urbanSTL

eee123 wrote: ↑

Feb 25, 2020

The secondary market prices for the BattleHawks are equal to higher than they were the last few years of the Rams.

Face value is moot for the BattleHawks when everything is sold months in advance. And it was mostly moot for the Rams for single-game sales.

The average secondary market price for the Rams' last game here was $62. That's probably about average for the last several years of Rams.

But, your average Ram prices include the 400 series that are much lower in cost and not in use.  You would have to compare apples to apples (identical seat areas - the lower bowl).

I bought my season tickets, 2 of them.  I thought it was a pretty good deal for the seats I had.  59.00 per seat with all fees / taxes.

That's true, that the cheap Rams seats were worse. And it's true that XFL tickets are fairly priced at the season-ticket level.

But for a person/family who wants to attend a game or maybe two on a whim, it's absurdly priced at a level way, way out of line with its standing in the sports world and way out of line with how much fandom anybody has invested in it.

If my favorite team is playing for a championship, the sky's the limit on what I'll pay.

But for minor league entertainment and/or sports in which the outcome is mostly irrelevant and the players mostly unknown, my per-ticket limit is like $25. (Disclaimer: I know I'm a cheap bastard.)

The BattleHawks are not affordable right now. And unless they open a lot more seats, they won't really be affordable this season, unless something drastic happens causing secondary market prices to crash.

^I hate to say this, but the fact that the ticket price is what it is and people are paying and they are excited causes me to think this is a bit like the "it's so crowded nobody goes there anymore" saw. I think it's fair to say fans are indeed willing to pay the prices. At least so far. And football was never affordable. Even college ball isn't what I would call "reasonably priced" from a baseball perspective. When you have a similar costs, but far fewer games you really have to price accordingly.

Anyway, I very much hope nothing drastic happens to drive ticket prices down. Quite the opposite, in fact. Though I'm all in favor of TV, ads, paraphernalia, and all the other goodies of sports marketing helping out a bit more too . . . since that's someone else paying for something I get to enjoy.

gone corporate wrote: ↑

Feb 25, 2020

urbanitas wrote: ↑

Feb 25, 2020

I'm surprised nobody in the media has mentioned it, but ESPN really screwed the pooch on the home opener broadcast.  The Cincinnati - Wichita State basketball game ran long, they didn't switch over and instead put the XFL game on ESPNews.  So TV viewers missed the whole "first pro football game in 5 years" intro, shots of the Dome crowd and exterior shots of crazed fans, plus the entire opening drive and first home touchdown ever by the BattleHawks...

Actually, I think ESPN is likely caught fully off-guard here. They have a long-term relationship with the NFL, including broadcasting contracts. Maybe the League and ESPN are hesitant to show a competitor to the NFL, their big revenue generator. This is especially if such a broadcast can bring shame or negative attention to the League.. such as STL's fanaticism for professional football, broadcast nationwide and contrasted with that of the Rams, would certainly demonstrate. Showing numbers for minor league football beating last season's attendance for the Chargers in LA? That could be a black eye to the NFL. 

As far as the Charger thing goes StubHub stadium only seats 22,500.,    Now the embarrassment for the NFL is that of that number 21, 500 were rooting for the 
other team.  It will also be funny in the new stadium when the Charges play and the place is only 25% filled. 
Although that may take a year as people may go just to see the place.
I don't see the Charges lasting long in LA.   I wouldn't be surprised if they figured out a way to go back to SD even if that means Spanos has to sell
to deep pockets.

gone corporate wrote: ↑

Feb 25, 2020

urbanitas wrote: ↑

Feb 25, 2020

I'm surprised nobody in the media has mentioned it, but ESPN really screwed the pooch on the home opener broadcast.  The Cincinnati - Wichita State basketball game ran long, they didn't switch over and instead put the XFL game on ESPNews.  So TV viewers missed the whole "first pro football game in 5 years" intro, shots of the Dome crowd and exterior shots of crazed fans, plus the entire opening drive and first home touchdown ever by the BattleHawks...

