Kevin Bowen says The colts stadium is one of the least intimidating environments in the NFL.

[NannyMcafee 1,622]

10 minutes ago, EastStreet said:

You need to buy these...

https://www.amazon.com/Concealable-Collapsible-Sizes-32-YSLF-Eco-Friendly/dp/B074J5355F/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=plastic+flask&qid=1573945290&sr=8-4

 

If they would make things affordable they would take a hit in the beginning but you would fill the seats and boom out on quantity of sales. I worked at a casino and they banked on dollar beer and dallar hot dogs. Not saying you go that cheap but you get the idea. If a person feels they're getting value for their money, they will return. 

 

You shouldn't have to feel the need to take a flask. 

[EastStreet 8,575]

1 minute ago, NannyMcafee said:

 

If they would make things affordable they would take a hit in the beginning but you would fill the seats and boom out on quantity of sales. I worked at a casino and they banked on dollar beer and dallar hot dogs. Not saying you go that cheap but you get the idea. 

They're not coming off the their 8 dollar beers. IMO, they need to make the game exciting, or they're going to lose a lot of the kids plus the the chunk of fans who were spoiled the last 20 years and will never accept a low profile O / heavy D identity. If they attendance is down already while we are still in the hunt, that just bad bad news.

[NannyMcafee 1,622]

9 minutes ago, EastStreet said:

They're not coming off the their 8 dollar beers. IMO, they need to make the game exciting, or they're going to lose a lot of the kids plus the the chunk of fans who were spoiled the last 20 years and will never accept a low profile O / heavy D identity. If they attendance is down already while we are still in the hunt, that just bad bad news.

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2019/01/09/shutdown-highlights-that-4-in-5-us-workers-live-paycheck-to-paycheck.html

 

"Nearly 80 percent of American workers (78 percent) say they're living paycheck to paycheck, according to a 2017 report by employment website CareerBuilder."

 

The Colts wont bring their prices down, but if they did you might see some of these people being able to attend games. 

[2006Coltsbestever 21,126]

1 hour ago, EastStreet said:

Just spoke to my cousin back in Indy during the ND halftime. She said the kids don't want to go to anymore games because it's not fun anymore...... These are kids that didn't want to miss a game last year and love football.

Tell them to root for another team then. IMO, this season was a blast until JB got injured, being 5-2 in 1st place in the South with wins at KC and over Houston. Winning is fun to me. To me I am just a Colts fan period and love when we win throwing a lot and I love when we win grinding it out. As long as we win I am happy, maybe some are not. Maybe some would rather lose pretty than win ugly  .

[Chloe6124 9,012]

I wonder how many empty seats are happening around the league. Is this a colts issue or a league issue?

[Lucky Colts Fan 5,554]

I've never been to a game at LOS, so I can't speak to the stadium itself being intimidating or not.  But Colts fans know how to get loud to create an "intimidating environment".

 

The last game I went to was the 2007 Colts-Patriots game (the last season of the RCA dome).  Peyton Manning.  Tom Brady.  Bob Sanders.  Randy Moss.  Both teams were undefeated (8-0 and 9-0) going into it.  The Colts were winning that game for the first 3 1/2 quarters, and the fans got LOUD when the defense was on the field trying to stop Brady-Moss in the 4th.

 

And I sat next to a pretty cool Pats fan who was very polite.  We talked a bit during the down times, so he got to experience some Hoosier Hospitality.  I got to experience it all:  big-time game, big-time players, enthusiastic Colts fans, Hoosier hospitality, LOUD dome, overall a very good experience (although a Colts win would have made it 10x better!)

[2006Coltsbestever 21,126]

5 minutes ago, Lucky Colts Fan said:

I've never been to a game at LOS, so I can't speak to the stadium itself being intimidating or not.  But Colts fans know how to get loud to create an "intimidating environment".

 

The last game I went to was the 2007 Colts-Patriots game (the last season of the RCA dome).  Peyton Manning.  Tom Brady.  Bob Sanders.  Randy Moss.  Both teams were undefeated (8-0 and 9-0) going into it.  The Colts were winning that game for the first 3 1/2 quarters, and the fans got LOUD when the defense was on the field trying to stop Brady-Moss in the 4th.

