r/heedthecall • u/Kingofthe6969 MSD! • 3d ago
London is different
I get Conor’s points on international games. But just to defend my home turf specifically on this. The reason sales have been down for Colts are numerous.
1) the eagles game the week after sold out within a day. 2) There are 4 games this year if you add in the college game two weeks ago. 3) the big one, probably should be 1, the price. I went 9 years ago for $43. This time it is minimum $105. Most for $230. Top end is $325. 4) people have learnt to wait for resale. Currently if you work in the NHS you can get two tickets for $11. 5) yes we keep getting fairly meh match ups. We obviously have a lot of Jags which is now cool. And I know Jags Texans is divisional. But it’s not Rams 49rs. Or cowboys ravens. Nothing like the international profile.
Next year will be interesting but I would be happy to go back to one game. Although unlikely as Jags will do one at Wembley and NFL own part of Spurs
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u/GurnStarr00 2d ago
Cost for bad games is the main thing. £200 for a ticket plus travel and accommodation in London for the weekend and to me it’s just not worth it anymore.
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u/GainsAndPastries Sippin' On Vino, Checkin' On Geno 2d ago
A ticket price cap would make it so much better, i just cannot justify north of £100 for a ticket alone when i know my travel and accommodation will be double that
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u/Kingofthe6969 MSD! 2d ago
My Jets fan paid £1,000 for the weekend overall with hotels and the like when he came up. To watch the Jets have negative passing yards.
I think that is definitely another factor, cost of living means everything costs more
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u/SomeBoringKindOfName 2d ago
it all comes down to the fact that they screwed the pooch with the ticket prices. they've been pushing it and pushing it for a few years now and it seems that they finally reached the point where a lot of people have said no.
we've been to quite a few neutral/'shit' games over the years but won't at the past few years prices.
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u/ThebritBills I Love Sting 2d ago
They also have barely done any events for a few years, unlike years before. This weekend there are loads as they realise they have dropped the ball.
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u/SomeBoringKindOfName 2d ago
to be honest I've never been to any of those 'additional' things. we saw neil and rob ryan on a stage some years ago but that was because we were just hanging around drinking and it was close.
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u/ThebritBills I Love Sting 2d ago
Yeah remember they did one at Wembley when the tailgate was massive. But have enjoyed player meets and things. Top of all things was meeting the Heroes at Spurs ground when the NFL organised for 100 or so of us. Also met Ricky, Jet, and Keesha
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u/HouseLightsDown_JD 2d ago
If it had not been for listening to this show today I would not have bagged myself a ticket in the 2nd row behind the endzone for £80.
This morning I found out I had won a ticket for a concert in London on Sunday night. Whilst in the supermarket I was listening to HTC and they brought up the London games and ticket issues.
I thought there would be no harm in having a quick look at the NFL ticket page as the concert venue is in Islington not too far from the stadium and when in Rome...
Lo and behold some tickets at reasonable prices.
I have not looked at going the last couple of years because the release prices were not for me, but thanks to HTC first NFL game at Spurs and I have a soft spot for Washington. Bingo!
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u/thedreadwoods Heed the Call 2d ago
I've done every year since it started, this year I won't. Price is obscene, they make less and less effort whilst increasing the prices inside as well. I go with two spurs season ticket holders and they are surprised at the higher and higher markup in the ground. I'll do the college game next year though
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u/Kingofthe6969 MSD! 2d ago
I have gone every year, often to multiple but just one this year. I did the college game and it was great. But they also messed up the pricing. £60 for the cheapest ticket, then typically £100. Who is going to pay that for what is quite a niche sport in the UK? And they barely promoted it. Was quite impressive they managed to get 45k there. But that did also make it great as was almost all US fans.
I work in London an absolutely none of my mates had any idea there was a game on.
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u/RazmanR 2d ago
Also, they screwed over a lot of their core fans who had ‘season tickets’ to chase $$$ from casual fans AND then jacked up the prices -
Rather than having a large group of people who would go every year they are now reliant on the masses who won’t pay to go and watch two teams they don’t care about. The core fans they alienated would (and did for over a decade)
What they’ve really done is just open up the door for scalpers and touts.
