Carolina Panthers, Cam Newton, Empty Seats, Social Media, and Branding

[1of10Charnatives]

2 hours ago, Mr. Scot said:

 General analysis usually says that the NFL is not as star driven as the NBA.

This. Mainly owing to two factors:

1. Smaller team size. 53 man rosters with 22 starters vs 12 man rosters with 5 starters. In basketball each player matters more to the team’s success just because there are fewer players involved.

2. Pads and helmets make players less recognizable.

 

[Mr. Scot]

Just now, 1of10Charnatives said:

This. Mainly owing to two factors:

1. Smaller team size. 53 man rosters with 22 starters vs 12 man rosters with 5 starters. In basketball each player matters more to the team’s success just because there are fewer players involved.

2. Pads and helmets make players less recognizable.

Makes sense...

[SBiii]

38 minutes ago, Harbingers said:

I don’t see how. But I don’t know how much prices have fluctuated since he took over. 

I meant from political perspective.

[jfra78]

2 hours ago, dave-o said:

I will get poo'd but....    I deal with the public at my job all day...  The Panthers are a huge topic....  When Cam comes up in discussion a wide majority of folks say they are tired of him and his antics...  Showboating, the clothes, the general circus he brings to the table...  I admit I am one of those people...  I want him to be the best Panther ever but be more business like on the field...  Watch some of the top QB's warming up....  Its all business....  Cam runs around acting like an airplane....  Maybe I just expect more out of the face of a franchise....

[SBiii]

23 minutes ago, grateflday said:

 

1.  The price increase is more so and dramatic over the past five or six years.  In 2013 my seats were $64 a piece and are now $100+ (they now do variable pricing, so some games cost more ie Skins this year are $123, that was what they did for Giants and Eagles last season).   Increases over seasons of course due to the normal annually of about $5 per seat  AND when they "lowered" pre-season prices several years ago they simply just shifted the cost onto the regular season games.  Overall the season ticket holder paid the same price for the season, but the single game buyer now was starting at a higher price.  PLUS when NC added a tax to the tickets that added another $5 plus per seat.  

2.  Scalping pretty much does not exist outside the stadium.

Good feedback, thanks.

My neighbor isn't a season ticket holder and he took his wife and 2 kids a few weeks ago and it was in excess of $800 by the time they were finished.

I believe the key issues are:

Price -- tickets & concessions.  People are feeling like they are getting ripped off at the concession stand. 

Security -- major hassle to get in.

Lack of Scalping -- sounds like buying a $20 ticket at game time is no longer an option.

Ownership -- Tepper's politics don't sit well with a lot of people. 

Some people have no problem with any of those issues, some are affected by all of them....overall on a combined basis they have to be having a meaningful impact.

Falcons have actually been lowering concession prices.....Tepper oughta give that a shot.

PS....in the long-run I believe the electronic ticketing program will negatively affect season ticket renewals.

[jfra78]

3 minutes ago, SBiii said:

Good feedback, thanks.

My neighbor isn't a season ticket holder and he took his wife and 2 kids a few weeks ago and it was in excess of $800 by the time they were finished.

I believe the key issues are:

Price -- tickets & concessions.  People are feeling like they are getting ripped off at the concession stand. 

Security -- major hassle to get in.

Lack of Scalping -- sounds like buying a $20 ticket at game time is no longer an option.

Ownership -- Tepper's politics don't sit well with a lot of people. 

Some people have no problem with any of those issues, some are affected by all of them....overall on a combined basis they have to be having a meaningful impact.

Falcons have actually been lowering concession prices.....Tepper oughta give that a shot.

Yea, that shiny new stadium is all but empty.  

[MHS831]

2 hours ago, Cary Kollins said:

Cam or no Cam, attending an NFL game is fugging expensive and time consuming and not something people get too thrilled about coming off one of the worst performances in franchise history.

If the team keeps winning the stands will start to fill again. I don't blame folks for not showing up for a product as inconsistent as what this franchise has put out recently though.

