Erosion Of The Redskins Fanbase

[Skinsinparadise]

 

Forget saving the season – the Washington Redskins need to save the franchise from perhaps its most dire situation ever.

 

Forget 0-4 – the Redskins have done that before all too often. It's the 0-for-fans that really matters. The support base is broken and they really mean it this time. Until president Bruce Allen is replaced, Burgundy Nation isn't coming back. That's right – it's all about firing Allen, just like it was firing predecessor Vinny Cerrato in 2009 to quiet the last major fan revolt.

 

Oh, unhappy fans swear they're never returning, but then a new season comes along with a new coach or top player and people are once more watching. And, owner Dan Snyder banks on that. But not this time.

T

he last three seasons have seen a major erosion of season-ticket holders. The team doesn't announce that figure, but it's probably no better than 20,000 anymore. Already this season, Dallas Cowboys and Chicago Bears fans have outnumbered Redskins followers at FedEx Field.

This Sunday, the crowd will probably be 80 percent New England Patriots fans and 20 percent Redskins fans wanting to see quarterback Tom Brady one last time in Washington. There is no home-field advantage anymore. Just a few die-hards drowned out by chanting visitors.

It has never been this bad in town since the Redskins arrived in 1937. The team was good right away and nearly filled the 30,000-seat stadium for many years. The 1950s were a little slow, but still the Redskins were beloved. By the 1960s, Sonny Jurgensen made them lovable losers.

 

Come the 1970s, George

Allen made the town a winner. Combined with the Senators leaving in 1972, the Redskins had the market to themselves.

The glory years of coach Joe Gibbs from 1981-92 were the zenith of the franchise when everyone in Washington talked Redskins at work and home. But that generation of fans is either gone or watching from home. The younger generation is tired of mythical tales of Riggo, and attending sports events is not the same thing to today's fans. They're not watching games, they're attending events. Indeed, 14 NFL stadiums now have 5G to enhance cell phone use by fans, including Baltimore. FedEx has 5Gs – grumpy, gotcha, gross, garish and goodbye.

 

There's only one path back to owning the market again – fire Allen, get a competent general manager who hires a new coaching staff and start winning. Not just once in a while, but a few years in a row with a serious playoff run. Then some fans will return, though never with the passion of the Gibbs era.

Without these changes, the Redskins will remain rock bottom until years from now when Snyder sells the team. We should all live so long.

[HouseBowlrz]

8 hours ago, skinsfan_1215 said:

At this rate I feel like I'm literally 1-2 seasons away from watching a single NFL game every year: the Super Bowl. 

 

That's one more game than I watched last season, and one more game than I plan to watch this season.

 

8 hours ago, Lombardi's_kid_brother said:

 

Oh....like anyone has season tickets any longer...…..

 

Here's the real problem going forward. There are probably fewer than 30,000 season ticket holders. And those people CAN'T sell their tickets any longer to anyone except out of town fans, and those people can just buy from the ticket office. If your a Skins' fan, you just get free tickets from someone now.

 

Since I was 7 years old, I've always believe that only suckers pay for tickets. I have always tried to only go to games when it was free. I'm actually somewhat frustrated to no longer be living in the area, because I'm pretty sure I could be seeing three games a year now.

 

... and with the reduced restrictions, if not complete elimination of blackout rules, why bother leaving the comfort of your couch ...

 

8 hours ago, Lombardi's_kid_brother said:

 

Honestly, take a year off. it's good for you.

 

I did out of necessity and it was quite the eye-opener; so much so that each season will be another year off.

 

6 hours ago, ntotoro said:

Snyder has done more than just ruin my ability to watch the 'Skins, but football in-general.

 

Goodell and his kowtowing was my reason for the latter.

 

1 hour ago, Skinsinparadise said:

 

"Without these changes, the Redskins will remain rock bottom until years from now when Snyder sells the team. We should all live so long."

 

The obvious correction has been noted.   LOL

 

ES has become a great source of information this season and it justifies my decision to refrain from the money drain.  I miss everyone at the tailgate and perhaps we can all get together on a Spring day and do a tailgate for no other reason other than to come together and tailgate.

