NFL REFEREES

The owners of the Nfl all agree that letting stadium fans hear what's being said when referees huddle to discuss a call is a good idea. They want the stadium fans to feel more involved and informative. They think this might help teams that are having a hard time selling out. NFL game attendance is down 5% in the last five years. By putting wireless mikes on certain players and listening to conversations of referees would make it more enjoyable for in stadium fans.

According to the Wall Street Journal, starting this season, the fans will be able to watch the same instant replays the referees see during reviews of controversial calls.

The reason NFL game attendance is down 5% is because the game is a much better experience in your family room on the 60" HD big screen where the food and beverages are substantially cheaper and you don't have to shelter your wife and kids from constant fights and F-Bombs.

Very bad idea, last thing refs need it 70000 people listenig in.

People are not going to games because, as was already said, the cost too high and fan behavior too rowdy. What seems to be happening is what many of us thought would happen sooner or later. The NFL has been on a real tear since the early 1990s and more than ABC, CBS, and NBC were the only broadcast revenus sources. Since then there are more games, Sunday Ticket, nfl.com, and more. Revenue and interest boomed. All along many of us wondered how long it could keep up. Well, it seems the NFL has reached a leveling-off. I know I used to never miss a play of a Steeler game if I could avoid it. Now it is little more than something else to do. I can't be the only one.

Quote: duckston09

By putting wireless mikes on certain players and listening to conversations of referees would make it more enjoyable for in stadium fans.

Good in theory. Sabol's NFL Films productions that include chatter from players and coaches is always enjoyable. I don't quite see the difference it's going to make, though. Would the feed only be available to those in attendance? Why not in the home broadcast? Also, on-field chatter isn't always polite. Refs maybe, but how's it not going to pick up the LB complaining about a 15yd personal foul?

Not that I personally care. Players could F-bomb the whole broadcast and I'd not bat an eye. But others would. And I just don't see, even if it went of as perfect as a Sabol production, how it's going to increase attendance. For those who are on the fence of attending or not, "you can hear more conversation" doesn't seem like much of a draw.

It's becoming a lot like paco's thread about movie going. Why bother when the home experience is exceptional? There needs to be a draw you can only get from being there. About the only thing left is the crowd swell of emotion that carries you along. For that, I'd suffer the worst that Buffalo's winters can throw at me, the uncomfortable seats, and the random drunk falling in my lap. I'll even buy a few handfuls of $9 beer. But making the entire property inside the gates smoke free, with not so much as a tiny corner to puff in? I have Dolby, I'll just turn it up real loud ;)

Quote: Face

But making the entire property inside the gates smoke free, with not so much as a tiny corner to puff in? I have Dolby, I'll just turn it up real loud ;)

Okay, for YOU its the smoking.
For others: the drive, the parking, the nine dollar beer, the dirty seats, the This, The That....

Its either the entire experience is more marketable than the home Rec Room or its not.

The mention of Paco's Movie House thread is an apt comparison. People have a horde of reasons for not going out to watch the latest battle between aliens and flying vampires and simply changing the prices at the concession stand won't make a dent in the problem any more than allowing smoking will.

A new wrinkle about helmets and camera feeds? Won't change the bottom line.

I've been a Steeler season ticket holder since Three Rivers Stadium opened (1970?).
I still have season tickets, but have only been to one game in the last five years.

NFL Sunday Ticket and a 72" hi-def television keep my ass at home. Listening to refs
talk to each other isn't changing my plans.

I don't think this would help revenue at all and it probably isn't a good idea, either. I don't really need to know what the pitcher says to the catcher, how the manager tells a guy to hit the showers, and how referees decided things on a regular basis. It is neat to hear in the context of a documentary-style of show, but it is kind of annoying hearing something like that all the time.

NASCAR lets you ear the drivers talk to the spotters and to the announcers...it adds very little for me.

I haven't been to an NFL game in 10 years or more and I don't intend to go to one in the future. I find watching the players stand around while those at home are fed commercials makes the game unwatchable live. There is crowd energy, then it stops, then they use music and other stuff to try and build it again. No thanks. Let me use that time to grab a beer that costs a buck or so from the fridge instead of paying $8 for it!!

...and I only have a 40" TV...imagine how much I will like it when I get a new, larger TV!!

My guys are on the way home from an NFL preseason game at this very moment. My husband has season tickets even though we live three states away from his team. It's a great father-son thing for him and one of our sons. The other two boys have zero interest in football and my daughter is still too young for me to feel comfortable for her to be in that zoo. But she wants to go when she's older!

Quote: FleaStiff

Okay, for YOU its the smoking.
For others: the drive, the parking, the nine dollar beer, the dirty seats, the This, The That....

Its either the entire experience is more marketable than the home Rec Room or its not.

You put it more concisely, but basically the same thing.

The only thing I disagree about is the "entire experience" part. I don't think it has to be completely better, it just has to offer something desirable that can't be found anywhere else. As it stands, the coverage is better at home, the drinks just the way you like em and cheap, the food awesome, the chair comfy, and the temp set just the way you like it. With the amount of radio, net and TV coverage dedicated to a game, there's everything you need at home. Updates, highlights, Fantasy stats....the only thing it can't offer is that mob mentality feeling. That rush of everyone cheering for the same thing. I assume it's similar to the hot roll in Craps. If online gambling is ever legal, you could have everything at home you have at a real Craps table, but wouldn't something be missing?

Like RonC mentioned, NASCAR already offers what the OP described. I've had the headsets at a race. While the NASCAR coverage is cool when they cut to in-car audio, they highlight maybe the one conversation all day that is interesting and drama filled. Most of the rest, even for this rabid NASCAR fan who likes all the technical stuff, is a snore. I've nothing against the mic'd ref idea. I even think it might increase the pleasure of those attending. But to think that it's going to pull people in off the streets is laughable.

I haven't been to a Bills game in a decade. Used to be you showed up at 7a, popped a beer, and chose sides for the parking lot football game. By the time the game started, you were well lubricated and the stadium was a madhouse. Now, with restricted tailgating and the sub-par performance of the Bills, what made the experience fun is no longer there. Sabres/Leafs, Sabres/Canadiens, Sabres/Senators, these games still have "It", and I fall over myself to go any time I can. There's an intense hatred you can feel, and with the proximity of the border, FirstNiagara is always full of Canadians. It creates a scene you can't get at home, and that's why it's always full.