Attendance

[Fan since a Fetus]

This team isn’t even exciting watching from home. Why would I pay extra money to be a part of a crappy experience? I dont remember the last time I missed a game. But, I sure as heck won’t pay to go see one in that stadium. In fact, i won’t pay to see Washington at all until they turn a corner. It has nothing to do with being fair weather or Covid. I want value for my dollar. I want to be entertained, not regretful that I wasted a bunch of money.
 

ive been to FedEx once. That was enough. It was a thrilling game that ended 16-13 against the Rams. I’ve been to other games and stadiums and never felt I wasted my time and money. Of course, I watched entertaining teams in decent to good stadiums. 

[hail2skins]

I think the way has reported attendance has been inconsistent in recent years. Tickets sold, even to brokers, can be vastly different from turnstile attendance. In 2018 I attended the Cowboys game, the stadium was pretty much full to me (save for not too many empties in the top rows of the upper deck), and the announced attendance was 66K. I did not attend the 2019 Cowboys game, but the announced attendance for that one was 75K. The discrepancy does not add up. The capacity of the place is listed as 82K, but I don't believe that either.

[Commander PK]

I think the hard truth is that when the stadium was built the Washington Redskins were still enough of a draw by themselves.  In 2005 the team was setting single game attendance records.  The fan base is spent.  Unfortunately the name having to be changed has also stolen the passion from a lot of the diehards as well.  This thing has to be rebuilt from the bottom up and I’m not sure it can happen at the current stadium.  

They need a new stadium and location with additional layers of entertainment to get the fans back to the games.  They need an exciting new name and brand that will bring new fans into the fold.

Edited September 13, 2021 by Painkiller

[purbeast]

It wasn't that full because there aren't that many Chargers fans around here.  

 

If the opener was agains the Cowboys, 100% that stadium would have been WWWAAAAYYYY fuller.

 

The number of WFT fans probably wouldn't have changed much if at all, but the number of opposing fans would have been much higher.

[Commander PK]

Also, the fact is that most people don’t want to spend what they are charging for seats with average views.  The best seat is now watching HD coverage on your big screen.  The days of 95,000 attending the games are over.   

[just654]

For the people that want a new stadium, which I do to a point. Dont cut off your nose spite your face. I was at a Fan Focus group in the off season for a new stadium. A new stadium is going to be a **** show. The 3rd party group Snyder has hired to research the stadium is going to recommended PSLs for every seat. With the cheapest being nose bleeds being about $1-2K per seat going up to $50+K per seat. They want to turn the between the 40s 100 level into VIP Seats and party/restaurant decks.     

[skinsmarydu]

The good days....we could have gotten tickets, but my dad was a preacher (who, as a NASA prof, knew the importance of time, so he scheduled service at 10 so everyone could be ready for kickoff).

I miss those Sundays. 

[Destino]

 

11 hours ago, SkinsFan_07 said:

Did the name change really lose us a sizable chunk of fans?

no.  The stadium being empty or filled with opposing fans started years before the name change.  The year immediately prior to the name change is the worst I’ve ever seen it.  That’s the year where visiting teams sounded louder than Washington fans in FedEx on several occasions.

 

11 hours ago, SkinsFan_07 said:

We just won our division last year, and the expectations are very high this year. Why would only 40-45k Washington fans show up for our home opener? I find this very concerning. But the press isn’t even covering it. In fact JP Finlay (who I like) even went as far as to compliment the fans today. 
 

if low attendance was a trend across the league then that would be one thing, but it wasn’t. In fact quite the opposite. Teams who often draw low numbers saw high numbers this weekend. 
 

Thoughts? 
 

 

A generation of losing on and off the field has consequences.  Fans have gone and new ones aren’t replacing them.  This fan base simply isn’t what it used to be, and those that are left are less willing invest a lot of time on game day because they expect to be disappointed.

[Fan since a Fetus]

Cover your ears everybody, because I have to go off the deep end here: Snyder is a forking shirtball. I truly believe he thinks a stadium is more important than the team winning. I guess it is to him because he can make a lot more money with other events and the team will just be put on the back burner if they are not already. 

[skinsmarydu]

2 minutes ago, Destino said:

 

no.  The stadium being empty or filled with opposing fans started years before the name change.  The year immediately prior to the name change is the worst I’ve ever seen it.  That’s the year where visiting teams sounded louder than Washington fans in FedEx on several occasions.

 

A generation of losing on and off the field has consequences.  Fans have gone and new ones aren’t replacing them.  This fan base simply isn’t what it used to be, and those that are left are less willing invest a lot of time on game day because they expect to be disappointed.

Well, I keep an eye on things here and we gain a member or two every day. 

It's a good start to the day.

[skinfan2k]

I am the last generation that has known the redskins who went to 3 superbowls.   We are all in our 30s.  We have families.  We dont have time to waste an entire day anymore for a team that sucks and the stadium is complete trash.   The fans who are under 25 dont care about this team. 

[NoCalMike]

Also lets face it, Snyder wants out of that stadium.  The live in person experience is likely going to continue to deteriorate with only the bare minimum upkeep happening until some kind of new stadium deal is made. 

[D’Pablo]

COVID absolutely cost us thousands of fans. Folks in the DMV are significantly more cautious than in other regions, and it’s borne out in vaccination data.

[stoshuaj]

55 minutes ago, skinsmarydu said:

Well, I keep an eye on things here and we gain a member or two every day. 

It's a good start to the day.

What is the avg age of the fans that join?   I would bet that the vast majority of ppl on the site, including new sign ups, are from a bygone era.

