Dolphins struggling to keep season-ticket base at 30,000 | Page 3 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Dolphins struggling to keep season-ticket base at 30,000

whether people like it our not... our voice is only heard by letting them know we will not throw our money away any longer on this franchise.... every team goes through its ups and downs but this is beyond the normality and actually one of the worst current situations in sports. They are lucky to have 30k.... I gave up my 4 seats and I still love my team but its my way of saying to the front office this is unacceptable

worst comes to worst, ross sells the team. This is actually a negative that can turn into a positive very quickly for the dolphinnation.
 
Or the Panthers. Did you see that crowd and energy last night? Where were all those Panthers fans the past 12 years?

There are plenty of Panthers fans in South Florida...just like there are plenty of Dolphins fans. The Panthers FINALLY realized that the only way to get those fans back in the building was to hire competent people to run the team and build a winner. They hired Dale Tallon. A proven team builder. Meanwhile, the Dolphins continue to employ Jeff Ireland as the franchise slowly dies. I'd compare him to what Mike Keenan did to the Panthers, but Keenan was once a winner in the NHL at least. Ireland is a career loser who has done nothing to show he deserves to run this franchise. Not only has he made terrible decisions, he's ruined the team's reputation around the league. Get rid of him and ticket sales instantly improve just on "hope" alone.
 
Used to go yearly until last season. Not making the trip anymore until the ship gets turned around. My time and money is not worth it.
 
Its not worth the money. Had season tickets on the Dolphins side, upper deck, 40 yard line. Family of four was costing me $450-500 per game by the time I payed for the tickets, parking, food, & drinks. Thats not counting the gas cost of driving 3 hours each way to the game and home. $450-500 + fuel + time + heat/sun + garbage team = no more season tickets.
 
Its not worth the money. Had season tickets on the Dolphins side, upper deck, 40 yard line. Family of four was costing me $450-500 per game by the time I payed for the tickets, parking, food, & drinks. Thats not counting the gas cost of driving 3 hours each way to the game and home. $450-500 + fuel + time + heat/sun + garbage team = no more season tickets.

Dead on accuracy right here, folks.

It's more than just being a fan. People have families. Piss poor economy. Gas at $4.00 a gallon in Florida. Prices on concessions, tickets and parking are going up and people aren't getting raises at their jobs because companies are cutting the budget.

Meanwhile the Dolphins are expecting people to still be interested in a garbage product while pissing off their customers.

This is a huge problem. Do not think that we can't end up in Los Angeles at some point. It is not that far fetched.
 
There are plenty of Panthers fans in South Florida...just like there are plenty of Dolphins fans. The Panthers FINALLY realized that the only way to get those fans back in the building was to hire competent people to run the team and build a winner. They hired Dale Tallon. A proven team builder. Meanwhile, the Dolphins continue to employ Jeff Ireland as the franchise slowly dies. I'd compare him to what Mike Keenan did to the Panthers, but Keenan was once a winner in the NHL at least. Ireland is a career loser who has done nothing to show he deserves to run this franchise. Not only has he made terrible decisions, he's ruined the team's reputation around the league. Get rid of him and ticket sales instantly improve just on "hope" alone.

Ticket sales will not improve by firing Jeff Ireland or on hope. Ticket sales will improve by winning on the field something that will happen with coaching.
 
Dead on accuracy right here, folks.

It's more than just being a fan. People have families. Piss poor economy. Gas at $4.00 a gallon in Florida. Prices on concessions, tickets and parking are going up and people aren't getting raises at their jobs because companies are cutting the budget.

Meanwhile the Dolphins are expecting people to still be interested in a garbage product while pissing off their customers.

This is a huge problem. Do not think that we can't end up in Los Angeles at some point. It is not that far fetched.
Maybe, but LA is as fairweather as anyone. I wouldn't expect a real long honeymoon out there for any team that thinks people will just show up because its the NFL.
 
Doesn't matter if Los Angeles is fair weather or not.

Point is, we lose the Dolphins.

Not cool. Everyone knows the NFL wants a team in Los Angeles. Minnesota could very well end up there.

It's no longer about tenure and history. It's about business and money.
 
Doesn't matter if Los Angeles is fair weather or not.

Point is, we lose the Dolphins.

Not cool. Everyone knows the NFL wants a team in Los Angeles. Minnesota could very well end up there.

It's no longer about tenure and history. It's about business and money.