There is something to this.  First of all,  and this will piss off many of you with multi-candle Cam shrines in your tree houses, there is a series of circumstantial evidence that makes an objectively analytical mind consider some dark possibilities.  Yes, I considered the odds that this is nonsense, but I am not seeing the signs that suggest a positive outcome.  Was Cam on the sideline yesterday?  Was he cheering his teammates?  I did not see it, but that does not mean it did not happen.

1. In the past 16 Panther games-a season's worth, Cam lost eight, injured or not, the ticket prices stayed the same. Heinicke lost a game.  Allen has won 7 and lost 1, most games being on the road.   People want to win, not make excuses that some guy who makes about $1.3 million per game is working through some stuff while we are paying our kids college funds to see the team lose.

2.  Greg Olsen recently mentioned something that leads one to believe Cam does not take rehab very seriously.  He had shoulder surgery and then a re-surgery, and if you believe the scar tissue clean up story, I have a conspiracy theory. Think about the timing-a few years ago, the surgery following the season was in March.  He was not ready for camp.  Why March and not December?  The "scar tissue" cleanup was a very long process--in college, many players had similar surgeries that had a much shorter recovery time.  I wonder if his shoulder is healed to this date.  Then there is the foot injury, one that Cam (to his credit) tried to play through.  Now---all of the sudden----it is a possible season ender.  What changed?  Considering what Greg Olsen said, he goes on TV to do an interview with a cigar and glass of wine.  Not sure that image was positive with all fans.

There may be something to this, or this could be nothing.  However, if you are focused on the fans, if your rehab covers them the cost of 2 season ticket  so you can lose or sit out with a cigar and glass of wine beneath a ridiculous hat and scarf ensemble, it may reflect poorly on hard-working fans paying him $461,000 a week to either lose or slowly heal while watching a guy who makes that in a year go 7-1 during Cam's absence, well, expect to see a few more 22s and 7s in the stands and fewer 1s.  That is human nature. 

In fairness to Cam, he has been the face of the franchise and losing the star personality keeps people away--it is like seeing Dumb and Dumber II--who are those guys?  Why am I paying the same price for a ticket or more?  I get it.  CMC is not an entertainer and an icon.  He is a hard working, blue collar, shy workhorse--not a show pony.  Same with Luke.  I am waiting for Samuel and Moore to step up into stardom, but they are sorta boring too.  They all do their jobs--no dabbing or shirt ripping--things that used to pump us up and get the crowd going wild.  As a football purist, that is fine with me, but for kids and some folks who want to see the antics, I get why the product is not the same, even though the team is winning. 

[Mr. Scot]

The NFL is indeed becoming too expensive for the average fan. Pete Rozelle would have absolutely hated seeing that.

On the flipside, the league probably knows that if you can't pay it, someone else can.

As long as that remains true, don't expect any changes.

[MHS831]

4 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

The NFL is indeed becoming too expensive for the average fan. Pete Rozelle would have absolutely hated seeing that.

On the flipside, the league probably knows that if you can't pay it, someone else san.

As long as that remains true, don't expect any changes.

You are right--the fans determine the market.  However, with the PSL concept here and in a few other places, it puts fans in a difficult situation. 

[mc52beast]

People in Charlotte have no freaking idea how good they have it. There are plenty of other football fans who would love it if Tepper moved the team.

If you’re a true fan you show up and do what real fans do, you don’t spend your time bitching about who’s the better qb 

[TheRed]

17 minutes ago, MHS831 said:

There is something to this.  First of all,  and this will piss off many of you with multi-candle Cam shrines in your tree houses, there is a series of circumstantial evidence that makes an objectively analytical mind consider some dark possibilities.  Yes, I considered the odds that this is nonsense, but I am not seeing the signs that suggest a positive outcome.  Was Cam on the sideline yesterday?  Was he cheering his teammates?  I did not see it, but that does not mean it did not happen.

