably a leftover from the last game.

 

We never sold the candy - M&Ms, etc. At the end of every show, we threw a bag over it and left. The person would buy M&Ms in August did not that box had been sitting in an un-airconditoned shed since April.

[hogdirty]

On 6/14/2018 at 10:44 PM, hogdirty said:

TOGETHER WE HAIL!!!!

 

Does anybody have an idea what this new Fan Pavilion is going to be mentioned in Lafemina's email?  I thought it would be just for season ticket holders but it says for all fans in the press release above.  It says it will have sight lines to the field.  I think they will have to take out seats were the band sits to make that happen

 

I was right!  So I was at the Taste of Fedex last night and was able to confirm the seats under the video board are gone.  Its going to be like a party deck.