Report: Buccaneers are losing fans at a rapid pace

[cyberdude558]

TAMPA - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are losing fans, and they’re losing fans fast.
 
At least that’s what attendance records compiled by ESPN and 24/7 Wall St. indicate.
 
A report by FOX Business has compiled the records and listed the 12 sports franchises to lose the most fans based on attendance in the past decade.
 
The Bucs rank ninth among all teams in the four major league sports: The NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL. The 12 teams listed in the report have lost more than 20 percent of its attendance over the time span.
 
The Buccaneers’ attendance has decreased 24.78 percent since 2001, the year before they won Super Bowl XXVII in 2002.
 
“The team spent the remainder of the decade in a state of flux, alternating between making the playoffs and having abysmal seasons,” the report says. “One such season was 2009, when the Bucs amassed only three wins. Ticket sales hovered above 500,000 through most of the decade, but dropped precipitously in the last two years. In 2008, there were 516,000 game attendees. By 2010, that number had dropped to just 394,000.”
 
Last season, the Bucs had all eight regular-season games blacked out because of poor attendance. Tampa Bay’s season opener against the Detroit Lions on Sunday was also blacked out.

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/sports/nfl/buccaneers/records:-tampa-bay-buccaneers-losing-fans-at-rapid-pace-091511

[jerseybucsfan]

But not on a list you want to be included on.

http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=ys-247wallstreet-pro_teams_losing_fans_091511

No real analysis is offered. The interesting thing about this list is the variety of cities represented. Oakland twice, but also Cleveland, Baltimore, Seattle, Detroit, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Tampa, Indianapolis and Philadelphia.
Not mentioned but could easily make the list: LA (Dodgers have had a huge attendance drop with ownership mess), New York (Mets peaked a 4 million in home attendance in 2008 and will be about 40 percent less this year).
Notice that MANY on that list have strong NFL franchises, but weak teams in other cities. Clearly fans are frontrunners in those cities to the point of choosing to spend most or ALL of their disposable income on their WINNING teams.
Example: The more the Steelers win, it certainly doesn't help the Pirates. Philly hasn't always supported the Eagles well. But winning all the time, they sell out consistently. Phillies fall into same category. But Sixers go from top ticket to a distant fourth in the city once they don't win for a decade.

[BucsFTW]

But not on a list you want to be included on.

http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=ys-247wallstreet-pro_teams_losing_fans_091511

No real analysis is offered. The interesting thing about this list is the variety of cities represented. Oakland twice, but also Cleveland, Baltimore, Seattle, Detroit, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Tampa, Indianapolis and Philadelphia.
Not mentioned but could easily make the list: LA (Dodgers have had a huge attendance drop with ownership mess), New York (Mets peaked a 4 million in home attendance in 2008 and will be about 40 percent less this year).
Notice that MANY on that list have strong NFL franchises, but weak teams in other cities. Clearly fans are frontrunners in those cities to the point of choosing to spend most or ALL of their disposable income on their WINNING teams.
Example: The more the Steelers win, it certainly doesn't help the Pirates. Philly hasn't always supported the Eagles well. But winning all the time, they sell out consistently. Phillies fall into same category. But Sixers go from top ticket to a distant fourth in the city once they don't win for a decade.

Thanks for the article Jersey...

I do appreciate when our board members are kind enough to post articles that are relavant to our Bucs.  To just Copy & Paste an article is perfectly fine, but to do so without any interjection of the poster's personal thoughts on the article is somewhat disappointing though.  Thanks for your thoughts on it Jersey...

I am a little disappointed that you didn't actually read the artice before commenting on it though...  The following is an excerpt from the same article:
"MLB teams such as Los Angeles and Minnesota saw crowds increase more than 50 percent, while Philadelphia’s attendance doubled."

When actual "hard data" and analysis IS provided, and simply ignored, it just takes away from the post... JMNSHO.

[BucNY]

Don't care how pathetic the fan base in Tampa is. Bunch of old people that don't like change anyways. No surprise here.

[jerseybucsfan]

That's an error. The Dodgers have had a decrease in attendance. You're misreading the article.
The point I'm making about the Phillies, and maybe you're misconstruing my point, is that their baseball team is selling out now, but they have not always done that. Did Philly fans take their disposable income and shift it from the Sixers to the Phils?

[jerseybucsfan]

Cyber and I posted regarding the same story. I think there's a lot to be analyzed from this article. Variety of cities. Not just transient populations here.

[RHBucsFan]

I'm trying to find a pair of tickets to the Falcons game next weekend and am having trouble finding anything under $40/ea in a stadium that will end up being half empty. This is completely assinine. Why they have no interest in marketing their product and making it accessible to those interested is beyond me.

