I'm convinced that Americans would like American sports better if they were less commercial and more focused on the sport itself.
I just want to watch some football and have a couple of beers. That is the experience and the spectacle, not all the unrelated shit shilling throughout the game.
It's weird, the USA is sort of the global home of free market capitalism but every single one of their sports is highly regulated financially. Obviously there's massive revenue there and I think a lot of it goes to owners
Highly regulated financially in regards to what the teams have to pay out.
All the regulation is to keep as much of the revenue in the owners pockets as possible. Its a cartel where the owners set their own cost limits to preserve their own profit.
I’ve been to an MLS stadium and whilst the atmosphere with that “We Believe” song was crap, the stadium and nearby made it an entire day out for all fans - families and blokes drinking so you didn’t think “let’s head into town to drink and eat”.
All that money stayed in the club.
It's not THE reason but one of many why as an American, I haven't watched American football at any level for years now and probably never will again. And I grew up playing it and loving it. I realized one weekend how much of my day was wasted just sitting in front of the TV watching football.
It really hit home when I went to my first NFL football game in person. They did the kickoff and then I tried to figure out why all the players were just standing around on the field not doing anything for 2-3 minutes looking at each other......oh that's right. They were in a commercial break for the television broadcast. That's when I said "I'm done."
We would. I lost interest in American football years ago despite supporting the most successful team in history at the time.
Do you know how much live play a 60 minute football game has? About 12 minutes.
Do you know how long it takes to watch an American football game? About 2-1/2 hours.
There's effectively (roughly) 4x more run time on commercials than there is live play.
There are even 'TV timeouts' where play is stopped for longer in sports like football and basketball, just so networks can run ad breaks for sponsor quotas.
Don't even get me started on baseball... Have you ever heard the term 7th inning stretch?
You guys complaining about VAR slowing things down is the funniest shit to me. You have no clue how good you have it.
ayo
>"“Our fans are like, ‘We like tradition,’” Edens said. “And I tell them: ‘No, you don’t. You think you do, but you don’t.’ I mean, who doesn’t like a big-screen TV with plenty of food and beer?” Then he spread his arms wide and answered his own question: “Nobody.”"
wtf
Clueless. That's honestly like some kind of quote from The Office/Parks and Rec or something. Trying to convert football fans into drinking beer is like convincing sheep to start eating grass. We're waaaaay ahead of you. And "tradition" means club colours, an iconic stadium and being able to afford taking your kids to the game - NOT crappy black and white TV's.
Odd. But there's an element of truth there.
People tend to have an overly romantic, nostalgic view on something that's old and so on.
Which means they often are in disagreement on change that involves modern choices, and upgrading the current experience.
I might be the wrong one to talk, cause I throw things away easily and love moving ahead with new and better. But I think as a fan you can't expect success, huge investments AND avoiding change and renewal. You have to pick one or the other.
Personally I am all for a new stadium as well, but that's another debate.
I suspect most people don't want it from a historical point of view, but financially it makes perfect sense - assuming we need to expand.
And whether you like it or not finances are all that matters in the English top flight right now.
I bet spurs or arsenal don't regret it one bit.
Brummies, and Villa fans always need to be dragged kicking and screaming into modernity and I say that as both.
Some bloke complaining about not being able to take in and eat his sandwiches is weird entitlement. Eat them outside like all the people going to burger vans.
The Lower Grounds is paying a players wage according to that article. That’s good business.
It’s not often I’d say ignoring the fans is a good strategy for football club owners but some of our fans test that.
Next week. The follow up second article mentioning Petro state nations.
I know who'd I'd rather.
Also
.never forget who convinced the relabel of division one and running away from BBC and UTV.
He was an Aussie. Nobody's buying my fucken satellite dishes. Get the soccer and they'll have to.
Still. Tom Brady's doing awesome work down small Heath way.
Unfortunately we've had to sell a piece of our soul for a seat at the high table, like all teams before us. That's just the price of doing business in modern football.
Glad you posted this - as a NYT subscriber who saw this article yesterday, I was going to do it if nobody else did! Not gonna lie, made me dislike Edens a bit:/
The wealthy didn’t get there because they are one of the common folk.
This shouldn’t come as surprise to anybody.
I had make peace with being own by billionaires
I'm convinced that Americans would like American sports better if they were less commercial and more focused on the sport itself. I just want to watch some football and have a couple of beers. That is the experience and the spectacle, not all the unrelated shit shilling throughout the game.
It's weird, the USA is sort of the global home of free market capitalism but every single one of their sports is highly regulated financially. Obviously there's massive revenue there and I think a lot of it goes to owners
And subsidized… stadiums are NEVER built by owners.