 

And I sat next to a pretty cool Pats fan who was very polite.  We talked a bit during the down times, so he got to experience some Hoosier Hospitality.  I got to experience it all:  big-time game, big-time players, enthusiastic Colts fans, Hoosier hospitality, LOUD dome, overall a very good experience (although a Colts win would have made it 10x better!)

The RCA Dome was much louder and was a true HFA.

[coltsfeva 1,091]

   I’m telling on myself, but I remember Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

   The C-O-L-T-S chant was so loud, each letter echoed over the next. I thought they tried it in Indy years ago (they added Colts! Colts! Colts! at the end), but it faded out.

     

 

[ojsglove 298]

1 hour ago, Chloe6124 said:

I wonder how many empty seats are happening around the league. Is this a colts issue or a league issue?

 

I think it is a league wide problem.  Cost is probably the leading reason, followed by all of the rule changes.  I am all for making the game safer, I cringe when I see a player go down and not move, but let's be honest, it's a dangerous sport, but some of the rule changes although they were made in an attempt to make the game safer, have made it less exciting as well.

[EastStreet 8,575]

4 hours ago, NannyMcafee said:

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2019/01/09/shutdown-highlights-that-4-in-5-us-workers-live-paycheck-to-paycheck.html

 

"Nearly 80 percent of American workers (78 percent) say they're living paycheck to paycheck, according to a 2017 report by employment website CareerBuilder."

 

The Colts wont bring their prices down, but if they did you might see some of these people being able to attend games. 

Not going to get into economics (I have strong beliefs), but I'm not buying it. Sure if you drop the price a bunch, you might get some off the edge, but people freely spend foolishly, and typically more than willing to do it on sports and "fun" when they shouldn't. I think the issue is 90% performance based.

[hoosierhawk 701]

4 hours ago, NannyMcafee said:

 

If they would make things affordable they would take a hit in the beginning but you would fill the seats and boom out on quantity of sales. I worked at a casino and they banked on dollar beer and dallar hot dogs. Not saying you go that cheap but you get the idea. If a person feels they're getting value for their money, they will return. 

 

You shouldn't have to feel the need to take a flask. 

When they opened the new stadium in Atlanta they have been selling cheap beer and food and it sounded like it went over big. Don't know about this year as they have sucked on the field.

[EastStreet 8,575]

4 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Tell them to root for another team then. IMO, this season was a blast until JB got injured, being 5-2 in 1st place in the South with wins at KC and over Houston. Winning is fun to me. To me I am just a Colts fan period and love when we win throwing a lot and I love when we win grinding it out. As long as we win I am happy, maybe some are not. Maybe some would rather lose pretty than win ugly  .

 

The are little kids..... 

 

But sure, when I get to Indy over Christmas, I'll set both of them down, and explain why they should prefer to drive two hours, be unhappy for 5 hours, and make their parents spend a bunch of money.......  or they should cheer for a different team.

[ojsglove 298]

4 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Tell them to root for another team then. IMO, this season was a blast until JB got injured, being 5-2 in 1st place in the South with wins at KC and over Houston. Winning is fun to me. To me I am just a Colts fan period and love when we win throwing a lot and I love when we win grinding it out. As long as we win I am happy, maybe some are not. Maybe some would rather lose pretty than win ugly  .

 

I think the majority of us in here are Colts fans.  Not sure why you felt the need for this snarky remark?  Hopefully most of the fans in here agree.

[EastStreet 8,575]

45 minutes ago, hoosierhawk said:

When they opened the new stadium in Atlanta they have been selling cheap beer and food and it sounded like it went over big. Don't know about this year as they have sucked on the field.

ATL is 17th in attendance %, and 9th in total according to ESPN. Pretty sure though it's "paid" attendance, and not actual. The secondary market is flooded here though. There are plenty of $28 ticket pairs... 

 

We are 14th in % and 26th in total "paid". We should be a lot better based on small size of LOS.

http://www.espn.com/nfl/attendance/_/sort/homePct

 

here's an article and cut on the topic of ATL.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/10/22/falcons-continue-to-struggle-to-fill-new-stadium/

Quote

 

Those $2 hot dogs aren’t the drawing card that they were supposed to be.

 

The Falcons are struggling to fill their new home stadium. The venue went ridiculously over budget, and for NFL games it’s now grossly underperforming. That’s happening in large part because the team that plays there is also grossly underperforming.