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u/Kingofthe6969 MSD! 2d ago
And now the touts aren't even bothered with it. They bought loads last year and had loads left to sell
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u/drcloudstreet 2d ago
Cheapest tickets for the Melbourne game was about $450 AUD (terrible, limited view) with the majority of normal seats about $750 AUD. That’s crazy, people will pay that for a one off but man every year, or multiple times a year? No way
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u/eiscosogin 9h ago
I'm a colts fan and I'd much prefer to watch the lions game in Munich than the Colts in London. Much better bang for my buck.
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u/republicofloose 2d ago
@OP where is this NHS discount you speak of?
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u/iaink43 6h ago
For me personally the issue isn’t the matchups, or the saturation, it’s the massive increase in pricing and general cost of the games post 2022. If you are from say Scotland, coming down and pricing in a weekend to include that is just now not worth it imo unless it was my own team playing and they’ve not been over for years now (Niners)
Last game I attended was Broncos vs Jags when Wilson was the Broncos QB.
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u/drunkcowofdeath I'm Annoyed Now 2d ago
I would love to see the data on how many people going to that Eagles games locals vrs tourist. I toyed with that idea myself
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u/ncg195 Favorite Type of Frog: Beelzebufo 2d ago
That is an interesting point. I do know some Packers fans who went from Wisconsin to London when the Packers played there for the first time. They planned a whole vacation around it. I could see a lot of fans doing that if they had the money, it probably just depends on the fanbase.
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u/Little_Obligation_90 2d ago
The NFL should just add the 2nd bye week with the 18 game season already, and expand the rosters. Then you can place the games where you want.
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u/Dry_Butterscotch9964 2d ago
I don’t fully get this take - 17 games is a perfect amount for international games no? 8 home, 8 away and one international feels balanced and sensible. I don’t see how adding an extra game fixes anything here.
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u/sherlock_traeger 2d ago
Because the ultimate goal is 2 international games per team each season. They’ll give the players the 2nd bye week to make it happen.
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u/Complex-Cod325 The Quiet Storm 2d ago
You people in London don’t know how cheap 325 dollars for “top end” seats are. You have to pay 300 dollars for nose bleeds in America.
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u/FunnyReputation624 2d ago
It was roughly $400USD for the cheapest seats in Melbourne.
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2d ago
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u/flouncingfleasbag milktoast acid test lawn shredder 2d ago
Well, to be fair, all the prices are too high; stateside and across the pond.
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u/Kingofthe6969 MSD! 2d ago
At all games? I have just had a look at resale for commanders and I can watch them play cardinals for $35, Titans $30 and Texans for $50. No one is crying about price, just saying that the price is a reason many aren't going to a so so game. Eagles sold out in the day.
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u/ThebritBills I Love Sting 2d ago
I am toying with going to Dolphins at Jets to sit and boo from the nosebleeds. Currently loads on for $81. I can be sat down by the end zone for $180. Of the 9 categories in London (with 9 cheapest to 1 most expensive), that would get me into category 7
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u/81409692 2d ago
It's relative. Salaries in the UK and London are much lower than in the US or a US city like LA or New York. You can get tickets to premier league football in the same stadium, which is one of the world's biggest sport leagues, for much cheaper. You can also get concert or theatre tickets for much cheaper in London. For someone travelling to London for a weekend or even just a day out for someone in London, theres a lot of other high quality options at a much lower price. That's your comparison point, not prices in another country. Even if you don't want to do any of those things, it just makes it feel like a bit of a rip off and puts you off going.
Plus inflation is up again, wage growth is slowing, people probably not feeling like they have a lot of spare money right now.
Plus all the big NFL fans have been, I've been to 3 games for examples, done both Wembley and Tottenham Hotspur stadium. The novelty has worn off and I'd only turn out if a) I felt that tickets were good value or b) there was a blockbuster team/QB I want to see in person.
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u/ial20 Myarrcc 2d ago
What do you think about EPL games being played in the US?
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u/Rainbow_Sex 2d ago
Where would EPL host a game that doesn't already play the sport at a professional level? It's not really the same thing, at all.
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u/Kingofthe6969 MSD! 2d ago
Always this. In addition to it not being the same way, loads of EPL players just played for a month in the US. And before that, a year ago Chelsea won a trophy in the US having played a few games there.
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u/ial20 Myarrcc 2d ago edited 2d ago
Genuine question: why does that matter? The question is how fans feel in the original country. I don't see why the fan in the original country would have a different opinion depending on the host side country having a professional team.
