Are Us Fans A Part Of The Problem?

[McC]

(01-03-2018, 02:41 AM)jowczarski Wrote: Just answering the original question: this is an organization that isn't that affected by the fan base in terms of decision making. That much is clear. And really, that's what you want. If you had a team just flying by the whims of the fan base --- I'm not sure how much success you'd have.

I do think the fans have an effect on some players and coaches as people. It's hard to ignore what people did to David Shula's kids in school, or Carson Palmer's home -- but in the end, I think the organization itself is what drove Palmer away. I know the fans bothered Dalton and his teammates by booing him at the All-Star game in his home city, or throwing things at him. But yet the guy funds cancer treatments and buys supplies at Children's Hospital and takes care of families in town. So if he goes away, I think it's for business reasons. That's just me.

In a salary capped league where the bulk of the money is generated by TV, I don't think selling out games or boycotting games helps or hurts the team, either -- not like it did in the 80s and 90s. Not like baseball, where attendance directly feeds into revenue that feeds into player spending in mid to small markets. Same with merch purchases, etc. Maybe if PBS had sold out, or nearly sold out, every single day since it opened it would add something to revenue pool, like maybe the team felt it could totally max the cap all the time because there was always something there...but that's a guess.

And having the local media, with the possible exception of Paul Daughtery, doesn't hurt either, does it?