3000 tickets unsold for MNF opener

[IluvJuMiami]

Guys, if you think the price of a ticket is the actual price of going to a game then you haven't been to very many. There are quite a few more expenses to consider, even ones that don't require US currency. And if you have a girl or a family, forgetaboude.

That idea of organizing something so the fans on this site can conquer a considerable chunck of a section- n-i-p-p-l-e-i-t-i-s. Talk about really being a 12th man for our team, really doing something. The idea has movie script written all over it. Seriously.

Quick outline: a group of passionate fans motivate a poor team to make a real run at the superbowl. An owner with an affinity for flare pays for all said fans to make it to the playoffs. Jobs are forgiving, wives are encouraging, sportcenter is broadcasting. The fans move a nation and the heart of their team. EAT YOUR HEART OUT CHRISTOPHER NOLAN!

 

[roy_miami]

Not winning in seasons past is one thing but when you have no hope of winning for this season thats quite another. Even after the 1-15 season we brought in a new regime so at least there was a glimmer of hope.

 

[Heatmagic84]

$53 for tickets in the upper level right now on Stubhub. If you or anyone wanted to get club suite tickets, I don't know why you or they would expect those to be cheap. Those tickets are for the common fan.

That's not the point. Buying a ticket off stubhub doesn't help sell a game out. I was pointing out that if you want to actually help sell the game out, you will be paying $200 or more.

 

[DeathStar]

From Fannation....

Not only have a couple hundred premium seat holders stiffed the Dolphins on 2011 payments, but season ticket sales are in the low 40,000s, the worst in 28 years. The team hopes to end up around 45,000, way down from 61,000 in 2006 and 51,000 last year.

Yep, the fans have spoken!

Wow that is a huge drop.

We will not take mediocre football anymore.

 

[HeartbreakKid28]

From Fannation....

Not only have a couple hundred premium seat holders stiffed the Dolphins on 2011 payments, but season ticket sales are in the low 40,000s, the worst in 28 years. The team hopes to end up around 45,000, way down from 61,000 in 2006 and 51,000 last year.

Yep, the fans have spoken!

Yeah...they should just suck it up and start selling those remaining tickets for $25. Do some promotions where you buy something or make a donation to the dolphins charity you get a free ticket or two. Anything. Then hope the team wins at home and is more exciting, and those fans buy more tickets after enjoying a game. If more fans would've went home happy at the end of home games last year, more fans would've bought tickets this year for those non-divisional games.

 

[Roman529]

Why doesn't Ross just buy the remaining tickets and maybe give them to some military families so they can go to a game. I think Huizenga did this every time there were unsold tickets.

 

[DuderinoN703]

Clubseat season tickets are a pretty significant investment, well not really a investment because there is no return. I live 3 hours away and it gets tiresome, either driving down night before or at the butt crack of dawn gameday, not to mention driving home after sitting in the Florida sun 4hrs. Hell I fly free on any airline and it is still a lot of work getting there! Add hotels, gas, parking, food and drink my pair run well over 10k a year. Easy to judge when you aren't shelling that out.

I do what I can considering I live 900 miles away from Florida. I don't claim to be better than anyone else b/c I go to one home game a year. The only beef I have is with people not showing up to the season opener b/c of the reasons I've already mentioned. It will cost me about $400 for the entire trip and that doesn't include buying any Phins gear. Is it worth it for me to do this every year? Yes. Why? Because one day it will all be 100% worth it.

 

[DuderinoN703]

Wow it is much cheaper. $53 isn't that bad, just checked Ticketmaster for the Texans game and there are a bunch of $53 seats. If I lived in Miami I'd go. If I wanted to go to Dolphins/Giants here those same seats at the Meadowlands are $100+.

Anyway, I don't think it has as much to do with the economy as it does Winning (08, 09, 10 had a poor economy and fans showed up). The casual fan is just not going to take the time to travel to that stadium and pay to park if the team only won 1 game at home, and looked boring in their losses as well. One stretch of games last season they scored 0 points, 10 points and 14 points. Two against last place teams.

