Pathetic crowds at home opener

[TD_washingtonredskins]

So, was Sunday not more full? It seemed like it was on TV, but I could have been wrong. 

[hail2skins]

Yeah, ESPN listed Sunday as 60482. Not sure where they got that number from.......they might still have the attendance as 82000 for the Packers game, although one of the WaPo guys tweeted the attendance for the GB game as slightly under 60K, which, being at the first two games, seemed accurate. And of course the attendance for the Colts game was 57K and change. I was at the Indy and GB games, but watched the Carolina game on TV. Of course the TV cameras show the lower bowl the most, with the club and upper levels seen sporadically. The lower bowl has been packed for all the games, with the exception of some rows in the upper part of the end zone sections. But I don't think its an exaggeration to say that the club and upper levels have been half occupied.

[Koolblue13]

It was loud af for the Panthers. What a **** fanbase the Redskins have. You dont see that happen to the Bill's, jets or browns so 25 years of failure isn't the reason. People love bagging on eagles fans cause someone put a battery in a snowball 50 years ago, but you dont see them getting clowned every week in their house. DC is a ****ing joke.

[Morneblade]

4 minutes ago, Koolblue13 said:

It was loud af for the Panthers. What a **** fanbase the Redskins have. You dont see that happen to the Bill's, jets or browns so 25 years of failure isn't the reason. People love bagging on eagles fans cause someone put a battery in a snowball 50 years ago, but you dont see them getting clowned every week in their house. DC is a ****ing joke.

 

Those teams don't have owners that the fanbase hates. Snyder is a joke, and we ****ing know it, and the only way to get him the **** out is to make him sell the ****ing team. You don't do that by helping him turn a ****ing profit by helping sell out all this games and buying ****ing jerseys.

 

Unless you want to keep him around forever. Is that what you want?

[TD_washingtonredskins]

3 minutes ago, Morneblade said:

 

Those teams don't have owners that the fanbase hates. Snyder is a joke, and we ****ing know it, and the only way to get him the **** out is to make him sell the ****ing team. You don't do that by helping him turn a ****ing profit by helping sell out all this games and buying ****ing jerseys.

 

Unless you want to keep him around forever. Is that what you want?

 

I don't think it's the fact that we don't like Snyder. I really don't. 

 

I think it's three-fold (primarily): 

 

1) The stadium - it sucks and it's not convenient to anyone 

2) The team - we haven't been a serious contender during the lives of the primary target audience (people 30 and younger)

3) The area - through no fault of any individual we ARE a transient area without a large core of "6-generations of Redskin fans" families like other cities

 

There are other factors, but those have always been the main ones. That's why other cities with #2 as an issue (Buffalo, Cleveland) still draw fans, because they aren't dealing with #1 and #3. It's also why I think that a very good team (fixing #2) won't completely fix the entire issue. 

 

I do believe that once the stadium is better and more conveniently located AND if we are a contender, then #3 will be far less of an issue (as it was for 30 years through the mid-1990s). 

[hail2skins]

True all those factors have contributed, and the better home TV experience certainly has also contributed to lessening the demand of the upper level seats, thus leading to tearing numerous ones out at various points of the past 8 years. But this season seems exacerbated by the prices on the secondary market remaining high. Those folks who were bargain hunters in recent years and would buy at the last minute (few days before the game) aren't biting at the higher prices on Stubhub.

[Morneblade]

16 minutes ago, TD_washingtonredskins said:

 

I don't think it's the fact that we don't like Snyder. I really don't. 

 

I think it's three-fold (primarily): 

 

1) The stadium - it sucks and it's not convenient to anyone 

2) The team - we haven't been a serious contender during the lives of the primary target audience (people 30 and younger)

3) The area - through no fault of any individual we ARE a transient area without a large core of "6-generations of Redskin fans" families like other cities

 

There are other factors, but those have always been the main ones. That's why other cities with #2 as an issue (Buffalo, Cleveland) still draw fans, because they aren't dealing with #1 and #3. It's also why I think that a very good team (fixing #2) won't completely fix the entire issue. 

