NFL Shootings

[rypper11]

I know we've discussed it during the offseason but with the shootings last night I thought I'd readdress the topic. Putting up with drunk and obnoxious is one thing, but does the violence make you less inclined to every attend an NFL game?

I'm planning on going to the Panthers game in October but there is no way I'm bringing my kids.

NFL.com news: Police: Two shot in Candlestick Park lot after Raiders-49ers tilt

[rbanerjee23]

dumbass fans -- i love the redskins with a passion but at some point people need to step back and realize that its just a game THAT YOU'RE NOT EVEN PLAYING!!

[skinsfaninok]

I'd never take a kid to an NFL game, I used to go to Saints games all the time and there was always fights in the stadium.. I know it happens everywhere but I'd rather watch from my house, last night was a joke of security at that game.. Are u kidding me? GUNS and people almost beaten to death? SAD

[GusFrerotte]

Originally Posted by skinsfaninok

I'd never take a kid to an NFL game, I used to go to Saints games all the time and there was always fights in the stadium.. I know it happens everywhere but I'd rather watch from my house, last night was a joke of security at that game.. Are u kidding me? GUNS and people almost beaten to death? SAD

Tho only problem I have ever seen at Lions games were fights due to alcohol. I think the NFL would be wise in actually considering dropping the damn beer companies and banning alcohol. A damn football or baseball game should be kid friendly always. I mean seriously, do you want half the adults in the crowd driving back home drunk?

[That Guy]

Originally Posted by GusFrerotte

Tho only problem I have ever seen at Lions games were fights due to alcohol. I think the NFL would be wise in actually considering dropping the damn beer companies and banning alcohol. A damn football or baseball game should be kid friendly always. I mean seriously, do you want half the adults in the crowd driving back home drunk?

they'd be giving up an awful lot of money. and that's aramark/the stadiums, not the NFL, so most of the owners have a stake in beer sales.

[sportscurmudgeon]

Originally Posted by GusFrerotte

Tho only problem I have ever seen at Lions games were fights due to alcohol. I think the NFL would be wise in actually considering dropping the damn beer companies and banning alcohol. A damn football or baseball game should be kid friendly always. I mean seriously, do you want half the adults in the crowd driving back home drunk?

Beer company "partnerships" and beer sales at the stadium are SIGNIFICANT contributors to that $9.3B revenue stream that is the NFL. Hard to see that going away anytime soon...

In addition, more than a few folks ENTER the stadium more than half lit from the 5 hours of tailgating before the game. Imagine the lines to get into FedEx if they made everyone pass a breathalyzer test at the gate...

The NFL owners have to begin to look at their stadiums far more critically than most have for the last 20 years. There is more to the game experience than big high-def scoreboards and DJs playing loud music. It is true that TV rights fees pay most of the freight for teams but the fan attendance dollars plus concessions and parking are still important parts of the teams' revenues. And attendance at the 95% level is no longer something lots of teams can count on as a given...

Drunken fans can make the stadium experience very unpleasant even if they do not start shooting at folks or initiate a beat-down in the men's room...

[Defensewins]

Originally Posted by GusFrerotte

Tho only problem I have ever seen at Lions games were fights due to alcohol. I think the NFL would be wise in actually considering dropping the damn beer companies and banning alcohol. A damn football or baseball game should be kid friendly always. I mean seriously, do you want half the adults in the crowd driving back home drunk?

There are certain hard core folks that show up to a sporting or concert event already drunk or stoned. Plus it is hard to control the tail gate parties in the parking lots before and after a game.
When you have 80,000 to 100,000 people walking through the turnstiles quickly and only a few hundred employees, it is difficult to determine if all the fans have had too much to drink, unless they are falling down wasted.

[sportscurmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Defensewins

There are certain hard core folks that show up to a sporting or concert event already drunk or stoned. Plus it is hard to control the tail gate parties in the parking lots before and after a game.
When you have 80,000 to 100,000 people walking through the turnstiles quickly and only a few hundred employees, it is difficult to determine if all the fans have had too much to drink, unless they are falling down wasted.

About 3 years ago, there was a study done on people entering sporting events (baseball, football, soccer games as I recall). They did sampling and some kind of sobriety testing short of a blood sample.

Not so surprisingly, football and soccer fans were "more likely to be iniebrated" at the start of the event. Tailgating is not nearly as big a deal for baseball. I do not recall the percentage of folks who were considered "iniebrated" entering the stadium.

