There are several reasons why I've never chided fans in this or any other city for not supporting the home teams. The principle one is that it's silly to criticize customers because a business isn't providing what those customers want. Sports are just another entertainment option among many and so it's up to the teams to provide a compelling reason to pay for their product.
From that perspective, credit the Falcons for realizing they can't just build a new stadium and expect people to show up ( *cough*Braves*cough* ). The Falcons announced today that they would offer relatively inexpensive (if not nutritious) food options at Mercedes-Benz Stadium Fulton Taxpayer Stadium when it opens in 2017 ( probably ).
Under the new pricing scheme fans will pay $2 for hot dogs, bottled water, soft drinks and pretzels, $3 for pizza slices and nachos, and $5 for a 12 oz. Bud Light. Fans also can get unlimited refills of colored sugar water, if they so desire (the soft drinks, not the Bud Light).
Falcons president Rich McKay told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Tim Tucker that fan surveys showed that high food and beverage prices at stadiums are a persistent complaint. McKay said the team considers the prices to be "an investment in the fan experience" and that the goal is to "change the concession experience and the way people perceive it."
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I’m going to ignore that awful marketing gobbledygook and also the fact that a survey is necessary to determine people don’t like high to pay prices for bad food and service. I’m not going to spend time wondering why the Falcons also don’t offer these prices during their final season at the Dome. Instead, I’ll say I think the Falcons are on to something with this cheaper food thing.
This brings me to another reason I don’t chide fans who don’t show up: it’s hypocritical for sportswriters who (almost always) attend games on free passes and (usually) eat free food to disparage the paying customers. The few times a year when I pay to attend games nowadays I’m reminded of how expensive it is to do so. I’m not going to sit in the Ivory Tower of the press box and tsk-tsk people who decide it’s not worth the price.
More of the Falcons’ customers may decide it is worth it if they aren’t getting gouged on food prices. So credit the Falcons for doing something to make their product more attractive. Offering cheaper food prices is a small thing, but it’s something.
It may not override the bad taste left by the PSL hustle, which lately isn't finding many takers . Cheaper food prices for paying customers certainly won't make up for the corporate welfare that's financing the stadium, with billionaire Falcons owner Arthur Blank receiving a public subsidy for his private business with no proportionate public benefit . But, like I said, it's a start.
It says something that the Falcons can be heralded for a decision that essentially boils down to refraining from gouging their customers with food prices, or what McKay calls "using our captive experience to up the price" (man, marketing/PR speak is the worst). But that's where we are in sports. The Falcons still have to field a team people want to see but at least their customers can eat cheaper food if they show up to watch another collapse.
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