 

Consider this photo from Dan Wolken of USA Today, taken in the middle of the first quarter when the butts-in-seats ratio should be fairly high. The crowd, at best, seems sparse.

 

According to the official game book, paid attendance for the Rams-Falcons game was 71,856. However, the true number of fans in attendance likely falls far short of that.

 

Earlier this year, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution demonstrated based on public records the significant gap between announced attendance and actual attendance. For example, the announced attendance for the Falcons’ seventh home game in 2018 was 72,262. The actual attendance was 60,626. For the final home game, 72,084 actually was 56,470.

 

It will be interesting to see what the actual numbers were for the Rams game on Sunday. Whatever they were, thousands were missing out on those $2 hot dogs.

 

 

[The Old Crow 731]

4 hours ago, coltsfeva said:

   I’m telling on myself, but I remember Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

   The C-O-L-T-S chant was so loud, each letter echoed over the next. I thought they tried it in Indy years ago (they added Colts! Colts! Colts! at the end), but it faded out.

     

 

There will never be anything like the  old Memorial Stadium, the largest outdoor insane asylum. Sellouts for years , not to mention the Big Wheel leading cheers. Great times.

Ive been to Lucas Oil stadium and it’s been a great crowd. Same as Baltimore. It’s hard competing against high def TV , versus the high cost of going to games for some fans. It’s like that in every city. You have to put on a very exciting product to draw sellouts now. Back then , it was the only game in town. 
 

[CanuckColtsFan 349]

Kevin Bowen is one of the least intimidating sports podcasters.

[2006Coltsbestever 21,126]

5 hours ago, EastStreet said:

 

The are little kids..... 

 

But sure, when I get to Indy over Christmas, I'll set both of them down, and explain why they should prefer to drive two hours, be unhappy for 5 hours, and make their parents spend a bunch of money.......  or they should cheer for a different team.

Well you never said little kids so I understand now. When you said kids, I was thinking teenagers. I just remember watching the Colts as a young teenager from 1984-1986 and they sucked but I never once said it wasn't fun going to a game or watching it.

[2006Coltsbestever 21,126]

6 hours ago, ojsglove said:

 

I think the majority of us in here are Colts fans.  Not sure why you felt the need for this snarky remark?  Hopefully most of the fans in here agree.

It may have been snarky but I have seen worse. I also agree most in here are Colts fans. The Forum is great for the most part as I have said a lot in here. I actually misunderstood EastStreet's post a tad. He quoted me and said little kids after the fact. I just remember as a teenager it was always fun watching football regardless of the teams or how good they were. When my parents took me to a game I thought it was the greatest thing and we stunk from 1984-1986. Talk about bad product.

[ColtStrong2013 1,877]

7 hours ago, ojsglove said:

 

I think the majority of us in here are Colts fans.  Not sure why you felt the need for this snarky remark?  Hopefully most of the fans in here agree.

 

Sometimes I actually wonder...

[2006Coltsbestever 21,126]

15 minutes ago, ColtStrong2013 said:

 

Sometimes I actually wonder...

A sports forum can be great like this one is but all it takes is about 10% of  posters to bring out a lot of negativity which isn't good. Being critical of the team or QB at times isn't negativity. What I mean by negativity is people just getting on here and bashing the team or the QB constantly. It usually happens after a loss but I have seen it after wins even from a few. Sometimes that overshadows 90% of the great posters unfortunately.

[GmcFWA 13]

The stadium "sound" seems to cater to 50+ yr olds that go to wineries on Fri nights and wipe the handles of the shopping cart down when they go to the grocery. 

 

Why are we hearing "Bang the drum all day" after scores? Is there a more lame song that they've overlooked? I just feel like the atmosphere with the music cut ins and whatnot does not lend to the crowd getting pumped. 

 

I'm not asking for hip hop of rap, I'm in my 40s and that's not my thing. But the entire soundtrack of the stadium is taken from q95, stuck in a time warp of classic rock. 

 

 

[coltsva 1,685]

LOS is still loud at times, but not consistently loud, like it used to be. 

One reason for that is the number of visiting fans in the stadium. It seems like those numbers keep growing, as more and more people sell off a portion of their seats. 

 

I sell off 5 of the games. As an out of towner 3 games and hopefully playoffs is all I do. I’m sure some of my tickets end up in the hands of visiting fans, and I hate the thought of that, but I need to get them sold.