However, I do recall the study's estimate that between 55 and 60% of the people leaving a baseball, football or soccer game were "over the legal limit".

If that study is even partially correct, that tells you that there are waay too many drunks in the stands at the ends of sporting events to consider them as safe as going to the movies.

Oh, and keep that number in mind as you get in your car at FedEx next time to head on out to the Beltway on your way home. Perhaps as many as 3 out of 5 drivers in the cars near you is "over the limit"...

[GusFrerotte]

Exactly, it is a game, an entertainment fix. Ultimately it is nothing more than a distraction like a movie. Yeah we are fans, but even if we lose, we aren't losing a damn thing in reality. Thing is the triggerman(men) were probably not in attendance and were just waiting outside to rob people or who know what. It would be hard to enter a NFL stadium with a gun anymore. At Ford Field it is like half the Detroit Police Dept is there doing the metal detectors or just patroling those areas.

[irish]

I think I have been saying it for awhile now, NFL games are for taking the family, its for guys to get together with their buddies to party. No way would I ever take my wife or a kid to an NFL game unless I was sitting in a private box and even then I'd have to really think about it.

This stupidity is fueled by booze and by the team promoting this "fan as the 12th man" crap so it shouldnt surprise anyone (especially the teams that have promoted this) that the fans actually feel like they are part of the team and go berserk when the team loses or a fan of another team gets attacked in a booze fueled show of "team support".

There's no way the NFL will ban beer sales in the stadium, its worth too much $ to the owners. I can see them banning tailgating or allow tailgating without booze. I could even see them allowing tailgating if you go through the team to cater the food & drink (that way the amount of booze could be controlled). In the end the fans are going to ruin it for themselves.

[Gmanc711]

Honestly, I think the lack of security is one of the biggest things.

I've been to a ton of Redskins games, I've never seen anything that outrageous (I prob only go to 1-3 games a year max)... but I've always thought how lax the security is. I really don't think there are many cops around either...

I mean these people are clearly idiots, but its the world we live in now...

Not really sure what my point is, but it's just getting ridiculous.

[NC_Skins]

College football games live > Pro football games live


I am fortunate to have a University in town which rates as one of the best football games to attend in the nation(tailgating is awesome). I've been to pro and to other college football, and pro football simply doesn't compare. I think a big portion of it is due to the fact that beer isn't served at the games (or allowed in), even though each campus has their own rules in regards to this. If you allow people to drink all day and continue to allow them to drink during the game, you are just asking for trouble.

[mlmpetert]

Originally Posted by NC_Skins

College football games live > Pro football games live


I am fortunate to have a University in town which rates as one of the best football games to attend in the nation(tailgating is awesome). I've been to pro and to other college football, and pro football simply doesn't compare. I think a big portion of it is due to the fact that beer isn't served at the games (or allowed in), even though each campus has their own rules in regards to this. If you allow people to drink all day and continue to allow them to drink during the game, you are just asking for trouble.

Maybe they dont serve alchohol, however in my personally experience it seems the amount of drinking done outside of the stadiums is much more and for much longer at college games then at nfl games. At 9 dollars a beer im not really getting drunk inside the stadium.

I think the difference is the amount of opposing fans at nfl games vs. college games. The fans at college games are 95% home team. At NFL games it can be around 75% or in the case of fedex.... 50/50 sometimes.

[mredskins]

Originally Posted by mlmpetert

Maybe they dont serve alchohol, however in my personally experience it seems the amount of drinking done outside of the stadiums is much more and for much longer at college games then at nfl games. At 9 dollars a beer im not really getting drunk inside the stadium.

I think the difference is the amount of opposing fans at nfl games vs. college games. The fans at college games are 95% home team. At NFL games it can be around 75% or in the case of fedex.... 50/50 sometimes.

The college game day experience is much safer. I don't think it matters who you are rooting for. I have seen plenty of Skins fans vs. Skins fans.

[mlmpetert]

Well it could also be that college kids have more on the line if they get in trouble at a game.... they can get kicked out.

Also the 49ers owner knows how to curb violence at games. Come to think of it college games dont have preseason games! Anyone know if spring practices get a little out of control? This guy is a complete idiot:

Jed York suggests 18-game season would curb fan violence | ProFootballTalk