Category Archives: Mission Statement

The Mission: Lower Concession Prices

  By Chris Speziale | 01/08/2010 - 3:31 pm | Mission Statement
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This month I wanted to write about something that has been personally irking me as a sports fan.  I was lucky enough to attend the Bruins/Rangers game at Madison Square Garden earlier this week (because my fiancée is awesome and she got me tickets for Christmas), and I was completely blown away by the price tag that connected itself to the evening.  The tickets were $37 a piece, and the seats were decent, but then we hit the concession stand.  Here’s the final run down: 4 beers, 1 hot dog, 1 order of chicken fingers w/ fries, and a pretzel.  $80 bucks!  And here’s what it costs, per sport, to take a family of 4 to a game:

MLB: $191 ($100 for tickets)

NBA: $293 ($200 for tickets)

NHL: $301 ($200 for tickets)

NFL: $421 ($300 for tickets)

In this era of economic turmoil, that is completely unacceptable.  I understand that sports are a business, and that teams are trying to make money.  But if they continue to jack up prices fans will start to turn their backs, as well they should.  The cost of attendance has been rising steadily at a 3% clip every year, and now we’re being threatened with TV blackouts if fans don’t pony up the dough to go to a game.  I’ve had enough, have you?

Dear Commissioner(s),

My name is Chris Speziale, and I write a blog on ChrisSpez.com.  The blog is centered around fans and the fan experience.  Once a month, I explore an aspect of the sports world that has been bothering fans, write a letter to a person in a position of influence, and then send that letter along with all of the readers’ comments to that person.  This month I’m tackling concession prices at major sports arenas, and I think you can help, which is why you’re receiving this letter.  We’ve had problems with TV blackouts, particularly in the NFL, in areas of the country that have been hit harder by the economic downturn, because broadcasts are tied to ticket sales.  But it’s wrong to assume that the average fan has lost interest in a team because they won’t buy tickets to see them play live; people just don’t have the expendable income.

The average sports fan who takes his family to one NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL game a year will spend almost $1200 dollars.  That’s the equivalent of paying rent for a month in New York City!  And while a large portion of this money will go towards the cost of tickets; that family will still have to spend more than $100 per event on concessions.  For that amount of money you’d expect to receive a pretty nice meal, but unfortunately we’re talking about 4 hot dogs, 2 sodas and 2 beers.  Aside from the loss of television coverage, the incentives for people to attend simply aren’t there.  But even in blackout scenario, it’s become a double-edged sword.  You attend the game at the stadium to fill the stands so that the games can be broadcast on local television.  But if you need to attend the game to get it on TV, how are you going to save money?  You need to be sitting at home on the couch to keep it in your wallet.  It’s unfair; fans are being asked to choose between dropping $400 dollars a game, and missing the game entirely.

Until our economy stabilizes, we may not see the live sporting event make a complete comeback.  But to get us by until then, we could simply lower concession prices.  I realize that the price of food and drink is not a league wide mandate in any of the four major sports, but pressure from the man running the league would help push owners to lower prices.  From there, the domino effect takes over.  Owners look good because fans appreciate the lower prices, and they start to come to games.  As more people push through the turnstiles, fewer games will be blacked out.  Money is then generated through ad and commercial sales on local broadcasts.  It puts money in the owners’ pockets, the leagues coffers, and most importantly, back into the wallets of the fans.  All of this, because you cut the cost of a hot dog at the stadium.

The American sports fan is, and always has been, hungry for quality, family friendly, live sports entertainment.  But our wallets are hungry too, and if the price of food at a game keeps rising, the leagues will be hungry for fans.  Will you help us put pressure on the Owners and GM’s?

