March 24, 2010

NFL Wants Fans to Watch TV at NFL Games: The NFL has reached a new $720 million, four-year TV deal selling the eyeballs of viewers in an unlikely place -- its own games. The Verizon Mobile agreement enables fans to stream games live on mobile phones on the NFL's RedZone Channel. "The new revenue streams are here. It's a new frontier that will lead to newer frontiers," said New York Giants owner Steve Tisch.

posted by rcade to football at 09:32 AM - 4 comments

I'm just curious about the impulse to "lure fans to off their couch" to the games. Is attendance at NFL games suffering right now? Of course, of course ... you need to "keep with the times" and offer innovative services ... but am I alone in thinking that "the game itself" should/will always be sufficient to draw people to the stadium?

Personally, this kind of reminds me of my early days bettin' the ponies. I went to the track as a nice afternoon/evening outting. Then the off-track betting parlour was an acceptible alternative. Then, the off-track betting and the at-the-track experience was more than quadrupled with multiple tracks going simultaneously. I couldn't handle it all. Likewise, I still feel lucky if I can hunker down for a complete NFL game or two on the tube any given Sunday. The on-screen tracker and the pre-/halftime/post-game desks give me more than enough highlights to feel in touch.

whew, here endeth the rant

I guess what I'm trying to say is that this is super-cool ... but I just am choosing to stick my stake in the ground and play the traditionalist card when it comes to live sporting events. I personally kind of like to keep the one game I am lucky enough to be able to attend sacred---enjoy it all on its own.

posted by Spitztengle at 12:46 PM on March 24, 2010

"The new revenue streams are here. It's a new frontier that will lead to newer frontiers," said New York Giants owner Steve Tisch.

Translation: "Hey, guys, the techies just thought up a new way to make money. This is great for the game (wink, wink)!! We'll just say we want to improve attendance, and everyone will eat it up. We don't have to say that some cities are putting such a lousy product on the field that nobody wants to lay out heavy bucks to watch his team get crushed."

posted by Howard_T at 03:51 PM on March 24, 2010

"The new revenue streams are here. It's a new frontier that will lead to newer frontiers," said New York Giants owner Steve Tisch.

That's an awful lot of new.

posted by owlhouse at 04:20 PM on March 24, 2010

You should see his paradigms.

posted by yerfatma at 05:24 PM on March 24, 2010

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