Much has been made that Buccaneer home games are now as likely to be “blacked out” as to be televised. No sell out, no local TV. First time in a dozen years. It’s a response, of course, to a losing team that’s rebuilding and a down economy that’s still reeling.
And it’s a bit of come-uppance for the NFL (Nobody Financially Loses).
How ironic that at a time when it’s popular sport to deride the current president as a “socialist,” we reflect on an American icon of business that’s hardly the paragon of free-enterprise.
Imagine getting somebody else (colleges) to train your employees (players); somebody else (governments) to help subsidize your new plant (stadium); somebody else (the media) to promote your business (football); and somebody else (network television) to ensure that you make money even if you put out an inferior (losing) product. Is this a great country or what?
The black-out policy, which dates back to the early 70s, was designed to encourage attendance. No one wants to lose an entitlement. And it relies on what the NFL does superbly: promote, market and create mystique. The NFL is as much about show biz as football. And it has worked wonderfully well in a sports-celebrity-vicarious-life culture.
Dotcoms have been known to bubble over; the appreciation-forever housing market is no longer with us; but the NFL was this uber successful, capitalist hybrid that took off with television in the 1960s and never stopped soaring regardless of economic cycles. Fans and franchise cities needed the NFL more than it needed them.
And it showed. The league gave arrogance a bad name.
But with national unemployment (12 per cent for the Tampa Bay region) the highest in memory, the league is now in uncharted waters. No longer must it merely compete for the entertainment dollar. Now the field of play includes mortgage and car payments.
And maybe, just maybe, sitting in a broiling Florida stadium on a Sunday afternoon, has lost some luster. And maybe a big USF game on a Friday or Saturday night has more appeal. And, frankly, who has more buzz this weekend: the Bulls vs. Gators or the Bucs vs. Browns?
The sight of empty Bucs seats and an unsightly blackout are signs of the times. Winning, of course, will help. But for now: how humbling. Maybe socialism isn’t the answer.