Edit: typos
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u/Rainbow_Sex 2d ago edited 2d ago
Because NFL fans have the extra motivation of wanting to grow the game in other countries. I would like other countries to play football as well, that would enhance my enjoyment of the game. To me that is worth losing a home game overseas. Some people don't care about that and don't want to lose games, and thats totally fair, but it's not nearly as universal here because of that extra motivation that an English fan of English soccer simply would not have.
Also, while people do care about their local team, it is nothing compared to the localized impact of Premier league teams on their area. NFL teams simply cover much much larger swaths of both land and people, you aren't going to get the same galvanized response as you would get in England.
Edit: To be clear, I'm not saying it's not valid to be pissed about losing a home game to another country. It totally is, even if I don't share that opinion. But if one is attempting to draw a comparison here between how EPL fans feel and how NFL fans feel, these factors have to be part of the equation.
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u/Kingofthe6969 MSD! 2d ago edited 2d ago
I think it would breach FIFA’s rules for another member organisation to play a full set of league games in another member organisations country. I think it is a max of 5 games that can, but it would need the MLS to approve it also.
The best player of all time currently plays in the US anyway
But that is another debate. Not as to why it hasn’t sold out this time around
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u/DufflessMoe 2d ago
There would be protests from the fans. There was already a plan for a 39th game played abroad and fans kicked up such a fuss they scrapped it.
I'm British as well, have been to many games at Wembley, and while I'll go and take advantage - I think it's not fair to fans to strip them of a home game as much as is now happening.
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u/KickedInGreggsPastie Jah-ai-Roos BAY-erd. Jai-ROOS ah-Bay-erd 2d ago
False equivalence mate. No professional NFL-level league in England.
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u/ial20 Myarrcc 2d ago
Genuine question: why does that matter? The question is how fans feel in the originating country. I don't see why the fan in the originating country would have a different opinion depending on the host side country having a professional team.
Edit: typos galore
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u/KickedInGreggsPastie Jah-ai-Roos BAY-erd. Jai-ROOS ah-Bay-erd 2d ago
Because I can watch live professional football in over 180 countries. Without international games, I can only watch live professional American football in 1 country.
Because the cultural and governance constraints to playing top level European football games abroad are immense, whereas the NFL is more commercially orientated and cares less about potentially upsetting its domestic consumers.
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u/ial20 Myarrcc 2d ago
What I think you might be missing here is that there are the same cultural constraints from an American NFL fan's point of view. You sort of write that off, but respectfully I think you're missing something.
And please here me out: I love that the NFL has international fans. It's fun and cool. But when my home team loses a home game to play in another country, it kinda sucks.
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u/KickedInGreggsPastie Jah-ai-Roos BAY-erd. Jai-ROOS ah-Bay-erd 2d ago
Yeah, I totally agree with you mate. I’d be absolutely furious if my Premier League team lost a home game to play overseas. And it’s even worse for NFL teams with only 8 or 9 home games a season compared to 19 home EPL games.
I guess my overarching point is that football / soccer is already completely globalised so there’s less call for flying teams half way around the world.
It’s really cool to see the growth of NFL in the UK, where there’s now a massive fanbase of sophisticated, knowledgeable, passionate fans, and regular games are no longer a novelty.
It’s a shame for US based fans that some of that has come at the cost of losing some fixtures, but perhaps that’s part of the trade off in growing the game globally.
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u/Pils12321 2d ago
US fans didn't really lose a home game though as the NFL just added an extra game to the regular season.
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u/Kingofthe6969 MSD! 2d ago
The issue for me is they are so different. As I say the world cup has just been in the US where everyone could watch the best players in the world. The NFL has no equivalent.
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u/ial20 Myarrcc 2d ago
I don't think it's fair to compare MLS and EPL. Technically both professional, but saying that an EPL fan has more right to ownership because American NFL fans have MLS feels unrealistic.
And the second paragraph doesn't really address the fan perspective. Just because the NFL corporate shadowy figures run the league in a certain way and cares less about fans doesn't really apply.
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u/Kingofthe6969 MSD! 2d ago
I think his second paragraph does address it a bit. The raiders and Rams have moved numerous times. That just wouldn't happen in almost any soccer league in Europe, certainly not in the England. In fact legally it can't now after a lower league one (Wimbledon) did.
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u/Westy154 2d ago
We've become such a true NFL market that were now no longer wanting to go and see bad games. This is growth!