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| This is apparently an outdated Ga.Dome |
You've heard us rant multiple times about pro sports stadium issues. You've heard us decry the blatant blackmail efforts of the NFL in Minnesota. We've railed on about AEG trying to steal a team in Los Angeles. And we've spoken about the fraud the Atlanta Falcons are about to perpetrate on their fans too.
And you know what? We're right. And now we've found a story and some numbers that prove it.
We've heard from NFL fans who say "They have to build a new stadium to keep the team. It brings tourists to the area and business to the community".
Uh...no it doesn't.
Especially the way the trend in prices is going.
According to an excellent story in Sunday's Atlanta Journal-Constitution written by Tim Tucker, the last 3-teams to build stadiums have increased their ticket prices by an average of nearly 26-percent. And in a couple of cases, have added PSL's where there were none before.
Read the very detailed article from AJC.com RIGHT HERE
Now, we'll just say we aren't "Anti-Stadium" period. But we are "anti-stadium" in places that already have one. And in the case of the Falcons, a rather nice one that just doesn't have enough "Club Seats".
The reason: Simple. The owner doesn't pay for it. Or if he "does", he just passes the cost down to you. The city doesn't pay for it. They just take it from "Tourist Taxes". Even though on "paper" their may be no cost to the taxpayers of a city or state, its the longtime season ticket holders or family that wants to catch a game that pays for it.
We were stunned to see in the story that the average cost for a family of 4 to attend an NFL game is over $421.
Yeah...$421.
Able to fork that over a couple times a season?
Sure, we know this sounds like we are railing on the NFL, the most popular sports league of all-time. And maybe in a sense, we are. But that's because the NFL and its teams don't really care what you think. Or what we think.
All they care about are luxury/club seat holders. If they could get away with charging you a PSL and Club Seat price for every seat in their "Luxury Stadium", they would. They won't tell you that publicly, but it sure is the impression they give.
Think about it.
If you have 2 kids, a wife and make $30,000 a year, you are just trying to keep your heads above water. Now imagine one of your kids is an Atlanta Falcons fan. Today, you aren't paying the league avg., you are only paying roughly $390 to take your family to the game.
That's roughly 3 weeks of groceries. That's more than a car payment.
And that price is likely to go up.
The Falcons are going to get their new stadium. Believe us, its already been signed off on. And guess who is going to pay for it.
Yeah, team owner Arthur Blank will "Front" a good chunk of the nearly $1 billion. But you do realize that savvy businessmen make investments, don't you? They don't spend their money unless they know they are going to make it back.
And Arthur, much like Zygi Wilf, Jerry Jones and others will make it back. In spades.
And the cost will be passed down to you.
Your $80 dollar mid-level, end zone seat, $100. And that is if you want to pay oh $750 to $1000 for the right to buy it.
Really, we are kind of gloating here a bit because we found something to validate our opinion. And to be totally honest, most people these days can watch a game in the comfort of their own home. They don't get subjected to the massive crowds, the non-stop stream of TV Timeouts and the ability to do what they want when they want to.
We will get off our soapbox now. Mostly because we know it isn't going to change your behavior, your spending habits or really your thoughts about the NFL. We just want to make you think about it a little more. And realize that as much as you'd like it to be representative of you and your city, it's really all about the owner and the league and how much money they can make off of people who actually have it...and occasionally those who don't.
A perennial favorite. And what this is all about:
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