Thank you so much for your time,

A Concerned Citizen of Sports Nation

The Mission: More NHL Coverage

  By Chris Speziale | 12/04/2009 - 1:00 pm | Mission Statement
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Dear Commissioner Bettman,

My name is Chris Speziale, and I write a blog on ChrisSpez.com.  The blog is centered around fans and the fan experience.  Once a month, I explore an aspect of the sports world that has been bothering fans, write a letter to a person in a position of influence, and then send that letter along with all of the readers’ comments to that person.  This month I’m taking a look at NHL television coverage, and I think you can help, which is why you’re receiving this letter.  I’ve been a hockey fan since I was a little kid; I grew up in Boston, so the Bruins are my team.  They had an incredible run last year, no?  I personally don’t think the Canes should have beaten us, but they had the momentum coming into the series and they took it from us.  I’m getting off topic.  In the Conference Quarters and Semis last year there were 4 games that I missed parts of because I’m no longer a Boston local.  My readers and I were curious why hockey is the only of the 4 major U.S. sports not have its playoff games nationally televised?

Hockey coverage in the United States has essentially disappeared since the new C.B.A. in 2005.  It’s under-exposed; it’s gotten to the point where, when I typed “NHL Commissioners Office” into Google to get your address, it told me I was mistaken.  Surely, I meant the “NFL Commissioners Office”.  And yes, I know that NBC just bought Versus, and we should see a higher quality product with greater availability.  And yes, the Olympics are coming back, which should spark some interest.  But how can we expect to grow the sport if we can’t watch it on national TV?  I follow the B’s closely on the internet, and watch whenever they play the Rangers, Devils or Islanders because I’m now a New York resident, but I want to see highlights.  I want to be able to turn on Sportscenter and see the Bruins score.  The only hockey we get on national television is the occasional Ovechkin highlight in the days top ten.  It isn’t enough.  Hockey fans are loyal, blue collared Americans, trying to sell their sport in a country that is struggling, and we feel like we have no voice.  Even the players have been feeling jipped, Paul Kelly tried to speak up on their behalf (they want to be seen to you know), and he was let go.  Now, not only do the players not have a rep, but the fans have been left out in dark as well.

It’s not like people don’t want to watch; last season the Stanley Cup playoffs were the highest rated in seven years, and attendance has been steadily on the rise since we came out of the lockout.  The problem is that when they want to watch, they can’t.  Versus isn’t available in all areas, and the NHL Center Ice package is far too expensive for the average person in our economic state.  Now, I’m not proposing anything crazy here, and honestly you might not even be the guy who can help us.  But, you’re the commish, and you get things done.  I appreciate the rule changes that have come down over the last couple of years.  I like that player safety has taken on greater importance. I like that the game has gained speed. And I like that scoring is up, but the only people who are watching are the ones who would have watched anyway.  I knew coming out of the lockout in 2005 that we were going to be in for some tough times.  Americans need to be beaten over the head with things, and the fact that hockey was gone for an entire year hurt.  That said, nobody expected that they’d be here 4 years after the lockout, wishing they could stay home and watch game 7 of the Bruins/Hurricanes series rather than having to drop fifty bucks at a bar with NESN.  But here we are, so let’s start small.  One half hour a week on a major network.  That’s it; I think it’s all we need to start getting things back on track.

If we can get a highlights and analysis show on a channel like NBC or ESPN the sport will get noticed.  Hockey has the TV personalities to pull it off, and if you put a likeable guy in front of the camera, people will warm to it.  It’s also a matter of understanding; hockey is a complex sport, with a lot of rules, and I think the average person needs a little help grasping its concepts.  A good analyst could help explain plays, coaching strategies, and playoff scenarios.  We can call it, “Hockey Night in America,” or “The NHL Tonight”.  It’s not a ridiculous concept, and with the NBC/Versus merger, you now have access to one of the largest and most advanced television studios in the world.

I believe that sports and genealogy have a lot in common; loyalties and fandom are passed from generation to generation. I think if we can get a little more press, attendance will rise, and parents will start passing hockey traditions on to their kids. Then, when the ripple affect takes hold, you’ll have a whole new generation of fans.  I hope to be a hockey fan for the rest of my life, and I plan to teach my children the game if it survives.  That’s why we need help.  The NHL is stuck in the back of the American mind right now.  Will you help us move it to the forefront?

