Spending money on your team

[MojoMan]

I was struck with one interaction in one of Menudo's threads.

 

I can't remember who the Ravens fan was but he said something like: "Real fans (which Menudo purports to be) go to the game to support their team," not just visit the city of the team. There have been other posters (I think Vet) who indicated that he would most likely shell out the dough to see the Jets play in the SB if they ever got there.

 

Naturally, how much money fans can spend on their teams vary with the fan's family income. However, do you believe that "real fans" put their money where their mouths are? Can a fan who could spend a significant amount (say season tickets) but chooses to spend next to nothing on "his" team be a real fan?

[junebugz]

Naturally, how much money fans can spend on their teams vary with the fan's family income.

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Also, has to do with where you live in relation to your team. As far as a big game, I would rather go on vacation with my wife and kids than blow money on a 4 hour sporting event (although granted it would be a great experience). Depends on the person, financial status, and family factors I guess.

 

Now if you could get tickets at rock bottom prices ... that is a whole different story, but how often does that happen?

[Piranha]

I go to at least 1 home game a year, have

several spamshirts/shirts/and a winter coat, among many other

little things. Cups, pennants, etc.

 

I'd say I support the team.

[Zooty]

I don't see why buying stuff with your teams logo makes you "more of a fan".

 

They guy with the most spamshirts must like his team more?

[MojoMan]

I agree with junebugz about proximity to the stadium and disposable income. There are probably some other factors as well that limit ones ability to spend money on one's team.

 

However, given those variables, an argument can be made that fans that spend a lot on their team, help the team more.

 

Examples: Apparel, paraphenalia, and ticket sales increase team revenues. While player salaries are somewhat controlled, a richer team can build better training facilties, hire more expensive coaches, etc. Also, fans who show up for the games provide more home field advantage.

 

How does sitting at home watching the game on TV really benefit the team?

 

BTW, with rare exceptions, I don't spend much money on spectator sports. However, I don't consider myself a good supporter of the Redskins either.

[Big John]

Examples:  Apparel, paraphenalia, and ticket sales increase team revenues. 

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40% of the ticket goes to a shared funs that is distributed to all teams. This used to go to the visiting team but was changed to this as part of the agreement for realignment.

 

Proceeds from apparel and paraphenalia is shared amongst all teams, regardless of what team's logo is on it. An exception is if you buy that directly from an NFL team's fan site itself.

[Zooty]

However, given those variables, an argument can be made that fans that spend a lot on their team, help the team more.

 

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what Big John said

 

There is profit sharing in the NFL.

 

So no, it doesn't help more unless you have a skybox. Some teams do get a cut of parking and food consessions. So maybe you can help out be eating lots of hot dogs and getting really drunk at the stadium.

Edited January 26, 2006 by Zooty

[CaptainHook]

There is profit sharing in the NFL.  All attendance revenue (except super-boxes), and "officially" licensed merchandise is split equally between all teams.

 

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that is not correct.

 

See Big John's post above.

[Zooty]

that is not correct.

 

See Big John's post above.

 

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My bad, I thought it was all revenue from ticket sales.

[Menudo]

I think trying to "rate" or "rank" a person's fandom is downright silly.

 

I usually go to 1-3 games a year. I am on the waiting list for season tickets. My basement is a Steelers shrine, as I spend much more on Steeler stuff than my wife would like.... However, I think someone who doesn't spend anything on their team, can be just as good of a fan as someone who spends tons.

 

It is all about what the team means to you. I can honestly say, that whether it is a good thing or bad thing, the Steelers have brought a lot of joy to my life. Whether they win or lose, I have something that I consider great to do every Sunday during the football season. I've gone to countless games, and still get exteremley excited when I go through the corridor and it opens up into the stadium. I am like a kid when it comes to watching and rooting for the Steelers, and with all of the pressures and stresses that go along with getting older, I am thankful for the Steelers and footall in general.

 

I'm sure people that know me and my family in my life think that it is somehow wrong that we (Dad, Me, and even my Mom) are so into something like football, but, I must say that the bond my Dad and I had through the Steelers is something I will never forget until the day I die, and if the Steelers win next week, he is going to be the absolute first thing I think of, and like usual, the first one I close my eyes to talk to. I have perspective on things, and know that football is nothing compared to family & friends, but, I love it, and am not ashamed to admit it.

Edited January 26, 2006 by Menudo

[MojoMan]

40% of the ticket goes to a shared funs that is distributed to all teams.  This used to go to the visiting team but was changed to this as part of the agreement for realignment.

 

Proceeds from apparel and paraphenalia is shared amongst all teams, regardless of what team's logo is on it.  An exception is if you buy that directly from an NFL team's fan site itself.

