Goodell talks to team about no show problems?

Haha yep. Use the old pro wrestling technique of putting all the fans on one side of the stadium, have the cameras facing that way and have the announcers say, 'We're in front of another packed house!"

 

They also give them signs to hold up as well.

 

Not sure if it has been said, but the commercials have to be toned down. It has become too much and in the past few years. Earlier this year, I timed a 6 minute span or so where there was only one play. It's too much. It was score right before the end of the first quarter and 2+ minutes for each commercial break with a kickoff in between.

I couldn't imagine how irritating it would be to be just sitting there with so much time and nothing happening. At least at home, I can be pause and let the buffer fill up a few minutes and then FF through a set of commercials or two.

 

nice to here from hawkeye fan I live in farley haven't been to game in burgh but would love to go but sounds a bit pricey

 

Talk is cheap guys. I see a lot of finger pointing at ticket holders. I am season ticket holder so a few things.
1 - zero chance they can legally fine us for not using tickets. PSLs have a massive legal document around them. It simply won't happen.
2 - everyone assumes they are 'corporate' tickets and not 'family' tickets. In some cases that may be true but not on my experience. I own a company and bought these personally. If I can't go (we go to 5 or 6 / year) I give them to employees. It actually makes it MORE likely to get a butt in the seat because it is less imperative to get cash for them.
3- it is becoming increasingly difficult to sell tickets you can't use. I knew at beginning of season that we couldn't go to the Texans game. I had them posted everywhere (ticketexchange, stubhub, craigslist) for 2 months at FACE VALUE but no one bought them. I then offered them for free to friends / family / employees. Still no takers. Ended up giving them to neighbors kids. BTW - these werent nose bleed seats, they were club level INDOOR seats.
4- the steelers do NOTHING for ticket holders. I don't need perks to own these, I have them because I love football. But after a while you start to feel taken advantage of. I have to pay thousands of dollars months before the season starts. In the past they would send us yearbooks, guides, etc but don't anymore. Last year we got a horribl, cheap clear vinyl bag that 'met official NFL game day standards'. It was supposed to replace my wife's purse... What a joke.
5 - it cost me 1200 for preseason tickets this year which I have to buy, but we all know how absolutely dreadful they are. I donate those to charities but its downright offensive.

Point is... It is not the ticket holder's fault. None of us want to eat tickets, that's crazy. Problem is that demand is waning and we are stuck holding the bag. I have a wife and 2 kids. Life sometimes gets in the way. Monday night games are brutal with kids. Go to school all day, do homework, stay up until 1am and then get up early for school the next day. Its just not worth it, especially when I have other games to choose from. We much prefer Sunday day games like it used to be. And don't say to tough it out, that's easy to say on a message board but I'm a better parent than that. We have absolutely gone to night games before, but its much easier for Sunday when you have the day off vs Monday and being at work/school all day.

One final point, whether its Tomlin, this particular group of players or just a sign of the times, but this can be a hard team to root for. Last years 2-6 start, all the losses to really bad teams, the penalties, the showboating, the sheer stupidity and apparent acceptance of the Bell/Blount incident, etc.

Of course, a game like last week vs. Colts makes it allnworth it.

 

Great post and insight, welcome to the board!

 

This is a great post !
There's probably some things that could be done with the start times of these prime time games that would help. A more regional start time to games would be nice for the Monday and Thursday night games. Something like. 6:30-7:00 for the time zone the game is played in. Sunday games may be a little trickier since they could conflict with the afternoon games.

Problem is that the NFL caters to television networks more than it does to the fans that go to these games.

I'm sure a reasonable soulution could be reached. Winning would solve everything though!

 

I too agree that this is a good post. I've been to Heinz field, to get there, I have to drive for 4 hours, attend the game, and return. It makes for a long day, but I accept that. The struggle for me has been these <moderated> we are in. Nothing political, just a statement that the poor economy that we are living in has made it difficult to pay for gas/parking/beer/tickets/etc. Couple that with the experience of watching the game at home, even with Phil Simms announcing. It is just hard to beat. That being said, if I'm offered tickets for free (posts about trying to give them away) or even reduced, I would suck up all the other costs and go if my schedule allowed.

As far as the corporate tickets comment. A few years ago, they were offering tickets for the September race at Dover. I put my name as one who was interested. When I went to pick up the tickets, I was only given one. Who does that? Who drives several hours and spends the day, just by yourself? Anyway, a woman I worked with saw that I was also getting just "one" ticket and her husband didn't want to go by himself so she gave me her second. Of the dozen or so tickets they had, they were all together in the stands. Sure enough, my buddy and I were the only ones that were there.

Moderator edit: Just say economy, you'll only accomplish derailing the thread the other way.

 

Isightful. I'm just going to blame O'Donnel and be done with this thread.

 

As a fellow season ticket holder...Amen. Especially to the bolded part.

It used to be easy to get friends to go with me. But in recent years its tough. I was turned sour a few years ago during a cold rainy December game against the Bengals when the Steelers were out of it. The one guy who would go to most games with me bailed on Friday night because of the above mentioned factors. I was left with little notice and ended up selling them to a scalper on game day for $40 for the pair. Ever since then I take the first 4, or 4 of the first 5 home games on the schedule (I split my tix with another person and since they are my MIL's I get the choice of games). No more getting stuck with the hot potato late in the season when it is cold and crappy and I literally cannot find ANYONE to go with me....even for free. I have better luck selling them earlier in the season. I can usually get face value out of them as I have at least one guy who will pay that no matter what.

Also thanks for bringing up the lack of 'stuff' from the Steelers. I've completely forgotten that we used to get a media guide every year and that is no more. I enjoyed reading that thing over the summer.

 

lol

 

As another season ticket holder, could not agree more with this. You have stated everything I was feeling as I read through this thread. I travel 2 hours each way to attend and try to never miss. But I have 4 seats now (too hard for dad and mom to make it now) and the 2 extra seats have become impossible to pass on. The reliable fans that once scooped them up have disappeared.

As has been said over and over, great post! Thanks for taking the time and welcome to the board.