The Dolphins and sponsor Bud Light have purchased the remaining unsold tickets to Sunday's game against the Texans at Sun Life Stadium, ensuring the game will be broadcast on local TV. Dolphins CEO Mike Dee sent a letter to inform season-ticket holders Thursday that additional tickets will be available free of charge (Dolphins). In Miami, Jeff Darlington notes distributing free tickets is a move “rarely made by any NFL teams.” Season-ticket holders with seats in the 100 or 400 levels of Sun Life Stadium “are eligible for two more free tickets,” club-level season-ticket holders “are eligible for four free tickets and suite holders are eligible for eight more tickets.” Dee Thursday said, “We don’t know if this is a sustainable policy, but we’re going to take it one game at a time” (MIAMI HERALD, 9/16). Dee: "We're not going to discount tickets. We want to preserve the integrity and respect our season-ticket members who have made a very big commitment to us" (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 9/16). Dee said that he is “not concerned that Thursday's mass purchase of tickets will lessen fans' incentive to buy tickets to future games.” Dee: "It's always a risk you run. But clearly, over a long period of time, the type of investment that's required to make this happen is not sustainable without sponsor participation” (PALM BEACH POST, 9/16).
TOUGH SELL: In West Palm Beach, Ethan Skolnick notes the Dolphins “aren't the only team struggling to attract fans,” as overall NFL attendance “has declined each of the past three seasons after peaking at an average of 67,755 in 2007.” NFL VP/Communications Brian McCarthy said, "We're looking ahead flat to slightly up, league-wide. Which is tremendous in this difficult economy, but we're not satisfied by any means." He added, "We are competing with ourselves with the at-home experience." McCarthy said that Dolphins Owner Stephen Ross “has been the most aggressive and innovative owner in trying to transform the stadium experience, including the introduction of the FanVision device.” Yet "not every Dolphin fan looks upon all such attempts favorably,” and many “mock them.” The Dolphins last season introduced an “Orange Carpet” for the “parade of celebrities” attending the game. Dolphins season-ticket holder Victor Garcia said, "It turned me off, because I didn't like watching mediocre football, sandwiched in between shots of celebrities. That's fine if the team is winning. But when my team is down 14-0, the last thing I want to see is Pit Bull doing the 'Fins Up on the Jumbotron. In trying to get the casual fan in, it turned off a lot of the true Dolphins fans." Alex Feria canceled his season tickets “after one season,” and said, “What's Will Smith going to do for me? It's not like you are going to shake Will Smith's hand. You better want to put on some pads if you want to play" (PALM BEACH POST, 9/16).
GOOD TO BE BACK: Ross appeared on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Friday to discuss politics, real estate and the NFL. CNBC’s Gary Kaminsky said despite the lockout, fans "seem to be across the country completely embracing the return” of the NFL. Ross said, “We didn’t really lose any games. There was a lot of talk before it. We didn’t even lose any preseason games from that standpoint. We all know that (in) America, and it’s really shown, that football and the NFL is probably the greatest brand and the greatest spectator sport in America. I think now that we have 10 years of labor peace you’re going to see a lot more impact of what the NFL can do. It’s great for us.” Ross noted it is "a lot harder to sell tickets today, especially your suites and your club seats," due to the economy. Ross: "It’s a real marketing effort today, even though it is so popular. Also, the production at home is so great so as owners, we have to do something to really bring fans back to the stadium” (“Squawk Box,” CNBC, 9/16).
