[h=2]Dolphins ticket sales worst in 28 years[/h]Views343Comments8
08:11 AM ET 09.04 | Not only have a couple hundred premium seat holders stiffed the Dolphins on 2011 payments, but season ticket sales are in the low 40,000s, the worst in 28 years. The team hopes to end up around 45,000, way down from 61,000 in 2006 and 51,000 last year.
Miami Herald
http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/nfl#ixzz1Wzc2jX32
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Whether it's in front of a sell out crowd or a crowd of 10 people, the Phins will still kick your ***.
unluckyluciano, Aquafin, and 10 others like this. -
Larryfinfan 17-0...Priceless Club Member
Aquafin, DolfanJake and maynard like this. -
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Bad economy + team that won 1 home game + no splashy big time free agent signings
Not surprising. If the team comes out of the gate strong and wins a few home games, ticket sales will pick up.Aquafin, Rick 1966, siciliansith and 1 other person like this. -
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I think dropping the prices and holding well advertised sales would make a difference, absolutely. I hadn't really planned on buying season tickets or anything but I know at one point they had a one-day sale of season tickets and the price was low enough that even I was like...damn, I might do that. They allotted a special number of tickets for that one-day sale and sold out of them immediately. Holding sales and specials would absolutely make a difference IMO.
You really have a confluence of factors leading to this:
1. The effect of the lockout is very real and the NFL under-estimated it. They were very lax in their handling of the timeline and only got serious with each other at the very last, last, last possible minute. Stephen Ross can't blame his fellow owners because he showed at various points with his statements that he was among the most hardline of the owners in their stance against players, and some of his statements may have influenced the negotiations negatively.
2. Fan enthusiasm for the Dolphins in particular is bad right now, like it or not. They ended the year with a second straight late-season swoon, including the worst performance I've seen the Dolphins put on since the 62-7 playoff showing, and their answer seems to be "more of the same". More Chad Henne. More Tony Sparano. Only two new coaches on the offense (Nixon and Daboll). Taking a guy that's never been a featured back even in college, has a dubious record of carrying the ball, and making him your featured back. No "future" guy to groom at the QB position. Just more of the same. Whether it's right or wrong, they had to know the fans wouldn't like it.
3. This is a terrible economy right now, especially in Florida. People are pinching pennies all over the place and a lot are unemployed, and let's face it going to a football game as opposed to watching it on television is increasingly becoming a luxury item. Every year ticket prices and expenses combine with the increasing quality of the home experience (bigger, cheaper, higher quality televisions; better television broadcasts) to make attending football games out of reach for the small folk, only to be attended by the wealthy.
4. I think the Miami Heat really are legitimately having an effect. Maybe some disagree but I think they are.Paul 13, DolfanJake, Dolfan984 and 3 others like this. -
Season tickets are a luxury item. If people are pinching pennies and/or unemployed, a $100 drop isn't going to make them splurge or change their enthusiasm for the team. The only thing that would change the sales is winning or bringing in some name that would get people excited.
steveincolorado likes this. -
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When I wrote on here several months ago that I would not be renewing the four season tickets I have been purchasing for the last 30 years. There were several individuals on this forum who told me that it didn't matter, because there were plenty of Dolphin fans who would buy these tickets. I also stated at that time there were several season ticket holders I knew who also were not going to be renewing their season tickets. I always figured that the Dolphins were going to have a very difficult time selling season tickets this year and I warned that several of the Dolphin games would likely be blacked out.
