Blackouts a yardstick for the Rams

by Ryan Van Bibber on Sep 9, 2010 9:31 AM CDT in 2010 St. Louis Rams season

The word blackout conjures up images of a wild youth (note I didn't say memories), but for the St. Louis Rams the word blackout pretty much sums up their last three seasons of play as fans stayed away from the stadium. That meant even if you wanted to watch a Rams' home game you had to find alternative means as the lack of a sellout kept the games off the air.

For a time, it looked like the Rams home and season opener, this Sunday against the Cardinals, would be blacked out too. Fortunately, the team is on track to sell the required amount of tickets, making it possible for even more area viewers to get a glimpse of rookie QB Sam Bradford and RB Steven Jackson. But the threat of blackouts isn't gone. Eliminating blackouts will be one of the Rams' biggest benchmarks of progress this season.

Blackouts, of course, hinge on ticket sales; ticket sales hinge on a winning team, among other things.

Devaney, Spagnuolo, Bradford, Jackson and new owner Stan Kroenke have a big job this season to reinvigorate the Rams and their fans. How many blackouts they end up with during the season will be a useful benchmark in grading their performance on that front. People don't build stadiums for teams that don't win games.

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well said

"The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall." - Vince Lombardi

by VTramsFan on Sep 9, 2010 9:47 AM CDT reply actions

Win the first two games...

… and the following two games will be sellouts!

I am sticking to my prediction:

If the Rams win on Sunday, we will go 3-1 or 4-0 in the first 4 games.
If the Rams lose on Sunday, we will go 1-3 or 0-4 in the first 4 games.

Go Rams!!!

by abiRam on Sep 9, 2010 10:09 AM CDT reply actions

some guy on sirius NFL Radio

just said this is a trap game for the Cards

"The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall." - Vince Lombardi

by VTramsFan on Sep 9, 2010 10:34 AM CDT reply actions

How many games

Were blacked out last year?

You can pick your friends and
you can pick your butt.
But you can't pick your friends butt.
JohnnieWarthawgism

by johnniewarthawg on Sep 9, 2010 10:48 AM CDT reply actions

First 5 Games of Our Season

For any extreme optimists out there (like myself), The Rams can shock the world in the first 5 weeks of the regular season. No team of the Cards, Raiders, Skins, Lions, and Seahags is so much more supremely talented that we cannot pull an upset victory. If our team plays as good as I believe they can (Im looking at you OLine and Defense!) and we can avoid significant injuries we can seriously talk a few wins to start the season. Our schedule is so absurdly simple. The only teams I really have zero confidence in victory is the Chargers and the Saints.

by Jigzsaw on Sep 9, 2010 10:49 AM CDT reply actions

Does not matter how many tickets get sold..

We in N. Cal always get “blacked” out by the 9er games :-(

Maybe Rams can play well enough to get some Sunday nighters towards end of season ;-)

by RBramfan on Sep 9, 2010 11:04 AM CDT reply actions

Week 2 also

Have a good feeling Oakland will not sell out either. That means no TV in Nor Cal.

by 81 Witness on Sep 9, 2010 11:15 AM CDT up reply actions

Not true in "real" No Cal.

We don’t get Oakland Stations here (we get Redding & Chico). We have always gotten Oakland & SF games (blacked out or not).

I am not sure about Sacramento though.

by RBramfan on Sep 9, 2010 11:26 AM CDT up reply actions

Sac is official Oakland/SF territory. They get blacked out.

I can take a beating ... I'm a Rams fan.

by Midasknight on Sep 9, 2010 12:44 PM CDT up reply actions

If you're above SLO

You’re in NorCal.

"I have something 95 percent of all those All-Stars only wish they had: a World Series ring. If I had to choose between that and being an All-Star, it would be no contest. I’d grab the gold ring and never look back." -Tim Salmon

by BruinHalo on Sep 9, 2010 12:59 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions

Primetime!!!

Hopefully we can sellout evry game this year, make playoffs and have some primetime games next season on our way to the superbowl!!!

by revrue914 on Sep 9, 2010 12:09 PM CDT via mobile reply actions

What did Stan Kroenke do besides set us back a year?