1. In the past 16 Panther games-a season's worth, Cam lost eight, injured or not, the ticket prices stayed the same. Heinicke lost a game.  Allen has won 7 and lost 1, most games being on the road.   People want to win, not make excuses that some guy who makes about $1.3 million per game is working through some stuff while we are paying our kids college funds to see the team lose.

2.  Greg Olsen recently mentioned something that leads one to believe Cam does not take rehab very seriously.  He had shoulder surgery and then a re-surgery, and if you believe the scar tissue clean up story, I have a conspiracy theory. Think about the timing-a few years ago, the surgery following the season was in March.  He was not ready for camp.  Why March and not December?  The "scar tissue" cleanup was a very long process--in college, many players had similar surgeries that had a much shorter recovery time.  I wonder if his shoulder is healed to this date.  Then there is the foot injury, one that Cam (to his credit) tried to play through.  Now---all of the sudden----it is a possible season ender.  What changed?  Considering what Greg Olsen said, he goes on TV to do an interview with a cigar and glass of wine.  Not sure that image was positive with all fans.

There may be something to this, or this could be nothing.  However, if you are focused on the fans, if your rehab covers them the cost of 2 season ticket  so you can lose or sit out with a cigar and glass of wine beneath a ridiculous hat and scarf ensemble, it may reflect poorly on hard-working fans paying him $461,000 a week to either lose or slowly heal while watching a guy who makes that in a year go 7-1 during Cam's absence, well, expect to see a few more 22s and 7s in the stands and fewer 1s.  That is human nature. 

In fairness to Cam, he has been the face of the franchise and losing the star personality keeps people away--it is like seeing Dumb and Dumber II--who are those guys?  Why am I paying the same price for a ticket or more?  I get it.  CMC is not an entertainer and an icon.  He is a hard working, blue collar, shy workhorse--not a show pony.  Same with Luke.  I am waiting for Samuel and Moore to step up into stardom, but they are sorta boring too.  They all do their jobs--no dabbing or shirt ripping--things that used to pump us up and get the crowd going wild.  As a football purist, that is fine with me, but for kids and some folks who want to see the antics, I get why the product is not the same, even though the team is winning. 

I'll never understand how people go through life being this nasty about a player on their own team.

So unnecessary.

[UncleWillie]

2 hours ago, dave-o said:

I will get poo'd but....    I deal with the public at my job all day...  The Panthers are a huge topic....  When Cam comes up in discussion a wide majority of folks say they are tired of him and his antics...  Showboating, the clothes, the general circus he brings to the table...  I admit I am one of those people...  I want him to be the best Panther ever but be more business like on the field...  Watch some of the top QB's warming up....  Its all business....  Cam runs around acting like an airplane....  Maybe I just expect more out of the face of a franchise....

Football is mainly about entertainment and the "circus" is what sells tickets and sells jerseys which makes money. Sure does seem like a profit driven business. Go root for the Patriots if you want a boring QB.

[rico6]

3 hours ago, dave-o said:

I will get poo'd but....    I deal with the public at my job all day...  The Panthers are a huge topic....  When Cam comes up in discussion a wide majority of folks say they are tired of him and his antics...  Showboating, the clothes, the general circus he brings to the table...  I admit I am one of those people...  I want him to be the best Panther ever but be more business like on the field...  Watch some of the top QB's warming up....  Its all business....  Cam runs around acting like an airplane....  Maybe I just expect more out of the face of a franchise....

Go take a nap old man

[bigdog10]

I have a different theory on this. The words out of Teppers mouth and the lack of commitment to bank of American stadium and his current base of psl owners has a great number of psl owners spooked and therefore disinterested in the thought that this new billionaire owner is going to kick his most loyal subjects to the curve in trade for a new shiny multi purpose toy. 
 

I don’t think it has anything to do with the product on the field, qb or coaching staff. It has everything to do with the potential fear of loss for people who have poured into this franchise financially only for them to come back with their hands out again.