I don't know about many of the former season tickets and whether or not it was a financial reason they did not renew their tickets. I do know that the cost of going to the games had nothing to do with my decision not to renew my tickets. My decision was based totally on how Ross has managed the team and the organization since he purchased the team. He seems to care far more about bringing in celebrity minority owners than he does about putting a winning team on the field. I don't think Ireland and Sparano are up to the task of turning this team around and becoming a serious playoff contender. While I will miss attending games and seeing many of the fans I have befriended over the many years I have been a season ticket holder. I just did not feel that I could justify continuing to spend thousands of dollars a year on season tickets, when I no longer have faith that the Dolphins are really interested in providing season ticket holders a product which we can be proud of. If Ross actually does the right thing and brings in a new GM and Head Coach next year and shows he is really committed to returning the Dolphins to the organization it was during the Shula years. I will gladly purchase season tickets for the 2012 season. As for this season, I will watch the Dolphins when their games are on TV and when they are blacked out, I will go play 18 holes and find out the score when I get home from the golf course.DolfanJake, steveincolorado and bigbry like this. -
There's also the fact that the NFL is a sport that's as good, if not better, on TV than it is in real life. When I'm at home, I don't have to pay $8 for a beer unless it's a Chimay or a 12 pack of Yuengling. I don't have to pay $9 for dried out chicken tenders and soggy fries. Not to mention, for the early games in the season, I can sit at home at 74 degrees with plenty of room to stretch my legs instead of being crammed into a 18"x18" seat with 70,000 people in 95 degree weather and 90% humidity. Also, there's freedom to move around the dial when the game you want to watch is on commercial break.
Paul 13, DolfanJake, maynard and 1 other person like this. -
Prior to waiver awards today, the Dolphins now have 13 new members of the team. There are the six draft picks Mike Pouncey, Daniel Thomas, Clyde Gates, Charles Clay, Jimmy Wilson and Frank Kearse, plus Reggie Bush, Jason Taylor, Jason Trusnik, Marc Colombo, Kevin Burnett, Marvin Mitchell and Matt Moore.
I think that's a strong "we were always on the right track" statement from the team...and if the public is putting a tighter hold on their wallets, part of it is because they disagree.DolfanJake likes this. -
If we dont win this year it'll only get worse.
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DolfanJake likes this.
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Whatever good this new coaching staff may have done is largely negated by the lockout.
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DolfanJake likes this.
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Not a surprise.
Usually when I heard about some Dolphins' headline, it was something negative. They did some nice things, signing Bush / Burnett and having high player organized workouts, but this is the public perception of a disorganized franchise:
Ross flying across the county to interview coach, Sparano extended!
Dolphins hire new offensive coordinator Daboll, the OC of the only team ranked lower than the Dolphins in scoring
Dolphins cut personnel salaries during lockout, lot of teams do this but only becomes a national story when the Dolphins did it
Ross/Ireland/Sparano we have to find a better QB all offseason, Henne is ranked a bottom 5 QB in most opinion polls
Dolphins are going to draft Ingram & Mallet, Dolphins draft Pouncey and Thomas
Marshall stabbed by GF, last remnant of a diva receiver era
Dolphins don't offer to resign Ricky or Ronnie, they sign with Baltimore and Eagles
Dolphins sign arguably the worst rated RT in the league, Dolphins are the Cowboy's castoff practice squad
Dolphins to honor Tebow at home game, pissed off Hurricanes
Dolphins bring in woman beater Larry Johnson, cut him a week later after he performs decently -
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In speaking towards how Ross run the organization, I've heard that he is a micro-manager.
That some of his decisions had resulted in an overall lowering of morale inside the building (non-football people) and of others that simply didn't make sense, and were proven as such.DolfanJake and Section126 like this. -
Don't get me wrong winning one game at home hurts and is a large factor but cost are up everywhere and we are all tightening the belts to be safe. JMO
Lower costs people will come, and win games.
EDIT: Also you starting this topic up makes me think you are trolling a bit! My advice get new bait. -
Put a good Dolphins team on the field and the Heat won't matter in regards to Dolphins ticket sales. A competitive football team would never be hurt by basketball. Unless south Florida is a poorer football market than I realize. I am a north Floridian so I could be missing something here. I currently live near Baltimore. The 90s Chicago Bulls could jump into a fountain of youth, reunite, and come to Baltimore and they wouldn't outdraw or take away from the Ravens. There's no way. I don't see what the Heat have to do with the Miami Dolphins.
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I get where you're coming from, but we'll have to agree to disagree about the organizational chart. Just as an example, Tim Cook may not be new to Apple, but he's still their new CEO. -
I really dont care if I ever go to another NFL game. It's just costs too damn much. I'd rather stay at home and watch it on tv with my friends. I have 5 tv's going every Sunday and that is more fun. I don't have to deal with the traffic, high priced food/drinks.