Right now, it's time to focus on the NATS playoff run and the start of hockey season.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

15 hours ago, Skinsinparadise said:

 

There's only one path back to owning the market again – fire Allen, get a competent general manager who hires a new coaching staff and start winning. Not just once in a while, but a few years in a row with a serious playoff run. Then some fans will return, though never with the passion of the Gibbs era.

Without these changes, the Redskins will remain rock bottom until years from now when Snyder sells the team. We should all live so long.

 

 

Oh, I think the team is way beyond ever owning the market again. That was unlikely to remain in place even without the past 20 years. DC has changed too much for that ever to be the case again. A region that rich and that transient was never going to keep this deep die-hard connection with a sports team. The best that happens now is something like what the Golden State Warriors have. A great team that suddenly becomes very trendy with people earning over $500K per year. And once they stop winning, the fans will find something else to do.

 

What Snyder has really done is kill any chance of meaningful connection with an entire generation of fans. If you grew up in DC and are now 25 and entering the work force, you have no dream of ever owning Redskin tickets. Redskins tickets are honestly something your boss gives you and you have to use to look grateful even though you would rather not go to the game.

18 hours ago, TryTheBeal! said:

I’m talking with a couple close friends who are Dolphins fans about an old-school, shot4shot, hate drunk pity party in week 6.

 

Ill let y’all know how that turns out.

 

If anything the state of the Dolphins is worse. The Bullets existed and were good in the 70s. The Caps have been around forever. The Dolphins were good and literally had that market to themselves for decades.

 

They have gone through 20 years of not just being bad but of having no chance on opening day. There have been years where the Skins can be delusional and think they are going to compete in the division. Dolphins fans have had no reason to BS themselves for at least 15 years.

[daveakl]

1 hour ago, Lombardi's_kid_brother said:

If anything the state of the Dolphins is worse. The Bullets existed and were good in the 70s. The Caps have been around forever. The Dolphins were good and literally had that market to themselves for decades.

 

They have gone through 20 years of not just being bad but of having no chance on opening day. There have been years where the Skins can be delusional and think they are going to compete in the division. Dolphins fans have had no reason to BS themselves for at least 15 years.

 

Except they now have a plan and with a plan they have hope.

[volsmet]

[Coach Janky Spanky]

On 10/1/2019 at 12:42 PM, Lombardi's_kid_brother said:

If anything the state of the Dolphins is worse. The Bullets existed and were good in the 70s. The Caps have been around forever. The Dolphins were good and literally had that market to themselves for decades.

 

They have gone through 20 years of not just being bad but of having no chance on opening day. There have been years where the Skins can be delusional and think they are going to compete in the division. Dolphins fans have had no reason to BS themselves for at least 15 years.

 

I disagree.   I don't think Miami has been worse than we have over the past 20 years.   I think we all (myself included) forget how long we have been truly mediocre.  We often make comparisons to the Jets or the Browns or the Dolphins saying at least we haven't been bad as bad as them.   True, we're not as bad.  We're worse:

 

Since 2000 (inclusive):

# of wins:  Miami 144, Redskins 129

# of seasons with 11 wins (or more):    Miami 3, Redskins 0

# of seasons with 4 wins (or fewer):   Miami 2, Redskins 3

Playoff appearances:  Miami 4, Redskins 4

Playoff wins:  Miami 1, Redskins 1

 

[FrFan]

[HouseBowlrz]

17 hours ago, Coach Janky Spanky said:

 

I disagree.   I don't think Miami has been worse than we have over the past 20 years.   I think we all (myself included) forget how long we have been truly mediocre.  We often make comparisons to the Jets or the Browns or the Dolphins saying at least we haven't been bad as bad as them.   True, we're not as bad.  We're worse:

 

Since 2000 (inclusive):

# of wins:  Miami 144, Redskins 129

# of seasons with 11 wins (or more):    Miami 3, Redskins 0

# of seasons with 4 wins (or fewer):   Miami 2, Redskins 3

Playoff appearances:  Miami 4, Redskins 4

Playoff wins:  Miami 1, Redskins 1

 

 

Regular season record versus Miami: 4-8

Record of regular season games played in Miami: 0-5.  (First game played in South Florida: 10-18-1981)

[hail2skins]

"Chance of winning the division" was the operative phrase in LKB's post.  There have been no back-to-back winners of the NFC East since the Eagles won the division four straight years from 2001-2004.  In the 14 seasons since, 9-10 wins won the division in half of those years. The Dolphins have had to deal with the behemoth that is visiting FedEx Field on Sunday. The Pats have won at least 12 games in 10 of those 14 seasons. 