If they generate excitement, people will buy tickets. If we see the Dolphins go 1-1 or 2-0 in two very exciting games, I think it could spur sales. (Though, it would probably take more than 2 games. If they go 2-0 and lose to the Browns after that it would be Same Old $hit to many people)

Stubhub has a pair of tickets for that game that are $26 each BTW

 

[DuderinoN703]

That's not the point. Buying a ticket off stubhub doesn't help sell a game out. I was pointing out that if you want to actually help sell the game out, you will be paying $200 or more.

Okay. Some are saying that tickets are too expensive to buy and I'm merely listing prices that I personally think are reasonable.

 

[tommyo73]

Having moved from Coconut Creek to Washington DC about 10 years ago, I decided to become a season ticket holder about 5 years ago. I had lower level tickets and went to about 2-3 games per year, game a few games to family & friends living in Florida, and sold the rest.

I didn't renew my season tickets this year like many others. The #1 reason for me to not renew was it made no financial sense. I always lost money on tickets as only the Pats, Jets, or a team with a large fan base like the Steelers or Cowboys actually would sell in the secondary market (StubHub, E*bay, etc) above face value. But you always had to sell these tickets months in advance as the prices always drop closer to the game. Any money made on these games were lost immediately on the preseason games which were give aways. Having four lower level tickets with a parking pass meant $800 out the window even before the season started.

While I will agree the teams home record last season, long playoff drought, Sparano, and people disposable income are reasons why people don't go it all comes down to value for ticket buyers and the Dolphins are no value. When you can buy tickets on the secondary market for 30-65% of cost it tells me you have an overpriced product.

To think that five home games: Redskins, Broncos, Bills, Texans, and Raiders all have 15,000+ unsold tickets guarantees to me blackouts. People would be idiots to buy any of these tickets before snapping up the 6,000+ tickets already for sale on the secondary market BELOW face value. If the Dolphins get off to a slow start more and more ticket holder will dump their tickets onto the secondary market and drive prices even lower.

I would also guess that the 40,000+ ticket holders will dip into the 30,000 next year as many more will just cherry pick the secondary market until the Dolphins actually put a winning product on the field.

 

[zach attach]

It has been brewing a while for this topic to come up again. And it is heated. There are many reasond why fans cannot or will not go to the games.
But this much is true-Every fan on here wants this team to break out of mediocrity and become a power again in the NFL, and more selectively, the AFC East.

So if Tony can make that happen, the ticket sales will increase accordingly:
If you wanted to make a point to Ross, well he will have delivered a great product and you'll want to go again.
If we win, people who are cash strapped will be more willing to work some OT or budget to go to the games.

The bottom line as I see it. Ross is an owner and fan. He said at the end of last year he wanted an explosive offense. We don't know what happens behind closed doors at Team Headquarters, but it's a sure thing Ross told Ireland and Tony what he wants from the team he owns.

Winning fixes everything. Ross APPEARS to have given us a good product. The first game will tell the future of ticket sales for the rest of the games this season. Preseason is like a movie trailer. You get a glimpse of certain things, and decide if you're going to pay for the movie when it comes to theaters. So far, the Preseason looks very nice. And I know a shaky o-line is nothing to look forward to, but if Henne can get rid of the ball quickly, it may not be so bad.

 

[X-Pacolypse]

In a down economy, South Florida sports fans can't invest their hard earned dollars in all of the teams that inhabit the area. Panthers? Haven't been relevant since 1996. Hurricanes? The U will always be the U, and I think Al Golden was a terrific hire, but this Nevin Shapiro scandal could mean some seriously dark days ahead for the Canes. Marlins? Truely amazes me that a guy like Jeff Loria has a World Series ring. I doubt a new stadium changes anything, until they start spending money, and do a better job of drafting the Marlins will be stuck in neutral. The Dolphins? Back to back 7-9 years, brought back a coach they wanted to fire, and brought back a QB they wanted to replace. Doesn't smell like a receipe for success to me. The Heat? Three of the NBA's biggest stars, Wade, James, and Chris Bosh. An NBA Finals appearance in their first year together, and a team that's a decent C, and a capable PG away from a title.

