Oh, and, yeah, the whole Chris Johnson thing...
Mr. Reinfeldt, that can be summed up in 3 words: PAY. THE. MAN. You are a fool. Telling Chris Johnson that he needs to come to camp to get his deal done? Dude...that's not how it works. One of the most dynamic runningbacks in the league isn't going to show up to camp and risk injury when he still has two years on his rookie deal and he's the most grossly underpaid player in the NFL in relation to his abilities. The CBA allows for holdouts (though it's quite a bit tougher on the players now). Any NFL general manager should know that. Oh, that's right, you're not an NFL general manager. Or, at least, you weren't until this year. Everybody knows that Jeff Fisher was really running the player personnel side of things while he was here, and you were just his puppet that signed the papers. Well, wake up, big boy. Because of your ties to the Oilers, you were the safe choice when Floyd Reese was forced out, but now it's your turn to run the show. And I don't believe you're up to it. Sure, you went out and grabbed a few free agents. That's easy. The hard part is taking your team's biggest superstar and making him feel like he is deserved. So far, you haven't done that. PAY. THE. MAN.
Oh, and then there are the tickets. J.R. Lind has a great report on Nashville Post.com today about the Titans (lack of) single-game ticket sales. As of right now, none of the games are sold out. Even the marquee matchup of the season (Indianapolis, October 30) has tickets remaining. As J.R. points out, the Titans have never had this much trouble selling out single-game tickets, except for the team's first season (?!) in the current stadium.
The Titans are blaming, mainly, the lockout and the bad economy for slow ticket sales. There are other factors, though...
- 6-10 record in 2010 (including losing 8 of the last 9 games)
- An offseason of bad PR, while the Predators did (almost) everything right
- Losing a head coach who was still popular (for some reason)
- Hiring an unproven head coach
- Changes at quarterback (though this is probably a good thing)
- Cortland Finnegan & Chris Johnson fiascos at full swing during ticket push
- Kenny Britt's arrest record
- Selling the tickets on a Monday instead of the usual Saturday
- Relying on local media to give you free advertisement for the on-sale date/time.
- HDTV
The Titans have taken advantage of their place in the market so well over the past 12 years that they haven't had to do a whole lot of marketing. While it's not dire, by any stretch, they are going to have to sell the city on reasons to come see the team. Go onto Craigslist and see all the season tickets and PSLs for sale. It's not just the economy. That's a big factor, but another reason disinterest is starting to seep in: people are getting tired of the bullcrap. The Titans have been beset by a ton of bad press over the past 10 months or so. It's time they stop stepping on their own toes, improve public perception of the organization, and win games if they want to overcome this little speedbump.
I agree with what is here on the Titans slow ticket sales but have to laugh at the notion of the economy being such a large factor when the Predators are increasing their season ticket holder base. I think that there is a general lacking in the game day experience at LP field as much of what is done is the same as it has been done for the last twelve years. Couple that with the fact that they now have to compete with HDTV and the convenience of traipsing to your own fridge for cold one or a clean rest room w/out the wait and worry of crowds and carrying enough cash to pay for everything since stands didn't take Debit Cards (at least the last time I went there and only ONE ATM on each side of the upper deck). I think that a comparison of game-day ops of a Titans and Pred's game from a fans perspective would be a good blog entry and might help make for a better experience by illustrating what the fans want and offering a vehicle to summarize it.
ReplyDeleteI don't have enough experience with Titans Game Ops to make a valid comparison. I've only been to one game as a fan in the past 3 seasons. Most of the Titans games I have been to have been as a part of the media, and you're largely oblivious to Game Ops in that setting. You can only see the scoreboard if you're on the bottom row of the press area, and you can hear little or nothing from the stadium speakers in there.
ReplyDeleteScore me some freebies and I'll make the comparison?!?! But seriously, the game-day format for the fan is a bit tired and if the product on the field is inferior, people will stay away in droves and tickets will be cheap on the street day of game.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to go to a Titans game this year, but I have a better chance of saving money by buying a STH's scraps on Craigslist a day before the game.
ReplyDeleteThere is an obvious set schedule for all in-game entertainment. It's the same every week. Even the pre-game with T-Rac is the same -- T-Rac rushes out on his cart, crushes the opposing mascot's home/clubhouse/belonging, then wrestles the mascot into submission. They STILL use Terry Tate Office Linebacker videos. Those became played out in 2006.
ReplyDeleteSure, it's hard to do something completely different every game, but when you only have 8 home games a season and an entire offseason to plan, you should be able to do more.
Another reason to stay home: NFL Red Zone Channel. Yeah.
ReplyDeleteAgree w/ Eric completely. Titans game ops are downright senseless. But then again, listen to 104.5 for Titans fans calling in. "Do we have the same offensive coordinator as last year?"- Actual Caller 20 minutes ago. Sad.
ReplyDeleteDon McLachlan was on with George for a couple of segments last week, and two people called to ask him why they can't smoke inside the stadium.
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