[TD_washingtonredskins]

I posted this in the Bruce Allen thread but it's probably more relevant here...

 

On 980 at 10am in early-October, the Redskins were just the 4th thing discussed in the hourly sports update. I can't remember witnessing a time that they've been 4th even during the off-season, let alone in week 5 of the NFL season. They mentioned 5 things coming back from break, and the only update the came after the Skins was the Mystics. 

 

Caps, Nats, AL Wild Card, then a quick note about the Skins and being 15-point underdogs...

 

Yikes. 

[Rogue Jedi]

Anyone at FedEx today want to share their experience?

[Redskins Reparations]

14 minutes ago, Rogue Jedi said:

Anyone at FedEx today want to share their experience?

I thought we were calling it FedUp?

[hail2skins]

Interesting that the announced attendance (which doesn't account for no-shows) for today's game was 76483, which was higher than that announced for the Cowboys game (75128).  On TV it looked like the club level was full.  The rest of the way its going to be rough though......expect plenty of empties the rest of the way. 

[CTskins]

Watching on TV, FedEx Field sounded like Gillette Stadium after James White scored.

[CjSuAvE22]

I have no hope for this team i dont see anything to look forward to i dont see anything from haskins to think he will be good i know that last statement is gonna annoy half this board but come on hes not backing up brett favre or alex smith a coach had less

trust in him then some guy who missed practicing and training camp...the writings on the wall on him.   Maybe payne and allen will sack the qbs 4 or more times a game to give me some slight joy but thats about it

[Rocky21]

My first game owning season tickets after YEARS on the waiting list was coincidentally also Dan Snyder’s first game as owner.  The Skins had a three touchdown lead on the Dallas Cowboys and ended up losing that first game with me as a season ticket holder and him as the owner.  Talk about foreboding.   

I watched as week after week Snyder took something that was fun for the fans and turned into a monetized experience.  The pure greed turned my stomach but at least he wanted to win.  Right?  As the mistakes started to mount and stories of his bullying and marginalizing of people in the organization grew I started to think and soon realize as truth that Snyder was simply an incompetent and greedy owner who was exploiting the passion of the fans and squeezing every nickel he could get out of the fan base.  He took the game day experience and ruined it in every imaginable way.  He may love the Redskins but it’s apparent that what he really loves, is money. 

As I turned to the one place ExtremeSkins where I thought I might find other fans who also were noticing this and would understand and sympathize, I was met with a large contingent of people who aggressively defended Snyder and told me it wasn’t true.  Snyder had learned his lesson.  He was a young owner who was learning how to win.  And the winning was just around the corner.  So many people lampooned Dave McKenna’s article on Snyder.  Guess what?  He was right.     

We’ve heard all of the excuses.  Snyder wants to win.  At least he spends money.  Blah blah blah.  For God’s sake - you’ve had 20 years.  When are you going to learn how to win?!  It looks like Snyder would rather be the center of power on a losing team than a peripheral figure on a winning one.  

Now that it has became painfully obvious that Snyder is the root of the Redskins’ problems the majority of the Snyder apologists have left the site.  I knew I was right then.  I know I’m right now. 

Everything that has happened to this franchise — all the embarrassment, all the losing, all of the turmoil — is the responsibility of Snyder.

 

[LightningBuggs]

4 minutes ago, Rocky21 said:

My first game owning season tickets after YEARS on the waiting list was coincidentally also Dan Snyder’s first game as owner.  The Skins had a three touchdown lead on the Dallas Cowboys and ended up losing that first game with me as a season ticket holder and him as the owner.  Talk about foreboding.   