Purely anecdotal but I’m not seeing much Team support from a new generation of fans.  Face it, we’re and dying. 
 

edit:  just read SF2k’s post.  What he said

 

Edited September 13, 2021 by stoshuaj
Read more, post less

[BleedBNG]

It could get worse after Thursday. Besides the year ending matchups with our division, the remaining homes games (after Thursday) are NO, Chiefs, Bucs, and Seahawks. Yikes!

[skinsmarydu]

1 minute ago, stoshuaj said:

What is the avg age of the fans that join?   I would bet that the vast majority of ppl on the site, including new sign ups, are from a bygone era.

Purely anecdotal but I’m not seeing much Team support from a new generation of fans.  Face it, we’re and dying. 

 

You have the same access.  Figure it out, do your research. 

Most of the accounts in the early days were fake, those are easy to figure out.  New ones aren't.

[stoshuaj]

Just now, skinsmarydu said:

You have the same access.  Figure it out, do your research. 

Most of the accounts in the early days were fake, those are easy to figure out.  New ones aren't.

It was meant to be a rhetorical question.  Not a jab at you or your statement in any way.

[Commander PK]

4 hours ago, just654 said:

For the people that want a new stadium, which I do to a point. Dont cut off your nose spite your face. I was at a Fan Focus group in the off season for a new stadium. A new stadium is going to be a **** show. The 3rd party group Snyder has hired to research the stadium is going to recommended PSLs for every seat. With the cheapest being nose bleeds being about $1-2K per seat going up to $50+K per seat. They want to turn the between the 40s 100 level into VIP Seats and party/restaurant decks.     

 

They might want to look at the big picture here.  I don't think this fanbase is ready to part with that kind of cash.  The proof is in the pudding.  If the tickets are bought up by corporations and used as incentives, you can kiss the homefield advantage of RFK that we all want to get back to goodbye.  

Edited September 13, 2021 by Painkiller

[SoCalSkins]

How are they going to sell $25k PSLs per seat at a new stadium? I don’t see the demand being there for that type of commitment at this point. 

[tshile]

You can have a ****ty venue if you play well enough. 
 

If the Brady era patriots played in FedEx 8 times a year it’s be packed. It’d be the rfk days on steroids (cause of inflation). We’d actually have a waiting list. 
 

you can attract people to a good venue even as a bad team. Caps and Nats are fun events even if the team has no prospects for the season. 
 

but it’s really, really hard to attract people to a ****ty venue with a team that is ****ty year in year out. 
 

and to give snyder credit he managed to do it for a while. Way longer than he should have gotten away with. 
 

 

Edited September 13, 2021 by tshile

[Renegade7]

2 hours ago, NoCalMike said:

Also lets face it, Snyder wants out of that stadium.  The live in person experience is likely going to continue to deteriorate with only the bare minimum upkeep happening until some kind of new stadium deal is made. 

Straight facts

[Commander PK]

1 minute ago, tshile said:

but it’s really, really hard to attract people to a ****ty venue with a team that is ****ty year in year out. 

 

This is absolutely correct.

 

I don't think people expect to win the Super Bowl every year, or even have winning seasons every year.  I think as a fanbase we have been revved up so many times for new this or new that...nobody has faith anymore.  We need to see a couple of decent seasons strung together before the average fan is going to start spending their hard-earned cash on this team on a regular basis.  

 

I still consider myself a die-hard fan.  With that said, I usually only go to 1 or 2 games a year.  I had a chance years ago to get season tickets, but I turned them down at the time.  I make enough now, where I could realistically buy a couple of higher level seats for every game.  I'm the kind of fan though, where if they aren't winning more often than not...I'm not going to enjoy myself.  I'm going to be even more upset if I dropped a grand on the entire gameday experience and they lose.  I'm not going for the party...I can have that at home.  I'm going to see some decent Football on the field from my team.  

[hail2skins]

20 minutes ago, Painkiller said:

 

I still consider myself a die-hard fan.  With that said, I usually only go to 1 or 2 games a year.  I had a chance years ago to get season tickets, but I turned them down at the time.  I make enough now, where I could realistically buy a couple of higher level seats for every game.

And isn't part of the fun of going to the game sharing in the excitement of the people around you? But if the upper deck is half empty or more, there's not gonna be much energy to share, even if the team is winning.

 

There are numerous issues which act as deterrents to going. For instance, when people sell their seats on Stubhub, do they generally include parking? I guess I did see parking passes available for $60 on Ticket master, before fees. Seems like obtaining a pass is a must, particularly if you are going with someone elderly. How far from the stadium gates is the cash lot on Brightseat Road? Does that ever fill up, and if so, how far in advance of the game? And that's before you enter the stadium, where there are relatively few choice seats in the place. 

[Leonard Washington]

As long as they stay on local tv, I’m good. 

[Commander PK]

5 minutes ago, hail2skins said:

And isn't part of the fun of going to the game sharing in the excitement of the people around you? But if the upper deck is half empty or more, there's not gonna be much energy to share, even if the team is winning.

 

There are numerous issues which act as deterrents to going. For instance, when people sell their seats on Stubhub, do they generally include parking? I guess I did see parking passes available for $60 on Ticket master, before fees. Seems like obtaining a pass is a must, particularly if you are going with someone elderly. How far from the stadium gates is the cash lot on Brightseat Road? Does that ever fill up, and if so, how far in advance of the game? And that's before you enter the stadium, where there are relatively few choice seats in the place. 

 

Yes, it is.  

 

The parking pass is another pet peeve of mine, and you usually have to buy them separate from the tickets.  I'm not sure about the cash lot on Brightseat Rd, I have never parked there.   Just to park at the stadium itself is the price of another ticket.  I don't blame Dan Snyder for the current stadium's faults, but I do expect that they will learn from them for the next one. 

 

The next stadium absolutely must have convenient metro access.