October 15, 2007
NFL fans are unruly sometimes - Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium
Loutish Fans Disgrace the NFL - WSJ.comTeams have also found that making season-ticket holders accountable for any bad behavior that occurs in their seats -- even if it happens when someone else is sitting in them -- works. "If we get a bad report, we call the ticket holder and tell them that if there's another problem, regardless of who's sitting in the seats, their tickets will be revoked," said Houston Texans President Jamey Rootes. The team has never had to make a second call. The Bills have started to do the same thing.
The NFL's stadium-building boom over the past decade has helped, too. Personal seat licenses and premium seating tend to price out some of the thugs. Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium was long considered the worst in the league for fan behavior. Cops used to walk through the stands in visiting team jerseys to bait thugs who preyed on visiting fans. Things were so bad that there was a courtroom right in the stadium to arraign the worst offenders. Things have gotten better since the Eagles moved in 2003 to Lincoln Financial Field, which has new luxury suites and nearly 11,000 Club seats that cost $800 or more a game. "The more expensive the experience, the less inclined fans are to ruin it," said Houston's Mr. Rootes.
[snip]
In Buffalo, the unruly behavior often spills over into the luxury suites, prompting Mr. Clark to post guards outside each one. "Fans would just walk in and use the bathroom," said Bills suite-holder Ed Shill. "In the warm weather, when the windows were open, they'd dive in and grab food and beer. In the winter, when it's 20-below outside and we're in our shirtsleeves drinking hot chocolate, they'd throw things at the windows and give us the finger."
Night games are the worst. "They drink like it's a one o'clock start," Mr. Shill said.
That was very much in evidence during the Monday Night game. It was, without a doubt, the drunkest crowd I've ever seen at any sporting event. Many fans stumbling to their seats just before kickoff were absolutely plastered.
Walking through the parking lot before the game, I witnessed a scene all too common at NFL tailgates: home fans taunting the visitors with four-letter expletives. What made the scene here particularly appalling was the target -- a family of Cowboys fans with two small children. And the taunt, repeated throughout the stadium by Bills fans, questioned Dallas quarterback Tony Romo's sexual orientation (think of what rhymes with "Romo"). I wonder how the parents explained that one.
interesting
Posted by TY at October 15, 2007 11:25 PM
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