Just to clarify on Grella. He’s not a VP and not a marketing guy, just a first-year media guy new to the NFL and the market.

As referenced earlier, the Bucs have departments devoted to selling tickets and marketing the club outside the media. Doesn’t mean marketing and PR shouldn’t work hand in hand in a successful enterprise, but gorilla marketing tactics, advertising and working with team partners like Publix and others are not his domain.

@RastaMon – Great point on those commercials. Was thinking the same thing. It used to be about crowds and cheerleaders and beer and seeing your breath. Now it’s about hugging another dude on a leather couch?

@Mr. Lucky – There’s nothing anywhere that indicates the Glazers want to sell the Bucs. Why would they? There’s no let up in sight to the value of the NFL franchises and every team makes gobs of cash. After 15 years, it’s obvious the Glazers are here for the long haul. …And if they really wanted to milk more cash out of the Tampa Bay area, they would have brought in Manchester United for preseason games (team came to US this past summer before sellout crowds) and they would have made concessions on the RJS lease to get more events in here and to have kept the Tampa Bay Mutiny in town about nine years ago. THe Glazers are hardly milking everything they can from the investment here.

Jones made a sound business decision based on LONG TERM expectations. From what I see of the Glazers they seem to want to milk th Bucs for all its worth before selling for a sizable profit.

While your arguments make sense, not sure there are enough blackouts for the NFL to come to the conclusion that their blackout policy is outdated. Now if there were, say, 30 percent of the games blacked out…

Jerry Jones has stated several times one reason he built such a palace was to get people to get off the couch and come to games. He understands in many cases, it’s better for NFL fans to stay home to watch.

Costs to go to Cowboys games are outrageous.

Which is why the NFL needs to change their approach to how they get their games to their fans and how they market their product. The market is changing and the technology is changing. The whole point of a blackout is to get fans to go to the game and spend the money. The NFL blackout policy doesn’t work. It’s an outdated policy. Blackouts don’t matter to me. I can watch the games on the internet or listen on the radio. If I wasn’t tied down with family responsibilities I’d be on the Blackout Tour every Bucs home game. It sounds like a lot of fun.

Joe, don’t Communications and Marketing go hand in hand?

Well, you are referring to two different departments with the Bucs.

onathan Grella only deals with media, both electronic and print. He does not devise marketing strategies for the Bucs. Grella does not deal with advertising agencies, et al.

Two totally different positions.

Yes, Grella explained how all the games would be blacked out. How was he wrong? He was giving an honest answer based on ticket sales, specifically season ticket sales.

The Glazers said long before Grella was hired that they would not pick up the tab for unsold seats in order to avoid a blackout.