NFL Preseason

[sp0rtsguy13]

You know, they would make the tickets cheaper..........if the games wouldn't be sold out...there's no reason for them to make them cheaper if they see that fans are willing to pay x amount of dollars for the pre-season games. Obviously as a fan, I'd love to see prices go down, but in the business side, if they're already getting maximum profit, there's no way they'd decrease the price.

Theyre sold out because most teams if not all include the preseason as a part of the regular season ticket package. So if your gonna buy a regular season plan youre forced to pay a lot for the preseason too.

[HedleyLamarr]

Add the Preseason games to the regular season schedule:

-Longer season

-Geographical rivalry games like Raiders vs 49ers have more meaning and happen more often

-Lets coaches know who can handle real games

-Makes finding out winning percentage at the end of the year much more easier (.05 per win)

Good idea? Bad idea?

If you added preseason games to the regular season, would there really be such a thing as a "preseason"?

Preseason games serve two purposes: Getting players "in-game" action that they can't simulate in training camp, and giving coaches a chance to see how players perform in game-pressure situations that can't be simulated in practice.

If these games counted, how often would we be seeing the second-, third-, and fourth-stringers playing?

[whitedawg22]

You know, they would make the tickets cheaper..........if the games wouldn't be sold out...there's no reason for them to make them cheaper if they see that fans are willing to pay x amount of dollars for the pre-season games. Obviously as a fan, I'd love to see prices go down, but in the business side, if they're already getting maximum profit, there's no way they'd decrease the price.

This is it in a nutshell... if having to buy preseason tickets isn't discouraging people from buying season tix, why would the owners stop?

Three other points that haven't been brought up yet... First, if coaches thought the practice time didn't justify the injury risk, they wouldn't play their starters AT ALL in the first couple games. We wouldn't even see Manning and Brady for a single series. The fact that coaches do play their stars, even minimally, indicates that the games must be useful for something. Second, NFL rosters are the biggest of any pro sport, and more college players are drafted onto NFL teams than in any other sport. The extra games are justified to figure out who's going to make the roster, a much bigger task than, say, the NBA or NHL. Third, the exhibition games are good practice for everybody involved with NFL games. For instance, new coaching staffs need to figure out their lines of communication. And have you seen any of the sideline interviews so far? They've been even more brutal than usual. Even the reporters need the practice.

[Fred T. Jane]

Vaguely related, the Bengals scored yet another safety for this preseason. I wonder how the average number of safeties in preseason compare to the regular season. Of course, I chalk it up to rust WRT safeties, but it is noticeable.

[StoneRaizer]

The CFL got rid of the first two preseason games and added them to the regular season. The result is that the first two regular season games suck ass because the players aren't ready yet. Keep the 4 game preseason and 16 game regular season.

I do agree with neutral-site preseason games, there's so many possibilities.

[Broken Record]

When I was a kid I went to an Atlanta Falcons/New Orleans Saints game in Knoxville, TN. They played at Neyland Stadium on the campus of UT. I can't remember if it was an actual preseason game or just some sort of exhibition, but was definitely very cool. This would have been late 1970s or early 80s maybe.

It is fashionable to complain about the length of the preseason and about the ticket prices being the same, etc.

As a die hard fan, I love the preseason games. I'm watching every position battle going down to the final cuts, so I'm very interested in seeing who gets snaps and what they do with them. I may not be the average fan, though, so I can understand why some have zero interest.

[TBGKon]

I remember no earlier than 1997 that the Bucs and Chiefs played a preseason game in Norman, Oklahoma (home of Sooner football)

[yh]

Shoot, I'm old enough to remember the days when teams played a 6 game preseason and a 14 game regular season!

My solution would be to reduce the number of preseason games to three and increase the number of regular season games to 17, thus greatly minimizing the chances that anyone is going to have a .500 season - you're either a winner or a loser, just like NHL games.

Moving from four to three games still gives teams an ample opportunity to prepare the rookies, dust off the vets and evaluate the bubble personnel. Teams would play one preseason game at home, one on the road and one at a neutral site. The regular season would still be scheduled the same way it is now, however the seventeenth game would be an annual contest with a geographic (or other sensical) rival from the other conference. The teams would alternate years hosting the game, so that every team is guaranteed nine regular season games every other year. And once every four years (when the teams would play each other anyway given the present divisional rotation system) the teams would play a home-and-home set. Here's how I see the annual rivalry games breaking out:

STL-KC

SF-OAK

SEA-DEN

ARZ-SD

CHI-IND

DET-CLE

GB-NE

MIN-BUF

WAS-BAL

NYG-NYJ

PHI-PIT

DAL-HOU

ATL-JAX

TB-MIA

NO-CIN

CAR-TEN

I think a setup like this would be good for the NFL because it increases the relevance and importance of the preseason games, gives the league an opportunity to market its game at 16 additional venues per year, arguably increases overall attendance by supplanting a relatively meaningless preseason date with a meaningful regular season date, and provides an additional marketing opportunity with the annual interconference rivalry games.

[BlueSky]

Some preseason games are already significantly cheaper, at least relative to regular season. Take a look at what 10-yard-line seats in row 4 cost for a regular season game at LP Field in Nashville. The answer is around $200-300 each - way more than the $60 each my wife and I paid to see the Saints and Titans there last Saturday night.

Same thing when I saw the Saints and Packers at Lambeau in 2004. Sat 6 rows from the field at the goal line. Can't touch that for under $200-300 in the regular season. And at both those stadiums, especially Lambeau, it was a regular season feel, with extensive tailgating and sold out stadiums.

My source on the prices is seats.com - take a look at the prices. And why TicketMaster isn't set up the way seats.com is I'll never know - it's great.