Agreed, and 2 teams left LA in the same season over business and money. NOBODY was attending their games. My point is, if Ross or any other owner think they can roll out a garbage product in a city like LA and the fans will continue to show up, then he's sadly mistaken.
 
I agree. I don't care what happens to a team in Los Angeles.

But we lose the Dolphins.

That sucks.

But they're still here for now. Better correct the problem while you still can.
 
Another article from a local writer that bashes the Dolphins for arrogance and incomepetence. Shocking. Some things that just maybe someone should think about before bashing Stephen Ross and Jeff Ireland:

1 - The Miami Marlins are not selling out for their games. They have a 37,000 seat stadium, which is BRAND NEW, and they dont sell out.

2 - The economy has been tanking for the last 4 years, more people have less money to spend on luxury items, is that Jeff Ireland's fault as well?

In typical drive by media fashion, it is an article blaming the teams woes on Jeff Ireland's arrogance. It is simple, they need to win games. If the team wins, more people will go to games - whether the fins draft a QB in the first round or not. Wins = buts in seats. But you have a losing team, in a section of the country where people dont support their professional sports teams to begin with, with an economy that continues to be weak and feeble and guess what, attendance will be poor. It has nothing to do with Ireland.
 
I wish I lived down there b/c if I did I'd buy season tickets. I still go down once a year to catch a game b/c I love the area and all it's about. It's something I look forward to annually.
 
I wish I lived down there b/c if I did I'd buy season tickets. I still go down once a year to catch a game b/c I love the area and all it's about. It's something I look forward to annually.

No, you really wouldn't. I'm only an hour 1/2 shot from the stadium and I haven't gone in about 7 years. I used to have season tickets, but literally just about every time I went we lost. The drive isn't fun after a loss and it's too much money to pay to see someone suck.
 
It's not just about winning in the NFL, it's about competing in the local entertainment market. Florida has 3 NFL teams. Not too mention the Falcons to the north. By the time you throw in college football, night clubs, watersports, Disney and all of the other attractions, it's no wonder why the stadium is empty. Winning would remedy a lot of the problem. But having iconic players and coaches, playoff appearances and championships would really make it easier. But I believe the "band wagon" label will always exist.

In order to create the devoted and die hard fans that bleed you team's colors, you need environments that offer little entertainment competition for the average fan's disposable income. Take for example, the University of Kentucky Wildcat basketball fans. With the exception of a metro Louisville, this entire state bleeds Blue. Why? We have no pro teams to call our own and there's nothing to compete with Rupp Arena during the basketball season. Rupp Arena holds nearly 25,000 people. Year and year out UK is always #1 or #2 in national attendance average (Syracuse). And even the cup cake games get over 20,000 people to attend.

If you look around the NFL, you wouldn't be surprised to understand why LA fails to host an NFL team. NFL teams need grassroots fans. That's hard to cultivate in towns where the NFL team isn't the icon or major attraction. I wouldn't be surprised if the vast majority of people attending Dolphin games live an hour or more away from Miami. And I wouldn't be shocked to find out that most of the people attending have seen less than 10 games in person in their life.

What the Dolphins really need is a Howard Schnellenberger type figure that can galvanize the town and build a true local fan base. I think I saw a post a little while ago talking about how little interest the Dolphins have shown in Hurricane players. And all local Florida college players for that matter. This is part of the same problem. If you want locals to watch the games, give them names they've been supporting since they were kids or for at least the last 3 or 4 years. You don't have to draft all Florida players, but seeing how well other teams have done with USF, UCF, FSU, UM and FU players (just to mention a few), I would say we could have done a lot worse.

Why was Don Shula and Dan Marino so hard to replace?

You weren't just replacing a coach and a QB. You were replacing icons and living legends. Both had been with the organization for a very long time. Which is one of those sticky problems with the modern Free Agency period in the NFL.

One of just many that have eroded this team's fan base.
 
If you are continuing to buy tickets to this ridiculousness, I don't even know what to tell you. The ONLY way this team will improve is if people stop putting money in their pockets. Stop going. I get that we all love football, we all love going to games - But in this climate, with the mediocrity and the lack of accountability EVERY season - The team is not WORTH your money. Stay home. Watch it on your nice TV or go hang out with friends at a bar. You can't tell me the game day experience is worth paying for at this moment in time, they lose practically every home game, half the seats are empty, and it's been that way for YEARS. Make them starve....When they're hungry, they'll earn your money.
 
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