 

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I stand corrected [oversimplification of the benefit of buying tickets and other stuff to the team's balance sheet]. Once again Big John drops knowledge.

Edited January 26, 2006 by MojoMan

[proninja]

Google doesn't actually have a computer powering their website. Any search simply gets sent to Big John, and he answers the question.

[Ziachild007]

I go to at least 1 home game a year, have

several spamshirts/shirts/and a winter coat, among many other

little things. Cups, pennants, etc.

 

I'd say I support the team.

 

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Same here, but I live about 4-1/2 hours from Houston, so the wife and I usually make it a weekend getaway.

[Vet]

I don't see how spending my money helps the team.

 

There is a salary cap, and as far as I can tell, there are no teams that don't make enough money to pay players up to the salary cap max. (Whether individual owners decide to do so or not is a different story.) Heck, the shared revenue from the TV contracts alone is probably enough to cover player, coaches, and organizational expenses. Even if a team never sold a ticket or a single replica jersey, I'd bet they'd still have the resources to field a competitive team. Again, whether they choose to spend the money in that fashion is another story.

 

I go to games and spamshirts and hats and stuff, but only because I like them. The incremental income from those sales, however, is not going to help the team. It's just going to line the owner's pocket.

 

Edit: I just did a quick search - The NFL television contract is worth $17.6 billion over 5 years. That's $110 million per team per year just from television (yeah, I realize there are league expenses and whatnot). But the salary cap is around $85 million - so most, if not all, of the player salaries are being covered by the television revenues. Most NFL teams sell out, so assume 70K times $35 bucks for 10 games per year - that's another $24.5 million per team. (and that's before luxury boxes and concession/parking revenues, etc.) Maybe you could argue that the money you spend on crap like shirts and hats could be used for a better training facility or something - but in reality it goes into the owner's pocket.

Edited January 26, 2006 by Vet

[Perchoutofwater]

I think a real fan will at least buy some of their teams merchandise, such as hats, jersey's, and what not. I spend quite a bit of money on football related stuff, but it doesn't necessarily support the team. I collect autographed jersey's, balls, and helmets, and while the team gets some money for the cost of the items that are autographed, they don't see most of it.

 

I think a real fan will make a point to see a few game in person if their geographical location permits it. I live about 2 hours away from Dallas, and I make about 3 games a year. If I lived in Irving, I might make 5-6.

[TripleW64]

Not sure if $$ and level of fandom are related. I have a couple spamshirts, hats, etc. but I wouldn't say I'm more of a fan now that I have a little cash than when I was, say, in college or high school when I couldn't get my hands on any money.

[Vet]

How does sitting at home watching the game on TV really benefit the team?

 

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Because Anheuser Busch knows you're sitting there watching your team. So they (and other advertisers) fork over about $3.5 billion in advertising revenue to the television networks. Who in turn fork it over to the NFL (profit margins on sports programming are very low - in many cases its a loss-leader for the networks - notice how many times the networks plug their own shows during a football broadcast). And that money, after league management expenses, is split among the teams. And you're local team gets a 1/32 cut. And that 1/32 cut is the single biggest revenue stream the team has.

 

So you could argue that the guy sitting at home on his couch is actually supporting the team more than the guy sitting in Section 302 spilling beer on his replica jersey - at least from a financial perspective.

[Bonehand]

How does sitting at home watching the game on TV really benefit the team?

 

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In simplistic terms, by watching the game, you are increasing the ratings share for your teams games, which makes the games more appealing to advertisers, who in turn pay money for advertising during the games, which in part goes to the team.

 

So even by doing nothing but watching the game, it can be argued that you are an invaluable part of the team-support equation.

 

Edited: Vet beat me...

Edited January 26, 2006 by Bonehand

[Bonehand]

Proceeds from apparel and paraphenalia is shared amongst all teams, regardless of what team's logo is on it.  An exception is if you buy that directly from an NFL team's fan site itself.

 

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Question: With regards to merchandise, does anyone know what the deal is with the Cowboys? Are they in some ways separate from this, or have their own licensing? I know that in the NFL Shop catalog there are lots of things that aren't available for Cowboys.

Edited January 26, 2006 by Bonehand

[NinersIn2006!]

I think trying to "rate" or "rank" a person's fandom is downright silly.

 

I usually go to 1-3 games a year.  I am on the waiting list for season tickets.  My basement is a Steelers shrine, as I spend much more on Steeler stuff than my wife would like....     However, I think someone who doesn't spend anything on their team, can be just as good of a fan as someone who spends tons. 

 

It is all about what the team means to you.  I can honestly say, that whether it is a good thing or bad thing, the Steelers have brought a lot of joy to my life.  Whether they win or lose, I have something that I consider great to do every Sunday during the football season.  I've gone to countless games, and still get exteremley excited when I go through the corridor and it opens up into the stadium.  I am like a kid when it comes to watching and rooting for the Steelers, and with all of the pressures and stresses that go along with getting older, I am thankful for the Steelers and footall in general.