 

I do believe that once the stadium is better and more conveniently located AND if we are a contender, then #3 will be far less of an issue (as it was for 30 years through the mid-1990s). 

 

I agree with all of that, as well as the Stubhub thing keeping the prices up.

 

I just don't agree with the fan base being ****. I know there are a lot of "fans" that hate Snyder and don't want to spend a penny on the Redskins as a basic "**** you" to him. Most teams don't have that either.

[dyst]

The 'transient angle is overblown IMO, simply because I'm sure there are at least 80K long time locals who could easily support the team by filling up the stadium. The issue is more so, the team, owner and stadium suck. 

[Warhead36]

The transient city is a bad argument. In 2018 just about every big city is transient to some extent. Do we really have more transplants than, say, New York?

 

The fact is, we've gone an entire generation without winning anything of note. THOSE are the people who spend money to go to games for the most part. You'll notice Caps and Nats games have great fan support because those are solid, respectable franchises that have actually won in recent years.

[skinsfan834]

37 minutes ago, Warhead36 said:

The transient city is a bad argument. In 2018 just about every big city is transient to some extent. Do we really have more transplants than, say, New York?

 

The fact is, we've gone an entire generation without winning anything of note. THOSE are the people who spend money to go to games for the most part. You'll notice Caps and Nats games have great fan support because those are solid, respectable franchises that have actually won in recent years.

 

In terms of football loyalty, I'd actually argue that we have more transplants than the NY teams. The Giants/Jets both attract what I would guess to be a large majority of their fans from northern New Jersey and Long Island -- both of which aren't very transient areas. 

 

[Koolblue13]

The Bill's have sucked worse than we have for the same exact amount of time, jets even longer. You dont see the jets clowned for home games against the giants like we do against west coast teams. Make whatever excuse you want, the fan base is garbage. 

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

23 minutes ago, Koolblue13 said:

Make whatever excuse you want, the fan base is garbage. 

If by garbage, you mean smarter.  Folks here are tired of it and showing it. Plus what else is there to do in Cleveland or Buffalo? While it’s embarrassing to us, it’s gotta be reaaaalllllyyy embarrassing to Snyder.

[Koolblue13]

2 hours ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

If by garbage, you mean smarter.  Folks here are tired of it and showing it. Plus what else is there to do in Cleveland or Buffalo? While it’s embarrassing to us, it’s gotta be reaaaalllllyyy embarrassing to Snyder.

Bull****. Redskins fans at the stadium get mad if you cheer loud and dont know to shut up when our offense is out there. Its been 10 years since I've been to a game, but I doubt that's changed. 

 

Make up whatever excuse you want, but it doesn't change the fact it's a **** fanbase.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

 

4 hours ago, Warhead36 said:

The transient city is a bad argument. In 2018 just about every big city is transient to some extent. Do we really have more transplants than, say, New York?

 

The fact is, we've gone an entire generation without winning anything of note. THOSE are the people who spend money to go to games for the most part. You'll notice Caps and Nats games have great fan support because those are solid, respectable franchises that have actually won in recent years.

 

That's only half the story though...DC has ALWAYS been transient which means that a percentage of our "six generation NFL fans" follow other teams. Some family may have come here in 1957 as Browns fans and are still Browns fans. Cities that have more recently become transient don't have the downstream impact of it as much as we do. 

 

But, I do think a cool stadium in a nice area with a team with more buzz would solve the issue. We were transient in the 1980s and sold out. It just doesn't help the cause when you stack up two decades of being irrelevant. To me, the transient nature of the city only explains why we have fallen off faster than your Clevelands or Buffalos, it doesn't tell the entire story. But, it's a real factor and it's pretty unique to Washington, DC. 

 

 

[hail2skins]

 I was wondering about the possibility of removing even more seats from that place and at this point it might make sense to chop about six more rows from those center sections in the upper deck to at least give more of an appearance that its close to filled up there.

 

And I don't know what you do with the club level. Need to reduce prices substantially to get people to buy in there.

 

Right now, the optics are just terrible. Go on Ticketmaster and see how many seats are still available for Sunday's game. 

