Friday, January 3, 2014

NFL Avoids Playoff Blackout Embarrassment

They came darn close to not selling out Wildcard Weekend games in Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and Green Bay, but the NFL dodged a blackout bullet today by "selling out" all of the games at the last second:
But the league gave the Bengals, the Colts and the Packers extensions until late Friday afternoon. That did the trick as team sponsors bought big blocks of seats, helping the Bengals, Colts and the Packers sell out their stadiums.
The New York Times also reports the NFL requires tickets be sold at face value during the playoffs, preventing teams from discounting or giving them away.

The weather in Green Bay is expected to be awful and there may be freezing rain in Cincy.  But there really are few excuses for the near-blackout in Indianapolos other than high ticket prices and a bad blackout policy.

3 comments:

  1. Few excuses except HD TV, cheap beers/food, not having to drive/pay to park, and being WARM inside. If playoff NFL can't sell out perhaps professional sports in general has "jumped the shark"

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    1. Is Roger Goodell attending the Green Bay game, and if so, is he paying for the ticket out of his own money? If not, what kind of half-assed, fair weather fan is he?

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  2. The chickens almost came home to roost. NFL has no problem charging full price for their pre-season games, and then wonder why they are not sold out. And they have no problem jacking up the prices for playoff games. Where is their sense of fairness and symmetry - if the can over-charge for pre-season, why can't the under-charge for the playoffs?

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