We Must Protect This House
Earlier this week, the New Jersey Devils, fearful their
first two home games in the Eastern Conference finals would be overrun by New
York Rangers fans, announced their No Blue campaign. The campaign gave tips to
ticketholders on how to sell their tickets to other Devils fans, utilizing
Devils’ blogs and the team’s customer service department, and advising Devils
fans to buy any available tickets. Considering the two teams are separated by a
river, it wasn’t inconceivable for Rangers fans to make the short trip (Delta
even had a promotion for a free 17-minute flight from NYC to Newark) for the
games. The campaign lasted a day before the team took down the campaign from
their website. It is also the latest installment of the dumbest fucking thing
in sports right now, outside of rubbing Icy Hot on your balls.
The first installment of this was born in Washington DC,
where the Washington Nationals invented their “Take Back the Park” campaign for
their first home series against the Philadelphia Phillies this year. After
years of watching Phillies fans down to the Nationals Park and treat the
stadium like Citizens Bank Park South, Nats officials decided to flex their
“Natitude” (they created the word, not me.) In the off-season, they announced
only people with a DC metro drivers license can purchase tickets from the team.
Sure, Phillies fans who lived in the area can still buy, but it was designed to
put a stop to Philadelphians coming down by the bus load.
Where do you get the balls Nationals officials to do
something like this? Prior to this year, your baseball team was a joke. It was
never competitive. You should be grateful anyone came to your games. Attendance
spikes only came under two conditions: Stephen Strasburg starts and when
certain road teams came to town. Fans from these road teams instinctively
flocked to Nats Park like the salmon of Capistrano. Fans cheered as the home
team was losing. The Nationals never had an issue with Philly fans coming down
before. In fact, Nats ticket sales reps use to call people in Philly for these
games. Now that the Nationals are competitive, they are going to shun a
previous fan base that use to buy tickets, food, and beer at the stadium on a
regular basis. You think your shit don’t stink Nats? I got news for you, your
shit does stink. It stinks like shit.
Phillies fans took the news they couldn’t go to the park
like a four-year old would when told they can’t do something: they did it
anyway. They found ways to get tickets. They still took buses down here and
made their presence felts with cheers, fights, and blackouts. While the ratio
may have shifted from previous years, there were plenty of Phillies fans in
attendance for the three game series. In fact, many believe the campaign was
not effective; it was just the timing of the Nationals impressive start to the
season while the Phillies are struggling out of the gate. It is safe to say
“Take Back the Park” was a Natbortion.
Now, the Devils got on board the lame train until they
realized themselves how lame it was. Perhaps they figured they had no right
telling their fans, who spend thousands of dollars in season tickets per year,
how they should use their tickets. While attending Game 3 might be awesome,
they also can sell their tickets for a huge profit. While true fans will call
this person a sellout, our current economy dictates otherwise. Would you rather
spend hundreds of dollars attending a hockey game, spending even more on food,
drink, and transportation, or watch the game on a 57” HDTV, with money in your
pocket? It’s not all about dollars and cents, but the financial implications do
come into play.
Whether it a PR move or actual attempt to keep opposing fans
out of the stadiums, it was flawed from the beginning. People will find ways to
circumvent the rules. A Philly sports radio host brought a bus full of 40
passionate Philles fans to Occupy Nationals Park. Early reports show New
Yorkers are buying the most tickets for the first two Devils home games, over
any other state (including New Jersey). I don’t know why teams don’t do what
the Baltimore Orioles do and embrace it. The Orioles know Yankees and Red Sox
games always boost attendance. With that knowledge, they charge higher prices
for those games. They realize more people will come to see the Yankees on a
Saturday than the Royals on a Tuesday. The Orioles aren’t the only team to do
it. Others do the same thing. There’s no reason not to capitalize on
opportunities. I just wouldn’t necessarily go out of my way to piss off
potential customers.
-Written by Marcus Boyd
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