The Lions-Redskins game Sunday at FedExField "could mark the peak of Redskins fan apathy and set another low in a lost season that's playing out in embarrassing fashion," according to Larry Lage of the AP. The Redskins have lost "nine consecutive home games, and the combination of on-field failures and a subpar game day experience has sunken attendance for a once-proud franchise." A year after the team "conceded the end of a 'sellout streak,' ... the average announced attendance in five home games" is just 67,364 in a stadium that lists a capacity of 82,000 (AP, 11/21). USA TODAY's Lorenzo Reyes notes the secondary ticket market for Lions-Redskins "features tickets as low as $5," while multiple websites have a "smattering of seats in the upper deck" of FedExField available for less than $10. In the lower bowl, where NFL tickets for some games can "run upward of $500 or more, even reaching the thousands, there was an abundance of available seats for $111 on Ticketmaster.com, as of Thursday" (USA TODAY, 11/22).
BLISSFULLY SHORT: In DC, Matthew Paras notes the Redskins' "one saving grace this year" is that the length of their games by NFL standards have been "pretty quick." Going into Week 12, this season's average Redskins game has "lasted just 2 hours and 57 minutes." The Redskins are the first team since '11 to "average a game under three hours." Through 10 games, the team has "finished under three hours in five, three of those" since coach Bill Callahan took over last month (WASHINGTON TIMES, 11/22).
LOSING THEIR OWN CITY: In DC, Barry Svrluga writes the city is a "different sports town than it was just a year-and-a-half ago," and the team that has been "left behind" is the Redskins. Svrluga: "Viscerally, that has felt true for what -- three, five, 10 years? But now we have data to back it up." The Redskins are at the "bottom of a well, with no ladder to climb and no phone with which to text." A Washington Post survey released on Thursday shows the percentage of DC residents under 40 who "list the football team as their favorite: 8." That is "essentially one in 12 young adults who prefer the Redskins above all others." For the same age demographic, the Nationals register 28%, the Capitals 15%, the Wizards 10%, DC United at 7% and the Mystics at 6%. To see the WNBA and MLS teams "within two percentage points of the once all-powerful NFL team is nothing short of astonishing" (WASHINGTON POST, 11/22).
