The Redskins, whom industry experts say are "among the
eight most profitable franchises in the NFL," have sold
77,000 of a possible 80,116 seats for each home game this
season, "ensuring the money will flow whether the team wins
or loses and whether the fans attend or stay home,"
according to Thomas Heath of the WASHINGTON POST. With an
average ticket price of $74.28, the team brings in $34M a
year in ticket revenue after a 60-40 split with visiting
teams. Redskins execs "point out that the average ticket
price includes" premium seats. Heath writes that those
premium seats -- 14,959 club seats, 208 luxury suites with
3,148 seats and 1,506 loge seats -- bring in "nearly" $30M a
year, and all but 2,500 club seats have been sold. But the
team's 0-7 start, "causes fans to stay home, hurting game-
day revenue." Heath: "Missing 5,000 fans costs the Redskins
about $25,000 per game in lost concession and merchandise
revenue" (Thomas Heath, WASHINGTON POST, 10/28).
UP THE B-W PARKWAY: In Baltimore, Jon Morgan reports
that the Ravens are 3,000 total tickets shy of selling out
their entire home schedule, as ducats remain for their final
home game. The Ravens, 4,000 short of selling all of its
PSLs, have added those seats to the single-game sale
inventory for the rest of the season. Ravens VP/PR Kevin
Byrne had earlier "predicted a sellout" of the PSLs by the
end of this year, but "acknowledges that is unlikely" with
the team's 2-5 record (Jon Morgan, Baltimore SUN, 10/28).
