Hawaiian Buc
…there is no way the owners can move the Bucs from Raymond James – at least for a few more years. The terms of their contract…

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Since when did NFL Owners start abiding by the terms of their Contracts???

Kidding right?

I disagree. Agents are an easy scapegoat when, in actuality, players, owners, agents AND fans are complicit in the overblown rookie salaries. Owners have to pay those escalating salaries every year because fans would lose it if their 1st round draft pick didnt get signed. Rookie salaries are slotted on an escalating system based indirectly on league revenues. Agents are simply facilitators working in the players best interest…just like the GM is a facilitator working in the franchise’s best interest.

Bottom line: The NFL, like any service based business, is ultimately a slave to the consumer. If/when the NFL prices most fans out coming to games, they’ll adjust or they’ll risk losing even more money in the long run.

You bring forth many good points however there is no way the owners can move the Bucs from Raymond James – at least for a few more years. The terms of their contract in order to get the new stadium built included some clause relative to their relocation (I believe – I’m sure Jim[Joel]Buc[Glazer]) knows the specifics.

Secondly, for arguments sake, lets say the Bucs picked up and moved – to where? LA? There are other teams more at risk – say JAX before the Bucs moved. But at least we wouldn’t have to worry about blackouts then right?

I do know one thing for sure, if fans are in fact “boycotting” the games, they are making a huge mistake. You might as well go out and get your Miami Dolphin shirts, because they will move this team and you’ll be without a team in Tampa. You are naive if you think otherwise. I hate the fact that I am only able to go to a couple games a year due to me living 5000 miles away, and it’s crazy to me that some of you take that for granted (the ones that can afford it). Trying to prove a point to the owners by not going to the game is like boycotting McDonalds because their food is too greasy – Pointless!

Plus they are losing TV money with the blackouts.

TV contracts are negotiated well in advance. The money is upfront. Blackouts or not, NFL teams get X-amount of millions per year. NFL owners don’t lose a dime of TV money with a blackout.

In fact, the NFL gets millions from DirecTV whether next season is played or not.

The Bucs, on the other hand, have had very good season ticket sales and attendance in the past. Even sold a bunch of those PSI’s so the new stadium could be built.

Economy is a factor, but the Glazer boys are also a factor, they seem entirely tone deaf to the fans IMO. Or, at the very least have allowed that narrative to take hold. They havent needed to exercise blackouts to alienate fans. Other actions or inactions have taken care of that.

You said they do NOT make much at the games???? You are talking about 60,000+ people in ticket sales and concessions. My educated guess is at least 6 million PER GAME in ticket sales alone and at least another 1.5 million in concessions.

Plus they are losing TV money with the blackouts.

JimBucs – There no absolutes in this situation. The Bucs attendance is nowhere near as bad as the other struggling teams. The Bucs will have 20K empty seats on Sunday. Does any other team have 10K? Things are not twice as bad here as in other markets. Fan disillusionment is a factor when you look at the total number, though the economy would be blacking us out regardless, which was the point of the post.

“Nobody thinks the 2-9 home record since the new regime took over is a factor at all?”

Of course perfromance is a factor, but it is no where near the main factor. Proof is that there are league-wide attendance issues. Going to a stadium to see a game is not that great of a value anymore. Period.

Proof is that the economy is awful and Tampa, in particular, has a small hard core fan base for all sports (see Rays attendance)

Don’t use attaendance to push your anti-Glazer, anti-Morris point of view!

No it is not… mostly. No one ANYWHERE in the nation was talking about blackouts at NFL games for the past decade until the last couple years suddenly. What? There were no bad owners and bad teams then? there was no rebuilding going on?

Sure, the youth movement, because the Glazers screwed themsleves financially AND the fact that a youth movement was needed, and rebuilding process has not helped. It sure as hell is not the cause of 10-15 thousand people staying home. It is a SMALL factor.

The economy and the direction of the economy is the main reason. Florida gets hit twice as hard in a recession because we lose jobs AND tourism drops which reduces the number state income.

Bottom line is the attendance issues here and at Jax, SD, St Loius, Detroit, Oakland, etc… is manily because the economy and it is pretty bad timing to be ‘rebuilding’ at the same time.