In 2008 when the Dolphins came out here to Denver, I had no intentions of going to the game, but I got free club level tickets, so I went. If I had to pay for those tickets, face value of $350 each, no way I would have gone.
It just costs too much to go to a game anymore. To top it off, the NFL is not about football anymore, it's about money. The league is very pussified now.BlameItOnTheHenne likes this. -
steveincolorado likes this.
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I looked up tickets for when the Dolphins are here against the Jets and Giants. Prices have skyrocketed here because of the PSL people have to pay to buy season tickets. Can't find a ticket for below $100...and that's for the upper deck. It's even worse for the Giants because all their tickets are sold through season tickets, the Jets have some individual tickets that go on sale up there, but they're still expensive. Would rather watch on TV.
Dolphins may be hurt also by a lack of individual sales to the many fans who live outside of Miami. There are tons who've flown down to Miami and went to the Dolphins game and it was like a vacation. I'm assuming that number has dropped a lot. They should just lower prices for the upper deck, or work out promotions with grocery stores or something where you spend a certain amount you get cheap tickets. Dolphins are bad with their promotions, never heard of them doing anything like that. When the team starts winning again you can raise prices back to normal and people will go.
I'm actually surprised they sold 61,000 season tickets in 2005 after that awful 2004 season. Have a 10-6 season or better and people will show. Look at 2009, those primetime games were the loudest that stadium was since Ricky's first year.
They've also gotten lots of negative press and fans see the FO as stubborn, which is true.DolfanJake likes this. -
What's next for the owners is to put in pay to piss in the bathrooms. I also saw the new 2011 Rebok hat was selling for $36 phucking dollars? I know this is the last year for Rebok, but Phuc that. I'm cool with 18-20 bucks for a hat or tee, but 36.....they can kiss my a$$.
siciliansith likes this. -
One has sold out season tickets for the next 4 years and has a waiting list while charging individuals $250 just to be on a list to have the privilege of buying season tickets.
The other is the Miami Dolphins.
To put it in perspective:
The Heat has sold 18k season tickets for 4 years. That is the equivalent of the Dolphins selling 72k season tickets in one year, or the Dolphins locking in sellouts for the next 4 years.
And to top it off...the average ticket prices are HIGHER for the Heat.
In short..it has EVERYTHING to do with the Heat.
and the simple facts are that the Miami Heat treats their customers much much better. The Dolphins treat you like a nuisance.DolfanJake likes this. -
You could argue the fact that fans won't get to see the Heat this year should help the dolphins sell tix. -
DolfanJake likes this.
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Really? YOU of all people posting this? Mr. buy a jersey get two free tickets to a game? GTFO.
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https://www.teammarketing.com/public/files/2010_NFL_FCI.pdf
The Above URL will lead you to a chart that shows the FCI, or essentially what costs an average family of four to attend football games. The FCI includes Two adult tickets, Two child tickets, Four small soft drinks, Two beers, Four Hotdogs, Two Progams, parking, and Two adult hats. You'll see that the average FCI is $420.54, and the dolphins are in the lower tier at $386.16. The Cowboys are the highest at $617.80. Now even though we are below average, it is still hard for some people to swallow. Now this is one of the reasons that I am opposed to the building of a new stadium. If a new stadium is built you will see prices increase drastically, especially due to PSL's like other posters have mentioned.
Now Stephen Ross and his crazy ideas aren't always the best, and they don't go over very well. However I understand why he is doing the things, because like the poster above many people are turning to staying home since it is cheaper, cooler and you generally get better quality video.steveincolorado likes this. -
I hate to admit it but there is nothing like a black out to get my azz to drive down to a game.Mabey more people in the seats would be a good thing.
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Im not really into what it costs a average family for one team compared to another, but the bottom line is how much is it going to cost me. Even though I got those tickets for free, I still paid like 19 bucks (ish) for fricking nachos. I have family that live very close to Mile High, so parking cost is not a issue. Watching a game on tv (for me) is better because you get replays and you usually get good video. At the game, you miss so much.
Bottem line is, I'm not going to pay that much to support any team.
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