Where would you spend your money? The choice seems easy to me.

 

[Nublar7]

From Fannation....

Not only have a couple hundred premium seat holders stiffed the Dolphins on 2011 payments, but season ticket sales are in the low 40,000s, the worst in 28 years. The team hopes to end up around 45,000, way down from 61,000 in 2006 and 51,000 last year.

Yep, the fans have spoken!

The fans better be careful not to poke the bear. Ross wants a winning team, sold out games and the Super Bowl in his stadium. Even when the team is winning and in playoff contention the stadium is not full and a lot of the fans that do show up are rooting for the opposing team. Ross needs to make major renovations to the stadium to get the Super Bowl to come back in the future. However, a new stadium is going to be built in Los Angeles, the home of celebrities and will host Super Bowls. If you don't show up now, there may not be anything to show up to in the future.


The "economy", "other things to do" excuses really need to stop. These problems exist in other parts of the country, so why does Miami seem to suffer the most? They don't. It is harder for out of state fans to come to a lot of games, but really not that hard for local fans. Do you smoke or drink? Both are bad habits that force people to spend a lot of money each year. Out of state fans can't bail out the local fans forever.

 

[HeartbreakKid28]

Stubhub has a pair of tickets for that game that are $26 each BTW

Dolphins/Giants? Those are for parking, people sell their parking tickets on stubhub as well. There are certain close lots where you need a ticket.

Also, Miami doesn't suffer the most. The Dolphins were ranked 16th in attendance in 2010: http://espn.go.com/nfl/attendance/_/year/2010 Yes they have a larger stadium than Indy, Chicago, etc, but still.

It's more of a problem this year, but Miami is much better off than many other teams, and even more when they've got a good team.

 

[Built2Win]

The fans better be careful not to poke the bear. Ross wants a winning team, sold out games and the Super Bowl in his stadium. Even when the team is winning and in playoff contention the stadium is not full and a lot of the fans that do show up are rooting for the opposing team. Ross needs to make major renovations to the stadium to get the Super Bowl to come back in the future. However, a new stadium is going to be built in Los Angeles, the home of celebrities and will host Super Bowls. If you don't show up now, there may not be anything to show up to in the future.

The "economy", "other things to do" excuses really need to stop. These problems exist in other parts of the country, so why does Miami seem to suffer the most? They don't. It is harder for out of state fans to come to a lot of games, but really not that hard for local fans. Do you smoke or drink? Both are bad habits that force people to spend a lot of money each year. Out of state fans can't bail out the local fans forever.

I think ross would face serious blow back if he tried to move the team
he would be more likely to sell the team and not sure that could be good or bad..

The games are way overpriced
millions of Americans are struggling right now just to pay a mortgage
and these athletes are living a dream getting paid millions per year
for something many of us would like to do for free or under 60 grand..

If they have like 10,000 tickets left
a couple weeks before game time slash the price 50 %
If you ask me the owners and athletes
can handle a 50 % pay-cut on 20 % of the remaining tickets not sold.

And im thinking if he does try to move the team
to California it would backfire big time
Many football fans in cali
are already fans for life of the raiders and 49ers
strutting out JLO wont work in La they tried this experiment already
with the la raiders then Oakland raiders then the rams
that market is already football saturated..

Ross would be better going to a city state that has no major sports franchises
the success of Oklahoma thunder and putting together a great roster
they also did well in the playoffs and the city rewards them with full arena
this is part of the reason Miami is not selling out
poor performance and too much other options in Miami people can enjoy..
Imagine you paid 2 grand last year and had to watch 1-7 at home
I don't know about you but i get pissed as hell after dolphins losses and
depending how they lose i may just not be the funniest person to talk to when they lose.

You might get a wonderful commodore at a game but from a viewing perspective
you just catch more on a big tv like kdawg and others said why pay 8 bucks for 1 beer
when i can buy a 12 pack with that invite my friends over maybe have a quickie during halftime..
Games are fun to watch at home too and i don't think that makes you any less of a fan..
When i watch on TV that boost the dolphins ratings and they can make money off the commercials..