Attendance Similar To 2011 Preseason
August 18th, 2012
Looking at preseason attendance of Bucs games is the easiest way to get an idea of where Bucs season ticket sales are. And that’s important if you’re trying to figure out how many TV blackouts Tampa Bay will suffer in 2012.
The reality is there aren’t a ton of tickets sold for most individual preseason games, so reported preseason attendance is reasonably close to the bottom line season ticket number.
In 2011, the Bucs drew 49,313 for their preseason opener against New England, one of the few teams whose fans will by significant numbers tickets in Tampa. For the next 2011 preseason game against Miami, the Bucs reported 44,732.
Last night, the Titans-Bucs game had a reported attendance of 45,633. Frankly, Joe was hoping for a bigger number, which would have offered a little more hope that blackouts will end in 2012.
Bucs officials said months ago that there were spikes in ticket sales following major changes this offseason and free agent acquisitions, but last night’s attendance tells Joe it wasn’t any kind of crazy increase.
The Bucs need to sell about 42,500 non-premium seats per game to avoid a home television blackout under the new 85 percent rule in the NFL. How many of the 15,000 or so club seats and suite seats are actually sold per game is the key mystery. Add that unknown figure to the 42,500 and you have the magic number to get a home game televised.
Joe’s really hoping Bucs fans come through on opening day to get the Bucs-Pantheres game on TV for the greater fan base.
Joe took a Paradise Worldwide Transportation executive SUV to the Bucs-Dolphins game in Miami last week. The chauffeur was a Bucs fan, and Joe asked him what he does when a game is blacked out. His answer? “Cry.”
August 18th, 2012 at 8:48 am
really it looked empty or about 15k there last night when they showed stands 2ed half
August 18th, 2012 at 8:59 am
This game isnt going to help there cause to sell out. I’m glad its only the pre-season and they get this crappy football out of them before the real games start.
August 18th, 2012 at 9:34 am
Rahdom destroyed all of the enthusiasm surrounding this once great and proud franchise. Give Schiano some time.
We may have to send Dom back to trading cards or Glaxer honey-dos as well. He is like a lingering stinch from the last 3 years.
August 18th, 2012 at 9:38 am
If attendance last night was 45,633 and they need to sell 42,500 tickets to avoid a blackout, why was it blacked out?
August 18th, 2012 at 9:44 am
This just in.
We ain’t talented.
August 18th, 2012 at 9:49 am
I’ll be @ the home opener, doing my part to get the game televised
August 18th, 2012 at 10:51 am
I was there with another 25K. Thank God more fans didn’t see this performance.
Our lack of depth is obvious, time to make some cuts now. Don’t waste practice time on people who simply can’t ball. Make room for “better castoffs”
August 18th, 2012 at 11:04 am
Are they not trying to get Clarke and Free into some kinda rhythm? I didn’t see the debacle, was he even playing?
August 18th, 2012 at 11:19 am
@Danny
It has to be determined 3 days in advance. Since it was on Friday, Tuesday was the cut off. Thursday in the regular season.
Walk ups don’t count towards the black out.
August 18th, 2012 at 1:48 pm
If we keep playing like we did against the Titans, let’s hope we don’t sell out our home opener against Carolina.
That was embarrassing last night, preseason or not.
Our starting O Line looked anything but dominant against the Titans Defensive Line.
August 18th, 2012 at 2:08 pm
First…how weird is it to see Thomas 2.2 saying something encouraging???
Second…I streamed the first half of the game live, then switched to wrestling until 11:30 to watch the game on Channel 10. I recorded it in HD to refer to later, but I actually enjoyed the game and thought it was a good result.
Now, before Eric or anyone else say how crazy I am, here’s why: the second game of the preseason is the perfect game to make all your mistakes. The starter play more in the next game, so by addressing the issues in practice we will see the improvements reflected in our starters next week.
I was excited to see the mistakes made. I know Schiano will not tolerate them. He’s going to have these guys working hard on fixing things.
Third…I think there is a decent chance that the next game will sell the 85%. It’s the Pats. Schiano has been compared to Bill. The Bucs and Pats are going to be practicing together.
Now…I need to find some place to post my concerns after the game 😛
August 18th, 2012 at 4:28 pm
Does anyone remember the exact number of tickets needed to be sold in order to avoid a blackout?
August 18th, 2012 at 8:57 pm
Lion,
I believe it’s 85 percent of the general non-club seats. Upper sections in the corners were bare.