Thank you for your time,

A Concerned Citizen of Hockey Nation

The Mission Statement

  By Chris Speziale | 11/06/2009 - 12:00 pm | Mission Statement
1 Comment

If the Red Sox won the World Series but no one was there to see it, did it happen?  Picture this.  Keith Foulke is on the mound for the Red Sox, it’s game 4 of the 2004 World Series in St. Louis.  Edgar Renteria steps into the box with a 1-0 count. He takes the next pitch and hits a knubber back to the mound.  Foulke snares it; he is so stunned and excited that he hesitates to throw on to first.  He takes a couple steps towards the bag and flips underhanded to Doug Mientkiewicz.  That’s it.  The Red Sox have just won their first World Series title in 86 years.  BUT! The stands are empty, there are no camera crews, no flash bulbs, no Joe Buck trying to capture the emotions of hundreds of thousands of Boston fans.  It’s just a bunch of guys pouring champagne all over each other in the middle of a baseball field.  Doesn’t sound right, does it? So what conclusion do we draw from this? We face facts: it’s a fans game.  And I’m not just talking about baseball.  The American sports industry would be absolutely nowhere without its fan base.

That one moment on October 27th, 2004 changed the lives of millions of people and sent a riptide through the sports world.  With an unlikely cast of characters, a sometimes wobbly manager, and a 3-0 hole to the Yankees in the ALCS, no one expected them to win.  But they did, and it was the fans who carried them through those last 8 games.  When Dave Roberts stole that base in game 4, we knew something special was about to happen.  On ANY other Red Sox team, in ANY other year, he gets thrown out and the season is over.  But he didn’t and the Sox pulled off one of the most incredible comebacks in the history of sports. And WE did it.  Am I biased?  You bet your ass I am.  The Red Sox are my team.  They have been since I came out of the womb.  I’ve followed them every season since I could comprehend the game.  We, as fans, want to believe that we are a part of this, that we can somehow affect the outcome and push our team to the next level.  We employ truly crazy superstitions, wear rally caps and scream until our lungs bleed, all in the hope that we get to see them in the playoffs. We pour our hearts and souls into these teams.   So why are we getting such a raw deal?  Professional sports are an industry.  I get it.  There is money to be made, and if you have the opportunity to make a buck, why wouldn’t you do it?  Ticket prices are climbing, the media frenzy is increasing, every Tom, Dick or Harry is writing a blog (ironic, isn’t it?) or doing a Podcast.  We are all trying to cash in.  All it’s costing us is our sports identity.

That’s where I come in.  I took a sports broadcasting class this summer led by the immortal Ed Ingles.  He brought in a cast of characters to impart some wisdom on breaking into the sports business.  And they all basically had the same advice: Don’t quit, practice practice practice, and lastly, write.  It was that last one that knocked me for a loop.  I never considered writing; I didn’t think I had the chops, but sports broadcasting is what I want to do.  It’s something I feel like I can be good at.  So what do you write about?  Who will read it?  I thought about this for a long time and I came to this.  Fans will read it.  And so, I will write about the fans.  How do we get that identity back?  Who will fight for it? I don’t have the answers, but I’m hoping to explore these questions, and with your help maybe we can figure something out, come to some sort of arrangement, either with the sport (whichever it may be) or with ourselves.

So what are we going to do here?  I’m glad you asked.  Of course we’re going to talk sports, because a real fan isn’t a fan without knowledge.  But this can be so much more than that.  Along with all those sports posts, on the first Friday of every month you’ll see a story about the fan experience.  We have lots to discuss; whether it be gambling, fantasy sports, announcers, TV blackouts, the disappearance of the NHL, the lack of soccer in America or just plain old ticket prices — we’re going to cover it all.  And I want your feedback.  Each monthly post will be sent along with all your comments, to someone who can make a difference.  For example, the post set for December is about the disappearance of the NHL.  After the lockout ended in 2005 it seemed like the league vanished from TV and sports news shows, but no one seemed to get angry and it continued to get worse.  Now they cover, maybe 10 games nationally all year.  In the 2008-2009 postseason you couldn’t even see the first three rounds on National TV! So, we send the letter along with all your comments to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman in hopes that he’ll notice the millions of hockey fans aching for more coverage. Will it work? Who knows?  But it’s worth standing up for.  Sports mean so much to us, so why shouldn’t we fight back? The 2004 Boston Red Sox were underdogs just like the fans of today.  Everyone is counting us out, but maybe, just maybe, we can pull off an even bigger comeback.