I watched as week after week Snyder took something that was fun for the fans and turned into a monetized experience.  The pure greed turned my stomach but at least he wanted to win.  Right?  As the mistakes started to mount and stories of his bullying and marginalizing of people in the organization grew I started to think and soon realize as truth that Snyder was simply an incompetent and greedy owner who was exploiting the passion of the fans and squeezing every nickel he could get out of the fan base.  He took the game day experience and ruined it in every imaginable way.  He may love the Redskins but it’s apparent that what he really loves, is money. 

As I turned to the one place ExtremeSkins where I thought I might find other fans who also were noticing this and would understand and sympathize, I was met with a large contingent of people who aggressively defended Snyder and told me it wasn’t true.  Snyder had learned his lesson.  He was a young owner who was learning how to win.  And the winning was just around the corner.  So many people lampooned Dave McKenna’s article on Snyder.  Guess what?  He was right.     

We’ve heard all of the excuses.  Snyder wants to win.  At least he spends money.  Blah blah blah.  For God’s sake - you’ve had 20 years.  When are you going to learn how to win?!  It looks like Snyder would rather be the center of power on a losing team than a peripheral figure on a winning one.  

Now that it has became painfully obvious that Snyder is the root of the Redskins’ problems the majority of the Snyder apologists have left the site.  I knew I was right then.  I know I’m right now. 

Everything that has happened to this franchise — all the embarrassment, all the losing, all of the turmoil — is the responsibility of Snyder.

 

 

I wish I could "like" this post a million times.  

 

Could not have said it better myself.  All of it.  Well done.

[thebluefood]

On 9/30/2019 at 4:40 PM, HailSkins90 said:

I feel like writing this up might be cathartic or bring some closure for me. I think a lot of older folks don't understand how absolutely non-existent the fan base is with younger folks today.

 

 

 

 

I stopped posting to this forum because I no longer consider myself a fan of this team for a number of reasons. I signed on to co-sign this post. 

 

This organization has lost at least one generation. They will most likely lose another and they will only have. Management has ruined one of the greatest civic-team love affairs in America. 

 

But hey, it made one douchebag from Montgomery County a lot of money so it's all good, right? 

[JCB]

It's just mind-boggling how far the franchise has fallen. The entire city bled B & G during my childhood and adolescence (I'm 49). Now it's just apathy and hate-watching.

 

I sure love the history and that's definitely true for multiple current players. But my overriding sense is that it's just not worth it to invest anything emotionally or monetarily in this team, and soon perhaps not even worth investing time.

 

For context, I've *always* been the glass-half-full guy among my friends, re. the team's fortunes/prospects. I have lost many, many bets because of this.

 

The rot from the top just can't be ignored. These mendacious, petty little punks have just been wiping their ***es with the fanbase for years. 

 

I'm just gonna watch good football, root for Dallas to lose, and concentrate on my fantasy teams.

[kwitt]

I came across one of those random suggested articles on my Facebook feed earlier.  It was about the worst run Restaurants in the country.  Johnny Rockets came in at #1.  Check out this excerpt.  Sums up Snyder nicely I'd say:

 

Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain called Johnny Rockets one of the worst meals he ever had.  After trying the food, he claimed to be traumatized by the "soul-destroying." experience.

[Csup]

I will continue watching games (muscle memory) but I will be actively rooting against the team.  Even when they play Dallas.  Sad.  I hate Dan Synder and Bruce Allen more than the Dallas Cowboys.  Chew on that.

[SemperFi Skins]

It's sad when I'm actually nervous we may end up winning a meaningless game on Sunday

[Fresh8686]

 

Get'em Scott. Tell him how we all really feel and blow his ass up on tv.

[HailSkins90]

I am 100% serious - do you think there would be fan interest in pooling our money via gofundme to purchase a full page ad in the Post to call Snyder out? Because I can look into starting one.

[boobiemiles]

Too many wine and cheese fans at the stadium.  There is no grit or loyalty.  It's the only franchise with fans of their rival rivaling their own fans in their hometown.  DMV loves the Cowboys.  This whole situation is a nightmare.