Actually, I think ESPN is likely caught fully off-guard here. They have a long-term relationship with the NFL, including broadcasting contracts. Maybe the League and ESPN are hesitant to show a competitor to the NFL, their big revenue generator. This is especially if such a broadcast can bring shame or negative attention to the League.. such as STL's fanaticism for professional football, broadcast nationwide and contrasted with that of the Rams, would certainly demonstrate. Showing numbers for minor league football beating last season's attendance for the Chargers in LA? That could be a black eye to the NFL. 

I don't think there is any love lost between Bob Iger, CEO of Disney and the Jerry Jones / Kroenke clique of the NFL.  Remember that Iger / Disney was a big supporter of the Carson stadium plan for the Raiders and Chargers to move to LA.  Jones and StanK blew up that deal at the last minute, and apparently JJ was rather dismissive of Disney and Iger personally in his sales pitch...

Also note the well-circulated article exposing the behind-the-scenes manipulation by Jones and how much he stood to benefit financially from the Rams' Inglewood stadium deal.  And the follow up article detailing the mutual disdain and problems between the Chargers and Rams front offices, and the "concern among NFL officials" about the Chargers' viability in LA as a tenant of the Rams.  Both of those articles were published by ESPN (which along with ABC, is a subsidiary of Disney).


Edit:  Ha, just saw the news about Iger stepping down as CEO after I wrote this.  Interesting.  In his statement, he said "he will spend more time on Disney's creative endeavors, including the ESPN sports network..." among other things. - Disney CEO Bob Iger steps aside, effective immediately, after 15 years at helm

^I was about to point that out, but you caught it quickly. Don't know that this means anything to XFL/Rams/Raiders/NFL, but if he involves himself more in ESPN . . . hmm . . .

urbanitas wrote: ↑

Feb 26, 2020

gone corporate wrote: ↑

Feb 25, 2020

urbanitas wrote: ↑

Feb 25, 2020

I'm surprised nobody in the media has mentioned it, but ESPN really screwed the pooch on the home opener broadcast.  The Cincinnati - Wichita State basketball game ran long, they didn't switch over and instead put the XFL game on ESPNews.  So TV viewers missed the whole "first pro football game in 5 years" intro, shots of the Dome crowd and exterior shots of crazed fans, plus the entire opening drive and first home touchdown ever by the BattleHawks...

Actually, I think ESPN is likely caught fully off-guard here. They have a long-term relationship with the NFL, including broadcasting contracts. Maybe the League and ESPN are hesitant to show a competitor to the NFL, their big revenue generator. This is especially if such a broadcast can bring shame or negative attention to the League.. such as STL's fanaticism for professional football, broadcast nationwide and contrasted with that of the Rams, would certainly demonstrate. Showing numbers for minor league football beating last season's attendance for the Chargers in LA? That could be a black eye to the NFL. 

I don't think there is any love lost between Bob Iger, CEO of Disney and the Jerry Jones / Kroenke clique of the NFL.  Remember that Iger / Disney was a big supporter of the Carson stadium plan for the Raiders and Chargers to move to LA.  Jones and StanK blew up that deal at the last minute, and apparently JJ was rather dismissive of Disney and Iger personally in his sales pitch...

Also note the well-circulated article exposing the behind-the-scenes manipulation by Jones and how much he stood to benefit financially from the Rams' Inglewood stadium deal.  And the follow up article detailing the mutual disdain and problems between the Chargers and Rams front offices, and the "concern among NFL officials" about the Chargers' viability in LA as a tenant of the Rams.  Both of those articles were published by ESPN (which along with ABC, is a subsidiary of Disney).


Edit:  Ha, just saw the news about Iger stepping down as CEO after I wrote this.  Interesting.  In his statement, he said "he will spend more time on Disney's creative endeavors, including the ESPN sports network..." among other things. - Disney CEO Bob Iger steps aside, effective immediately, after 15 years at helm

The owners flipped quickly on the Rams and Chargers to LA  it wouldn't surprise me one bit if money changed hands.

Ticketmaster (official seller of XFL tickets) has about 900-1000 left (not including those already bought and on the resell market) for Saturdays game....

