Steelers-Bengals on Monday night featured the smallest crowd between the two teams in Cincinnati "in more than two decades," according to Steve Watkins of the CINCINNATI BUSINESS COURIER. The game "drew a crowd of 56,029," meaning "nearly 10,000 tickets went unsold at Paul Brown Stadium, which holds 65,515." The last time the Bengals "drew such a small crowd for a matchup" with the Steelers was in '95, when they "drew 54,636 fans." Last year’s crowd of 62,096 was the "smallest for a home Steelers game since Paul Brown Stadium opened" in '00 (BIZJOURNALS.com, 12/5).
HELPING THE LITTLE GUY? In Baltimore, Jeff Barker noted the Ravens were "advertising tickets" for last Sunday’s home game against the Lions. Thousands of fans were "trying to resell their tickets to the sold-out game" via Ticketmaster. The Ravens said that they "took the unusual step of advertising tickets not only to help themselves -- teams get a cut from seats resold on Ticketmaster -- but also to help get better deals for their fans who are selling." The team used the slogan “Win Together. Purchase your tickets today!" on their website and in the Baltimore Sun. Ravens Senior VP/Ticket Sales & Operations Baker Koppelman said, “It is relatively new for us to advertise or promote ticket sales when we’ve sold out every game in our history.” The Ravens also said that season ticket renewal percentage is 99%, and the waiting list for PSLs "numbers about 2,500 fans" (Baltimore SUN, 12/3).
VISITORS CENTER: THE RINGER's Kevin Clark wrote Chargers games at StubHub Center "feel less like a sporting event and more like a meetup of all the people who knew the Chargers had moved" to L.A. An NFL team "playing in a soccer stadium sounds like a gimmick, but it’s not that." This is "more of a misadventure, an earnest idea quickly gone south." StubHub Center is "actually a remarkable place to see an NFL game, in the same way it’d be cool to see the Clippers play at your local YMCA." L.A.'s sprawl is "one of the obstacles the Chargers face" in attracting fans to games. There are also "groups of people in neutral jerseys" and a "strange gloom that hangs over" StubHub Center. There is "typically a critical mass of visiting fans" (THERINGER.com, 12/5).
