Wraith Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 DISCLAIMER: I am not an "NFL has it in for Buffalo" conspiracy theorist nor am I particularly pessimistic about the Bills future in Buffalo. We have been bombarded with reports from the media that the Bills are lagging in attendance. Worse, they were the first NFL team not to sellout a home game this year, according to the league. In addition, we've yet to hear reports of any other team failing to sell out while the Bills are approaching their fourth straight blackout. But is the NFL being truthful about games being sold out? Or are they playing games or applying the rules differently from team to team? Let's exam the San Diego Chargers. San Diego plays their games in beautiful Southern California. They are also owner of the NFL's best record at 12-2. They boast the league's best running back and MVP candidate in LaDanian Tomlinson and a potential Defensive Player of the Year in Shawne Merrimen. San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium has a listed capacity of 71,294 seats, according to these sources: http://www.stadiumsofnfl.com/capacity.htm http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/attendance (You have to work out the capacity from attendance and %full). Yet, San Diego's largest paid attendance this year has been 67,837. Let's call that their "demonstrated capacity." That is 3.5K short of their listed capacity. But that's not the worst of it: Five times (out of seven home games), San Diego has not come to within 1K of their demonstrated capacity. Below is a table comparing San Diego's paid attendance this year versus their listed capacity and demonstrated capacity. Sources for this info come from NFL.com game books and verified using the espn attendance site listed above. SAN DIEGO ATTENDANCE BY WEEK (2006) WEEK__ATT______+/-LISTED CAP___+/- DEMONSTRATED CAP___OPP_____ 2______64,344____-6,950__________-3,493__________________TENN 5______67,837____-3,457______________0__________________PITT 8______66,598____-4,696__________-1,239__________________STL 9______65,558____-5,736__________-2,279__________________CLE 12_____66,105____-5,189__________-1,732__________________OAK 14_____67,514____-3,780__________ -323__________________DEN 15_____66,583____-4,711__________-1,254__________________KC I don't know which figures are more odd, that San Diego has yet to come within 3.4K of filling their stadium to it's listed capacity, or that there was a 3.5K difference in attendance between San Diego's first two home games and both were "sell outs." So what's the deal here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marauderswr80 Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 strange how we get 10k more fans then the Colts do and the games get blacked out........ NFL is using it against us cause we have a bigger stadium then most, but yet we actually do get more people to games then most teams in the NFL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 strange how we get 10k more fans then the Colts do and the games get blacked out........ NFL is using it against us cause we have a bigger stadium then most, but yet we actually do get more people to games then most teams in the NFL 871013[/snapback] Show me where the NFL has said anything negative about it whatsoever? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wraith Posted December 18, 2006 Author Share Posted December 18, 2006 strange how we get 10k more fans then the Colts do and the games get blacked out........ NFL is using it against us cause we have a bigger stadium then most, but yet we actually do get more people to games then most teams in the NFL 871013[/snapback] That's a separate issue. The issue I am addressing is how the NFL determines a sellout, why it appears to be applied unevenly, and how local fans and Buffalo's reputation are paying the price for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDH Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 NFL is using it against us cause we have a bigger stadium then most, but yet we actually do get more people to games then most teams in the NFL 871013[/snapback] Only because their stadiums aren't bigger. You want it both ways. You want to complain that the Bills stadium is too big for the small community and then you want to say that the Bills have more fans going to the games than other teams. The reason for both is the big stadium. I guarantee if the Bills tarped off 7k seats next year and ended up making the playoffs people would B word that they couldn't get tickets because of the 7k being tarped off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olaf Fub Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 It's a flat out lie that the Bills were the first team not to have a sellout this year. Jacksonville hasn't sold out a single game. They just threw a bunch of tarps over whole sections of the stadium so they can have "sellouts". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 Smokin Man retired to San Diego. Seriously though, these numbers bring up some very interesting questions about what constitutes a sell out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eSJayDee Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 Not that I'm saying either of these are the answers, but they might explain at least part of the issue. "Sellout" refers to tckets being sold. It has nothing to do w/ attendance. It's possible that SD just has a TREMENDOUS # of no-shows. As for the difference between "demonstrated capacity" (which you derive from max paid attendance) and listed capacity, is it possible that they have some sort of program where they give away a substantial # of tickets, for instance to charity/staff or to accommodate like the 1/2 time show? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wraith Posted December 18, 2006 Author Share Posted December 18, 2006 Not that I'm saying either of these are the answers, but they might explain at least part of the issue. "Sellout" refers to tckets being sold. It has nothing to do w/ attendance. It's possible that SD just has a TREMENDOUS # of no-shows. As for the difference between "demonstrated capacity" (which you derive from max paid attendance) and listed capacity, is it possible that they have some sort of program where they give away a substantial # of tickets, for instance to charity/staff or to accommodate like the 1/2 time show? 871058[/snapback] Interesting points. On your first point, the numbers I am using refer to "paid attendance" which, at least in theory, should reflect no-shows. Secondly, the difference between their demonstrated capacity and their listed capacity is not nearly as significant, to me, as the difference in paid attendance between their first two home games. These were both games that the NFL dubbed "sold out." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rubes Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 As for the difference between "demonstrated capacity" (which you derive from max paid attendance) and listed capacity, is it possible that they have some sort of program where they give away a substantial # of tickets, for instance to charity/staff or to accommodate like the 1/2 time show? 871058[/snapback] Yes, but what does "paid attendance" refer to? Number of tickets sold? Or number of people who bought tickets who showed up? I always thought it was number of tickets sold, not gate attendance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts