Starting with tonight's Green Bay Packers-New Orleans Saints season opener, the NFL is directing all 32 clubs to display real-time fantasy football stats at all home games for the new 2011 season, says league spokesman Brian McCarthy.
Previously, it was up to individual clubs to decide if they wanted to show player stats from out-of-town games on their scoreboards rather than focusing on their own. Not any more.
The NFL is reaching out to millions of fantasy players who feel somewhat cut off while attending live games. Many fantasy players already use mobile devices to keep in touch with how their players and teams are doing.
But the NFL wants fans at live games to feel as plugged in as they would be on their couch at home. So NFL headquarters will be shooting all teams' real-time fantasy stats -- and directing them to post on video boards for fans in the stands.
The reason is simple: In today's struggling economy, the NFL is worried fans will watch games for free at home where they have access to the NFL RedZone channel and the Internet rather shelling out cash for tickets, parking, food and beers at stadiums.
"We know we have to continue to do more to keep fans coming to our games," McCarthy says. "We're looking at ways to further replicate the at-home experience in the stadium."
ATTENDANCE REBOUND? �NFL expects attendance to rebound
The NFL's paid regular season attendance has slid three seasons in a row as fans struggle to pay for game tickets and PSL's in the economic recession. The league drew overall attendance of 16,569,514 in 2010. That was down a fraction from 2009, off 1.7% from 2008 and a 4.5% drop from the record year of 2007.
Almost 26 million fans play fantasy football in the U.S. and Canada. The Fantasy Sports Trade Association (FSTA) views the NFL's attempt to make its stadiums more fantasy-friendly as a victory for the fast-growing, $800 million industry.
"This is a dramatic change from where the NFL was even 5-6 years ago," says FSTA president Paul Charchian. "The NFL has come to realize fantasy is not gambling, its not tainting the game. Its creating millions of super fans with allegiances that extend beyond their geographic favorite team."
The FSTA's also enthused about many clubs showing NFL RedZone channel scoring highlights at stadiums during TV breaks. "NFL RedZone is like crack for fantasy players," Charchian says.
But not everybody thinks the focus on fantasy is such a hot idea. Game On! reader "John Ham" says: "This is unreal, to cater to things that have absolute no VALUE to real football." Another named 'Zero jobs" comments: "My fantasy is for all fantasy football leagues to go under!"
The NFL's average ticket prices rose 4.5% to $76.47 in 2010, according to Team Marketing Report. The New England Patriots charged the highest average ticket price at $117.84; the Cleveland Browns the cheapest at $54.51.
With some cash-strapped fans unable to buy tickets, the NFL drew it's highest TV viewership during the 2010 season since 1989, according to Nielsen.
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