Why did not he place a bid on the team early? Want to know why? He was waiting for others to set the price(Kahn). Now a 2011 strike happens. i COULD CARE LESS if a lockout happens. 1-15 and threaten me with a lockout.

by Da Rookie on Sep 9, 2010 12:58 PM CDT reply actions

Buc's are blacked out

First game of the season blacked out.

The NFL needs to look at this from more of a quality of product on the field problem. Right now the lowest quality teams are seeing the problem, but season ticket sales are down across the board. Moving teams and better teams aren’t going to help the problem. Blacking out the games are not going to help.

The problem is that it’s much cheaper and more convienent to watch the game on my 50 inch TV then it is at the game. Even making tickets cheaper won’t help because the quality of the experience. Finding a way to make the ingame experience better is the only way they’ll regain

by JTPirate on Sep 9, 2010 2:02 PM CDT reply actions

I agree 100%

If the Rams were here within 5 miles of my house, sure I’d go to a game once in a while but to be honest, I’d rather sit here with RedZone, TST, and other tech things and enjoy the game.. don’t get me wrong, I love the Rams, but I do agree that advanced technology (Internet) is making it more fun and enjoyable to sit home.

I did hear the commissioner say on Mike and Mike that they are trying to make it more fun at the game.. many teams are adding redzone etc, so he is aware of the situation.. your post is spot on to what he said.

They have to make it more fun at the stadium, bottom line. Even people who don’t have a lot of money to go, would find ways to go if it were a lot better of an experience… not that it’s like a stick in the mud now, but comparing staying home and the experience there to the stadium, that’s the problem.

"The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall." - Vince Lombardi

by VTramsFan on Sep 9, 2010 3:37 PM CDT up reply actions

I agree with making the in stadium experience better but disagree with how they are doing it

I dont think that they should be trying to copy the home experience as much as make it more unique. Right now the only advantage of going to the game is being able to say “I was there in person!” if a really awesome moment happens. The home experience is far better otherwise. Im not exactly sure how to do it but the stadium should be a very cool thing. Maybe have the players interact with the fans more? I dunno, they should figure something out.

by stuman89 on Sep 10, 2010 10:44 AM CDT up reply actions

100% agree

when the NHL used blackouts it was about the death of alot of the teams. The average fan can “afford” to go to a few games a year. That total goes more toward 3/4 than towards 1 when the experience is enjoyable. I will say this. One thing I noticed at my first game of the year against the Ravens….. the rams have done some things to make it more enjoyable. From the clips they showed on the jumbotron to the amount of availability of concessions to the half time show to the mascot…. everything had taken a big step up from last year. Especially the clips…. they were laugh out loud hilarious… all of them. The people they hired as security were much more friendly while doing there job. It is alot of those little things that add up and make me go back and spend money.

by stlfan2004 on Sep 9, 2010 3:44 PM CDT up reply actions

Did anybody see the Commissioner's Town Hall meeting at the Superdome last night?

I don’t know if it was genuine or total bullshit on his part, but he sure made me feel like everything is hunky-dory in the NFL…especially the part about how important the fans are…I guess that’s one thing about the football experience in St. Louis, post Greatest-Show days…there didn’t seem to be much of an attempt to connect with the fan base…I think that, along with the abysmal record had to do with the blackouts.

by tbell61 on Sep 9, 2010 2:35 PM CDT reply actions

"People don't build stadiums for teams that don't win games."

PNC Park

Remember the great 2004 and 2005 Rams teams...

by Marmie is the best on Sep 9, 2010 3:15 PM CDT reply actions

You couldn't beat the experience

of being at the games when the GSOT was in its prime. The place was rockin’, people were laughing, cheering, on their feet. It was great. Three years of lousy football kinda killed that buzz. With a rising young team and some optimism starting to build, all it will take is a few wins to start making the stadium on game day a lot more fun again.

by andyhawk on Sep 10, 2010 12:01 AM CDT reply actions