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

22 minutes ago, Koolblue13 said:

Bull****. Redskins fans at the stadium get mad if you cheer loud and dont know to shut up when our offense is out there. Its been 10 years since I've been to a game, but I doubt that's changed. 

 

Make up whatever excuse you want, but it doesn't change the fact it's a **** fanbase.

I’ve been going to at least a game per season pretty much ever since it opened.  I can’t say that I’ve ever experienced folks not being loud when warranted or discouraged from it.  As for the being quiet on offense, I’ve seen that in numerous stadiums. That’s more an NFL fan in general being stupid.  Although I thought it was obvious when I said smarter, I meant not willing to fill Dan’s pockets for a continually meh product.

[Warhead36]

The real passionate sports fans in this town are Caps and Nats fans. They don't waste their time with the Redskins, for them its a dead brand that has done nothing but lose for almost 30 years.

[samy316]

3 hours ago, Koolblue13 said:

The Bill's have sucked worse than we have for the same exact amount of time, jets even longer. You dont see the jets clowned for home games against the giants like we do against west coast teams. Make whatever excuse you want, the fan base is garbage. 

 

I don't think you can call this fanbase garbage, just smarter, and more unwilling to put up with a crap product, crap front office, and ultimately the worst owner in sports Dan Snyder.  Until those things change, expect more of this to continue.  I know about 10 people in total that used to be season ticket holders, but cancelled within the last 3 years.  If you have the one of the worst stadiums in the league, the highest parking/food and the team wins less than half of the time AT HOME, you've got big issues.

 

Another poster just made this point, but it makes total sense.  You can get away with all of this if this were Buffalo or Cleveland, because those cities are not world class cities.  There's nothing to do on Sundays but go to the game, or watch on TV.  Here in DC, this is a world class city, with an abundance of activities to take your mind off of sports.  It doesn't help either that the other sport teams in town are all better run, and have actual stars to attract fans to the stadium/arena.  Ask yourself this, who the hell can the Redskins market to get casual fans out to crappy Fed-Ex?  We have quite possibly the most boring, faceless team in the league.  Who are our stars to market?  We don't have a marketable QB, WR, or a marketable secondary.  Are we really going to market a 33 year old Adrian Peterson?  I love the guy and am really glad we signed him, but we're definitely behind the eight ball when it comes to marketing.   You brought up Cleveland & Buffalo, but at least those organizations have better front office management, ownership and something the Redskins lack:  Hope.  Both those franchises drafted franchise QB's that their fans can get behind and root for.  What did we do when our previous QB left?  We signed Alex Smith.  I rest my case.

 

We don't currently have a reason for fans to attend games right now.  What's the point?  Why pay lots of money to watch them probably lose, when we can watch the team lose from the comfort of our own home or our local bar.

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

8 minutes ago, Warhead36 said:

The real passionate sports fans in this town are Caps and Nats fans. They don't waste their time with the Redskins, for them its a dead brand that has done nothing but lose for almost 30 years.

Yep 

 

again, I think a lot of Skins fans are older (35 and up) and probably don’t realize that the franchise lost the entire generation after them. Those are the ppl that would be buying single game tickets. 

 

The arrogance of the team itself has permeated to a certain section of the fans. 

 

The Washington Redskins ruined this fanbase’s long term prospects. 

 

 

[Koolblue13]

Saying DC is a better city with more to do is hysterical. Buffalo maybe, but Cleveland is pretty cool now. Philly and the Jets have way better cities and worse teams over the last 3 decades. Even the giants putting 1 win garbage teams out there and still get as many fans in our stadium. 

[ak2vegas]

I will give you a different perspective. I saw my first game at Fed Ex this weekend. I am a west coast fan who travels to different stadiums to see the Skins when they play out here. Have listen to complains and wanted to see first hand validity of them.

1. access of location- Driving in DC area sucks. Because of that I travelled on the metro. stress free and took me less than an hour from Arlington. I bought a day pass so cost me 13.50. No gas, no sitting in traffic and no parking. I had a rental car but DC traffic sucks. Parking passes in secondary market were high but not at the top. Walk just under a mile to stadium.

