The NFL, but especially individual teams at their local level need to focus on creating demand for their "live product." I know it's a tough request from this fan of live events, because the league receives $28B from TV. In the WSJ article below, the 5 teams listed that had the highest % attendance in 2011, had a combined record of 39-41, while the 5 teams that sold the least had a combined record of 25-52.
Good teams, good attendance = TV money. but then those "bad" teams also shared in that TV money too.
So, bad teams, bad attendance = TV money.
Might work in the short run, but without the live fans, and given all the entertainment alternatives, the NFL might be working its way towards a hard decision. Would people still watch a game on TV if the stadium was empty? Does the media money give the NFL incentive to create "media-only fans" and the ability to worry less about those fans actually attending the game live?
If the NFL and teams want to fill the stadiums, focus on those features that make the live experience different, and not replicable by TV/media. Yes seeing the replays on the Jumbo-tron is good. Yes getting the crowd fired up with music is good. Yes seeing the scores of the other games is good. Don't spend time and money making it easier to be distracted by an electronic device. We do that all day. We can do that at home. Focus on the live expeience. Charge reasonable prices. Provide a safe venue for all ages. Build a consistantly good team and organization. Build community connections.
Do these things, and the fans will come. If that's really important anymore.