On Sunday, the St. Louis Battlehawks got to celebrate a victory over the New York Guardians as the state of Missouri welcomed professional football back for the first time since the Rams moved back to LA over four years ago.  A stingy defense and opportunistic special team unit helped pave the way for a 26-9 victory as the Battlehawks capitalized on the XFL’s first kickoff return touchdown of the short season.  more

LOL

Someone at works said they saw on tv today that 25k tickets have been sold for tomorrow

urbanitas wrote: ↑

Feb 28, 2020

On Sunday, the St. Louis Battlehawks got to celebrate a victory over the New York Guardians as the state of Missouri welcomed professional football back for the first time since the Rams moved back to LA over four years ago.  A stingy defense and opportunistic special team unit helped pave the way for a 26-9 victory as the Battlehawks capitalized on the XFL’s first kickoff return touchdown of the short season.  more

LOL

SMH - The state of Missouri has the reigning Superbowl champs.

So where the hell is East St. Louis? 

^It's a part of the St. Louis area. Nothing particularly confusing there.

shadrach wrote: ↑

Feb 28, 2020

I have extended family (in-laws and such) in California and Florida. You be surprised at how many intelligent people don’t know KC is in Missouri. I sure was.
New York City is in New York, Oklahoma City is in Oklahoma, so Kansas City is obviously...and I heard that too....”We’re the settlers so dumb they didn’t know they were in Missouri?”

Anyway, SMH2

You don't have to go that far.  In my experience, most people in Chicago / Great Lakes region had no clue either.  Maybe at least some of the football fans there do now...  

Hey, that would be a great travel plug:  "Kansas City.  We're not in Kansas anymore!"   

jshank83 wrote: ↑

Feb 28, 2020

Someone at works said they saw on tv today that 25k tickets have been sold for tomorrow

Karraker said on the Fast Lane tonight that 2000 tickets remain for the game tomorrow.

The LA game (March 21) is close to a sellout too.

frequentflyer wrote: ↑

Feb 29, 2020

jshank83 wrote: ↑

Feb 28, 2020

Someone at works said they saw on tv today that 25k tickets have been sold for tomorrow

Karraker said on the Fast Lane tonight that 2000 tickets remain for the game tomorrow.

The LA game (March 21) is close to a sellout too.

I'd guess this means we will see those 6k 2nd level tickets go on sale for that game also then. I'm still not convinced the pull the trigger on the upper (3rd level) deck, but we will see. If there is any game they really could push it for it is probably the LA game.

Last minute - but I was gifted 3 tickets to the game today.  I already have season tickets but I am happy to share these 3 with anyone who wants to go.   they are FREE.  you can email me at mikekinstl@yahoo.com

STLCityMike wrote: ↑

Feb 29, 2020

Last minute - but I was gifted 3 tickets to the game today.  I already have season tickets but I am happy to share these 3 with anyone who wants to go.   they are FREE.  you can email me at mikekinstl@yahoo.com

If you don't get any takers here, you may want to share this kind offer on the "Official BattleHawks Fan Page" on Facebook. There were several people who were asking about tickets.

frequentflyer wrote: ↑

Feb 29, 2020

STLCityMike wrote: ↑

Feb 29, 2020

Last minute - but I was gifted 3 tickets to the game today.  I already have season tickets but I am happy to share these 3 with anyone who wants to go.   they are FREE.  you can email me at mikekinstl@yahoo.com

If you don't get any takers here, you may want to share this kind offer on the "Official BattleHawks Fan Page" on Facebook. There were several people who were asking about tickets.

Thanks!

27,527 today. 57,071 two game total. XFL was looking for 85,000 for the 5 games this season

dbInSouthCity wrote: ↑

Mar 01, 2020

27,527 today. 57,071 two game total. XFL was looking for 85,000 for the 5 games this season

We might have to donate some of our attendance to NY and LA.

jshank83 wrote: ↑

Mar 01, 2020

dbInSouthCity wrote: ↑

Mar 01, 2020

27,527 today.  57,071 two game total.  XFL was looking for 85,000 for the 5 games this season

We might have to donate some of our attendance to NY and LA.

And Tampa.  They drew 12,249 last night.

There is a lot of talk about the Battlehawks releasing more seats for the next games, especially against LA. I doubt they'll open the entire upper bowl, but I'd be fine with the club level. That should bring capacity up to 35-40,000