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Chargers Stadium, Affordable or Not
I'm not sure of the relevance pre 1973 attendance, when you consider that the NFL only instituted the sellout/blackout rule in 1973. Prior to that, all NFL games were blacked-out in each team's home city and that includes the playoffs and the Super Bowl, regardless of attendance. BTW,because of a bleacher reconfiguration, the last 3 or 4 years the Rams were there, capacity was just over 71k, not 93k. I disagree to an extent about the Raisers, as I have said in other comments. While the neighborhood does have some affect on some, it hasn't stopped USC from having large crowds for as long as I can remember. Many USC-UCLA games wee sellouts as well as USC-Notre Dame games, back when ND was a powerhouse. I believe that USC's most recent game vs Hawaii had a capacity crowd, for a nationally televised game. As an Angelino, I still maintain that the biggest reason for low attendance at Raider games was the team. Just my opinion. Opinions vary.— September 16, 2012 5:42 p.m.
Chargers Stadium, Affordable or Not
Your initial comment wasn't confined to the taxpayers participation. You also said the owner would promise to and likely not spend the money to provide a good team and that attendance would be high the first 4 or 5 years, the "novelty effect" is what you called it. So how has that worked out for Denver? How has attendance been since the Broncos moved from Mile High to their new stadium? Well, excluding a couple of games with replacement players during the 1987 strike season, the Broncos have sold out every home game since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. I don't know the exact number, but including playoffs it's in the neighborhood of 300 consecutive sellouts. Viewed from another perspective, you were still living in Cleveland when the Broncos last time Denver DIDN'T sell out a home game. So much for the "novelty effect". How about the quality of the teams? I believe the Broncos have only had about 10 losing seasons since the merger and since they moved into the new stadium they have won or tied for the division title or finished 2nd in 8 of 11 seasons, so they must be putting some pretty good players on the field. And certainly the signing of Peyton Manning shows a willingness to spend the money to provide a good team. My understanding is that Pat Bowlen agreed to fund 25% of the cost and the rest came from the taxpayers of the six-county area around Denver through a penny-per-$10 sales tax on retail goods, which was approved by taxpayers in 1998. So, the taxpayers in and around Denver voted on and approved the tax needed for the public portion of the financing and Pat Bowlen kicked in his $100 miliion or so. The team continues to play good football and with the addition of Peyton Manning, the expectations are high for at least the next 3 years. And the fans apparently approve because they continue to sell out their games, also meaning the ticket prices must not have been raised too much to keep them from showing up. So exactly how is it that the Broncos "completely scammed" the Colorado taxpayers?— September 16, 2012 5:10 p.m.
Chargers Stadium, Affordable or Not
"Maybe LA, despite the huge size of the market, doesn't have enough people interested in pro football. I do think that if one team relocates to a new stadium, there could be regular sellouts." Aren't you contradicting yourself? First you say that maybe not enough of the L.A. population is interested in pro football and your very next thought is that if a single team moves to L.A. there could be regular sellout. It's either one or the other. I disagree that LA can't support 2 teams, but it depends on how the teams fare. LA WON'T support a losing team for very long. The Rams and the Raiders left because they couldn't get new stadiums. In a new stadium, that's a non issue. Then attendance began to fall when the product on the filed stopped producing, which, in the eyes of many, was a calculated move by both Al Davis and Georgia Frontierre. Having lived here my entire life, I can tell you that people are not as "absorbed" in USC and UCLA football as you think they are. In L.A., it's completely different than college football, and athletics in general, than in San Diego. But it's just one segment of the population that is hardcore about the schools. Most people have a preference of one or the other, for varied reasons, but in the second largest metro area in the country, when you combine attendance of both teams, only about 1% of the population attends the games. When the Rams and Raiders were both playing, there was virtually no decrease in attendance and remember that the Rams had already been playing, first in the Coliseum and then in Anaheim, since 1946. Pro Football could draw for 2 teams back then and I am of the opinion that 2 teams can draw now. But I could be wrong because remember, I've not lived here long, only close to 62 yrs.— September 16, 2012 11:24 a.m.
Chargers Stadium, Affordable or Not
During the latter part of the Raiders tenure in the Coliseum, the NFL granted the Raiders permission to place black tarps over seats that were seldom sold. This reduced the official capacity, in terms NFL black out rules, to about 65,000. And much of the time, the Raiders STILL couldn't sell enough tickets to beat the blackout rule. As I said, the reason that the Raiders couldn't sellout the Coliseum on a regular basis wasn't because it was so big, it was because not enough people cared about the Raiders enough to bother going to a game.— September 16, 2012 11:19 a.m.
Chargers Stadium, Affordable or Not
Don, Bauder, you live in Colorado. Do you think that applies to the Denver Broncos and their stadium?— September 16, 2012 8:58 a.m.
Chargers Stadium, Affordable or Not
The Coliseum's capacity for football at the time the Raiders played there was just over 92,000 and it had no impact on whether or not the Raiders were able to sell out. During the entire time the Raiders played in the Coliseum, attendance exceeded 70k something like 12-15 times for regular season games. If memory serves me correctly, a game against the Chargers was the first to break 70k in attendance. In a 72k stadium, the would have sold out about 8 times. Most seasons, their attendance averaged between 50-60 K; they wouldn't have even sold out playing in the Murph for about 85% of their games. Hell, the Raiders play in a stadium that has only a 63k capacity and I don't think that they have averaged 60k for a season since they went back to Oakland. The reason that the Raiders couldn't sellout the Coliseum wasn't because it was so big, it was because not enough people cared about the Raiders enough to bother going to a game.— September 16, 2012 8:48 a.m.
Chargers Stadium, Affordable or Not
This was addressed by Roger Goodell quite some time ago. Charger games are blacked out in LA unless they are sold out, as the Chargers' home opener is. Since Los Angeles is the secondary market of the Chargers, broadcasts fall under the same rules here as they do in S.D. in terms of sellouts/blackouts. If the Chargers move to L.A., San Diego becomes the secondary market and the roles would just be flip-flopped. S.D. would become the secondary market and the games would not be shown unless they are sold out in L.A..— September 15, 2012 5:04 p.m.
Sonoma County Supervisor Arrested at Downtown Nightclub
He was initially booked on suspicion of felony battery causing great bodily injury and misdemeanor disturbing the peace. The charges were reduced: "San Diego Police Detective Gary Hassen said his captain has deemed the case a misdemeanor that would be handled by the city attorney rather than the San Diego district attorney."— September 11, 2012 3:56 p.m.
Officially, Papa Doug DOES Buy NC Times
I took mine directly from the public release issued by U-T San Diego: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/sep/11/u-t-an… I'll stick with the public release, as that name, Manchester Lynch Integrated Holdings,has been widely used, including in stories concerning the sale of the San Diego Union-Tribune last year. Beside, just use a little logic. How does MLIM Holdings, LLC translate to Manchester Lynch Integrated Holdings? Like I said, the devil is in the details.— September 11, 2012 3:50 p.m.
Officially, Papa Doug DOES Buy NC Times
"MLIM Holdings, Manchester Lynch Integrated Holdings, an affiliate of the U-T" Don Bauder, actually it's Manchester Lynch Integrated Media Holdings, an affiliate of the owner of U-T San Diego. I know, the devil is in the details. LOL— September 11, 2012 2:11 p.m.