2> Pre game fan experience. From Morgan blvd. looked like one big parking lot. saw tailgate activity but didn't see a central place like Phoenix could have been on other side and didn't see.

3. food inside. prices were in line with all the other venues I have been at. The free refills on soda was a nice surprise.

4. Tickets- secondary market and inline other venues in comparable sections. Talked to season ticket holder and he stated 165 a game for his. I would pay that all day.

5. Seats were good and staff courteous.

6- Stadium. concourse was dark and small and just old. it was clean but just old. bathrooms clean just small.

7. no one drunk or vulgar. Could have made a little more noise. When they have the ball we are suppose to be screaming. 

Suggestions-

1.Instead of ripping out seats in upper levels, bundle them at discounts to allow families to visit game and build future fan base. make it a non alcohol section.

2. think about tram to move fans from Morgan Blvd silver line station to stadium and back to encourage metro use. Oakland moves 60k fans quickly using Bart.

 

My overall experience was good. Helps when we win. Thinking about buying the four pack next year and making 4 trips to the home games. Have to stay out of the Redskin store if I do.

[hogdirty]

18 minutes ago, ak2vegas said:

I will give you a different perspective. I saw my first game at Fed Ex this weekend. I am a west coast fan who travels to different stadiums to see the Skins when they play out here. Have listen to complains and wanted to see first hand validity of them.

1. access of location- Driving in DC area sucks. Because of that I travelled on the metro. stress free and took me less than an hour from Arlington. I bought a day pass so cost me 13.50. No gas, no sitting in traffic and no parking. I had a rental car but DC traffic sucks. Parking passes in secondary market were high but not at the top. Walk just under a mile to stadium.

2> Pre game fan experience. From Morgan blvd. looked like one big parking lot. saw tailgate activity but didn't see a central place like Phoenix could have been on other side and didn't see.

3. food inside. prices were in line with all the other venues I have been at. The free refills on soda was a nice surprise.

4. Tickets- secondary market and inline other venues in comparable sections. Talked to season ticket holder and he stated 165 a game for his. I would pay that all day.

5. Seats were good and staff courteous.

6- Stadium. concourse was dark and small and just old. it was clean but just old. bathrooms clean just small.

7. no one drunk or vulgar. Could have made a little more noise. When they have the ball we are suppose to be screaming. 

Suggestions-

1.Instead of ripping out seats in upper levels, bundle them at discounts to allow families to visit game and build future fan base. make it a non alcohol section.

2. think about tram to move fans from Morgan Blvd silver line station to stadium and back to encourage metro use. Oakland moves 60k fans quickly using Bart.

 

My overall experience was good. Helps when we win. Thinking about buying the four pack next year and making 4 trips to the home games. Have to stay out of the Redskin store if I do.

I agree this is my fifth year as a season ticket holder.  Most FedexField criticisms are overblown and weak.  I feel like the fan base is too wishy-washy but they will be out there on Sunday because the weather will be fair (if you know what I mean).

[JSSkinz]

This is what a hometown crowd should sound like.

 

 

[FS#21]

Oh lol please.

 

At least use the Caps.

 

DCU fans EVAPORATED for a good 10 years before Rooney came along. Take it from me who use to go in the Golden years of 96-99. DCU fans came and went once they plummeted 2000 onwards with the little spurts of success they had while almost everyone in MLS passed them by.

[iHEART]

I had a wonderful time at the stadium on Sunday. I was in 138 section 2, pretty close to the field so in the 300 section it was about half full. When Carolina did something good the energy of crowd took over. It seemed more pro Carolina to me or at the very best split down the middle.

 

I always go to the games when the 'skins come to Dallas so I can't compare the stadiums because it's apple to oranges. I thought the stadium was clean but very outdated, especially the bathrooms..

 

But overall there were great fans there, hope I can fly in for another game soon. I think winning and consistency solves everything, if we can turn that around, people won't complain as much about the traffic and costs of seats per game. I bought my tickets the day of and got great seats.