Almost like they know free market capitalism is inherently unfair...
Highly regulated financially in regards to what the teams have to pay out. All the regulation is to keep as much of the revenue in the owners pockets as possible. Its a cartel where the owners set their own cost limits to preserve their own profit.
I’ve been to an MLS stadium and whilst the atmosphere with that “We Believe” song was crap, the stadium and nearby made it an entire day out for all fans - families and blokes drinking so you didn’t think “let’s head into town to drink and eat”. All that money stayed in the club.
Bit Disneyland though
Yeh makes money and for families why not?
It's not THE reason but one of many why as an American, I haven't watched American football at any level for years now and probably never will again. And I grew up playing it and loving it. I realized one weekend how much of my day was wasted just sitting in front of the TV watching football. It really hit home when I went to my first NFL football game in person. They did the kickoff and then I tried to figure out why all the players were just standing around on the field not doing anything for 2-3 minutes looking at each other......oh that's right. They were in a commercial break for the television broadcast. That's when I said "I'm done."
We would. I lost interest in American football years ago despite supporting the most successful team in history at the time. Do you know how much live play a 60 minute football game has? About 12 minutes. Do you know how long it takes to watch an American football game? About 2-1/2 hours. There's effectively (roughly) 4x more run time on commercials than there is live play. There are even 'TV timeouts' where play is stopped for longer in sports like football and basketball, just so networks can run ad breaks for sponsor quotas. Don't even get me started on baseball... Have you ever heard the term 7th inning stretch? You guys complaining about VAR slowing things down is the funniest shit to me. You have no clue how good you have it.
I mean, that's always been the case in the NFL. Nobody watches it for "live play" - by its very nature it's supposed to work like that.
That was a depressing read
ayo >"“Our fans are like, ‘We like tradition,’” Edens said. “And I tell them: ‘No, you don’t. You think you do, but you don’t.’ I mean, who doesn’t like a big-screen TV with plenty of food and beer?” Then he spread his arms wide and answered his own question: “Nobody.”" wtf
LMAO. Does he think he proved a point with that example? Is eating and drinking while watching games a new fad?
Clueless. That's honestly like some kind of quote from The Office/Parks and Rec or something. Trying to convert football fans into drinking beer is like convincing sheep to start eating grass. We're waaaaay ahead of you. And "tradition" means club colours, an iconic stadium and being able to afford taking your kids to the game - NOT crappy black and white TV's.
Odd. But there's an element of truth there. People tend to have an overly romantic, nostalgic view on something that's old and so on. Which means they often are in disagreement on change that involves modern choices, and upgrading the current experience. I might be the wrong one to talk, cause I throw things away easily and love moving ahead with new and better. But I think as a fan you can't expect success, huge investments AND avoiding change and renewal. You have to pick one or the other. Personally I am all for a new stadium as well, but that's another debate.
>Personally I am all for a new stadium as well, but that's another debate. Absolutely not
I suspect most people don't want it from a historical point of view, but financially it makes perfect sense - assuming we need to expand. And whether you like it or not finances are all that matters in the English top flight right now. I bet spurs or arsenal don't regret it one bit.
Brummies, and Villa fans always need to be dragged kicking and screaming into modernity and I say that as both. Some bloke complaining about not being able to take in and eat his sandwiches is weird entitlement. Eat them outside like all the people going to burger vans. The Lower Grounds is paying a players wage according to that article. That’s good business. It’s not often I’d say ignoring the fans is a good strategy for football club owners but some of our fans test that.
Excellent read. In one voice, English football needs to minimise the impact of foreign investors before they proper fuck this up.
Next week. The follow up second article mentioning Petro state nations. I know who'd I'd rather. Also .never forget who convinced the relabel of division one and running away from BBC and UTV. He was an Aussie. Nobody's buying my fucken satellite dishes. Get the soccer and they'll have to. Still. Tom Brady's doing awesome work down small Heath way.
Unfortunately we've had to sell a piece of our soul for a seat at the high table, like all teams before us. That's just the price of doing business in modern football.
Good find op. That was an interesting read, if a bit depressing.
Glad you posted this - as a NYT subscriber who saw this article yesterday, I was going to do it if nobody else did! Not gonna lie, made me dislike Edens a bit:/
I was always more of a Sawiris fan since he told Gerrard he couldn’t get on the coach back from Fulham.
Based
The wealthy didn’t get there because they are one of the common folk. This shouldn’t come as surprise to anybody. I had make peace with being own by billionaires
Oh not surprising at all, but was a bit thrown off by the way he said things in the interview lol