[jerseybucsfan]

RH, you bring up a good point. Lowering ticket prices for those already going does nothing or at least very little to spark fan attendance. Let's say you have 10K people on the fence. They go to the game if it's $30 a ticket. But if you boost the price to $60 or more for the next segment of tickets they won't go.
You stimulate fan interest to having 20K people on the fence. Once you sell out all the $30 tickets, the new fans you attracted won't go to the game. You stubbornly have too many tickets in your stadium with prices too high.
It doesn't matter that you lowered ticket prices across the board. Hypothetically if your tickets are $100 beyond what someone will pay, lowering the price $20 does nothing. It's just superficial posturing for the media.

[BucsFTW]

Wow. Another negative thread from Cyber**CENSORED**. Go Bucs!

It's NOT like cyber actually wrote the article...  Hell, I appreciate the effort to bring us Bucs fans ANY information pertinant to our Bucs.

He (and yourself) would be hard pressed to find the "blue skys and pretty butterfly" articles it sounds like you're looking for.

If the team's in any degree of a state of SUCKAGE - that's the types of articles you can expect to find.  And they are.

[BucNY]

I'm trying to find a pair of tickets to the Falcons game next weekend and am having trouble finding anything under $40/ea in a stadium that will end up being half empty. This is completely assinine. Why they have no interest in marketing their product and making it accessible to those interested is beyond me.

Less than $40 a ticket?? What are you F'ing kidding me with that **CENSORED**? Is there something wrong with you mentally?

Tell me this, how much do they charge for tickets in the same stadium to a USF game? Wow, it's professional sports. The players are paid millions. The stadium worth hundreds of millions. Reality check brother....

This is what is wrong with the Tampa Bay fan base. People like you. Check the Falcons website, see what their tickets are going for, keep in mind RJS is one of the nicest stadiums in the league with the best facilities.

[jerseybucsfan]

What would be an interesting analysis would be to go from city to city. Take mean finish over a period of time and compare ticket sale flux per CITY.
How do you quantify it on teams that sell out? But look at a city like Pittsburgh. If the Steelers always sell out, the Penguins increase in ticket sales, is there any way the Pirates can EVER get a big boost or even keep even in ticket sales when the disposable income for that fanbase is decreasing?

[jerseybucsfan]

One game is a state of suckage? Gimme a break.

[DLF54927]

Well, not finishing at .500 or better in two decades certainly will kill any fan base.

Did they just look at raw numbers?  The Lions moved to a much smaller stadium in 2002; 80,311 to 64,500.  Don't see how that wouldn't deserve a mention in an attendance article/analysis.

[BucsFTW]

RH, you bring up a good point. Lowering ticket prices for those already going does nothing or at least very little to spark fan attendance. Let's say you have 10K people on the fence. They go to the game if it's $30 a ticket. But if you boost the price to $60 or more for the next segment of tickets they won't go.
You stimulate fan interest to having 20K people on the fence. Once you sell out all the $30 tickets, the new fans you attracted won't go to the game. You stubbornly have too many tickets in your stadium with prices too high.
It doesn't matter that you lowered ticket prices across the board. Hypothetically if your tickets are $100 beyond what someone will pay, lowering the price $20 does nothing. It's just superficial posturing for the media.

Jersey...  Have another cup of joe, and add an extra sugar too!  I'm trying to follow your train of thought, and it's simply not making any sense...

What the heck are you trying to say?  The following comments are confusing:
"Lowering ticket prices for those already going does nothing or at least very little to spark fan attendance."
Huh....

Then, there's this:
"Let's say you have 10K people on the fence. They go to the game if it's $30 a ticket. But if you boost the price to $60 or more for the next segment of tickets they won't go."
When you say "boost the price"...  Do you actually mean "leave the price what it is, and NOT reduce it for the next game?"  Are you implying that if they lower the price for a segment of tickets (or for a particular date), they should lower them permanently?

The rest of the post is even less clear, and I shouldn't even try to translate it, but...  If I'm comprehending your thoughts, I get this:
We lowered ticket prices on 10K tickets to $30.
10K fans get to attend.  (How you can assume they are "new fans" is simply ridiculous.)
For the next game, those same tickets AREN'T lowered.
The same 10K fans that came at $30 per ticket, won't come at the original higher price, and they're considered "On the fence" by you?

How is having 10K additional fans "on the fence" considered "stimulating fan interest"?  Did you mean "apathy" instead of the word "interest".

Clarification maybe?

[lyronmewis]

I'm trying to find a pair of tickets to the Falcons game next weekend and am having trouble finding anything under $40/ea in a stadium that will end up being half empty. This is completely assinine. Why they have no interest in marketing their product and making it accessible to those interested is beyond me.

Less than $40 a ticket?? What are you F'ing kidding me with that **CENSORED**? Is there something wrong with you mentally?

Tell me this, how much do they charge for tickets in the same stadium to a USF game? Wow, it's professional sports. The players are paid millions. The stadium worth hundreds of millions. Reality check brother....

This is what is wrong with the Tampa Bay fan base. People like you. Check the Falcons website, see what their tickets are going for, keep in mind RJS is one of the nicest stadiums in the league with the best facilities.

Prices are determined by supply and demand, not by how good something is.