 

I'm sure people that know me and my family in my life think that it is somehow wrong  that we (Dad, Me, and even my Mom) are so into something like football, but, I must say that the bond my Dad and I had through the Steelers is something I will never forget until the day I die, and if the Steelers win next week, he is going to be the absolute first thing I think of, and like usual, the first one I close my eyes to talk to.  I have perspective on things, and know that football is nothing compared to family & friends, but, I love it, and am not ashamed to admit it.

 

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What he said...except replace Niners for Steelers

 

One thing I will add though, is where you are at when your team is down. I got accused early in life of being a "front runner" Niner fan. I wasn't one (its kind of a funny story how I became a Niner fan when I was like 3!!), but I can see how one could get that. It was easy being a Niner fan growing up.

 

But I can honestly say I am just as die-hard now, as I was then (if not more, since I understand the game more). That is part of being a "true" fan. And there is part of me that is thankful for this downtime. I will experience an excitement when we get over the hump that will be GREAT. SB 23, 24, and 29 (the ones I have good memories of) were great, but I do believe the next one we get will be ten times greater than any of those, since we all have had to wait.

[Vet]

Question: With regards to merchandise, does anyone know what the deal is with the Cowboys? Are they in some ways separate from this, or have their own licensing? I know that in the NFL Shop catalog there are lots of things that aren't available for Cowboys.

 

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Hmmm...I don't have all the information at my fingertips right now, so I'm kind of thinking out loud here. This may not be 100% accurate.

 

I know the Cowboys went against the league several years ago and struck their own deal with crappy shoes from spammers. And, at that time, they may have had their apparel and stuff pulled from "official NFL" sites and catalogs.

 

But I thought the NFL deal with Reebok that went into effect in 2004 was all-emcompassing and superceded the Cowboy/crappy shoes from spammers deal. Which would mean that Cowboy paraphenelia should be available everywhere that NFL licenced products are sold.

 

But like I said - I'm not 100% sure.

 

Any Cowboy fans out there know if the team still has the crappy shoes from spammers logo on their spamshirts? Or did they switch to Reebok last year?

[charty]

I'll give a for instance.

Super Bowl 38 in Houston. I made reservations about a year in advance at the Wyndham, for $100 a night. My reservation got cancelled, I fought with the hotel for a month, and finally it was reinstated.

I have a family member that works for AA, so I flew to Dallas for like $100 RT, and rented a car to drive to Houston. All told, after splitting hotel, car, etc. with a couple buddies, my trip cost $250.

The Wyndham ended up being the team hotel of the Panthers.

Which besides the $100 a night I was getting, hitting the jackpot of picking an NFL hotel was the other reason they didn't want to "hold" my reservation.

 

Ticket prices were high all week. There were a million Pats fans down there, and nine out of ten people said "no I don't have tickets, the price will go down". I put a limit of maybe $700 for a ticket, and wasn't going to go over it. There were absolutely no tickets available. We waited until kickoff at the will call to see if any were being released, and then raced to a bar. Going to the host city, game or not, is a good time, and I would try to do it everytime my team is in it. If you do some good planning, it can be done pretty cheaply.

 

Granted, I had only spent $250 for hotel/airfare/car up to this point, so I'm sure if I had spent $1500 on that stuff, I might have said "I've already spent $1500, I'm paying whatever it takes to get in that game".

Edited January 26, 2006 by charty

[Vet]

...I have a family member that works for AA.

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I have a few family members that go to AA.

[Big John]

Any Cowboy fans out there know if the team still has the crappy shoes from spammers logo on their spamshirts?  Or did they switch to Reebok last year?

 

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They switched to Reebok in 2001, like all the non-Adadias teams. (Those 5 teams switched in 2002)

[MojoMan]

Because Anheuser Busch knows you're sitting there watching your team.  So they (and other advertisers) fork over about $3.5 billion in advertising revenue to the television networks.  Who in turn fork it over to the NFL (profit margins on sports programming are very low - in many cases its a loss-leader for the networks - notice how many times the networks plug their own shows during a football broadcast).  And that money, after league management expenses, is split among the teams.  And you're local team gets a 1/32 cut.  And that 1/32 cut is the single biggest revenue stream the team has.

 

So you could argue that the guy sitting at home on his couch is actually supporting the team more than the guy sitting in Section 302 spilling beer on his replica jersey - at least from a financial perspective.

 

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This answer is better than Menudo's. Much better than my crappy argument too although the home team benefits a lot from a full house of rowdy, intelligent (make noise when the home team is on D) fans.

Edited January 26, 2006 by MojoMan