 

As a somewhat related piece of information, in past years when I tried to buy a ticket to Colts/Patriots in Foxborough (through Ticketmaster), I was not allowed to make the purchase. It said only those on the Patriots season ticket waiting list could buy them. 

 

Although i I didn’t bother checking, I assume this is not the case if you’re buying from Stub hub, vivid, etc.

[PrincetonTiger 7,446]

I have never gone to game at any level where the crowd was a major piece of concern 

 

    I went to every game in my life with my father who was a college athlete and/or grandfather who was an all state award winner and then the game and it’s execution became my job

[PrincetonTiger 7,446]

3 hours ago, coltsva said:

LOS is still loud at times, but not consistently loud, like it used to be. 

One reason for that is the number of visiting fans in the stadium. It seems like those numbers keep growing, as more and more people sell off a portion of their seats. 

 

I sell off 5 of the games. As an out of towner 3 games and hopefully playoffs is all I do. I’m sure some of my tickets end up in the hands of visiting fans, and I hate the thought of that, but I need to get them sold.

 

As a somewhat related piece of information, in past years when I tried to buy a ticket to Colts/Patriots in Foxborough (through Ticketmaster), I was not allowed to make the purchase. It said only those on the Patriots season ticket waiting list could buy them. 

 

Although i I didn’t bother checking, I assume this is not the case if you’re buying from Stub hub, vivid, etc.

Indianapolis is so easy to get to 

 

      I also alluded to this last week since the Colts are relatively new to Indiana there are a lot of fans of other teams in the state

       (There are a lot of Dolphins fans in Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky since Bob Griese is from Evansville and went to Purdue)

         

[hoosierhawk 701]

With Luck gone I think it took a little wind out of the fans sails.  Winning and exciting football hopefully will bring them back. GO COLTS!!

[Freenyfan102 179]

You also have to take into the account of the design of the staduim

[cjrulli 135]

Came in from NJ yesterday for our annual Colts game and had two gentlemen behind us ask us to stop standing on third down because they didn’t want to stand and couldn’t see. Pretty much sums up the general enthusiasm of fans here from my experiences over the last 5 years. 

[Restored 215]

It’s talked about all the time but simply put, the fans don’t stand up on first and second down and maybe 80-85% stand on 3rd down.

 

I’ve been to plenty of road stadiums (Kansas City and Denver) for instance and their fans are standing and yelling every single down.

[Mr.Debonair 1,671]

1 hour ago, cjrulli said:

Came in from NJ yesterday for our annual Colts game and had two gentlemen behind us ask us to stop standing on third down because they didn’t want to stand and couldn’t see. Pretty much sums up the general enthusiasm of fans here from my experiences over the last 5 years. 

What the hell

[Sumo63 517]

3 minutes ago, Mr.Debonair said:

What the hell

I'm guessing there were wheelchairs or leg casts involved.....

[cjrulli 135]

1 minute ago, Sumo63 said:

I'm guessing there were wheelchairs or leg casts involved.....

 

Neither. Perhaps a bit older (late 50s-early 60s) but didn’t seem to have any issue getting up for restroom/concessions. 
 

Not that everyone I’ve encountered is like that but I have felt in general it’s a way more conservative/docile crowd then what I’m used to back home. 

[Sumo63 517]

15 minutes ago, cjrulli said:

 

Neither. Perhaps a bit older (late 50s-early 60s) but didn’t seem to have any issue getting up for restroom/concessions. 
 

Not that everyone I’ve encountered is like that but I have felt in general it’s a way more conservative/docile crowd then what I’m used to back home. 

You're not wrong,  last time I was there it was a pretty lively crowd.  It was a couple years ago tho.  I think alot of the air went out of the balloon this year.......When luck retired I mean.

 

That said, if your legs work you should be standing on third down, lol.

[life long 153]

2 hours ago, cjrulli said:

Came in from NJ yesterday for our annual Colts game and had two gentlemen behind us ask us to stop standing on third down because they didn’t want to stand and couldn’t see. Pretty much sums up the general enthusiasm of fans here from my experiences over the last 5 years. 

I went to over a decades worth of home games between RCA and Lucas oil stadiums and I have been saying this exact thing since the first game against the bears at LOS. People have denied it but it is validating to see several posters come out and agree. I've been told by fellow season ticket holders to not block their view or yell too loud many times.... I was told I was ruining their experience but my dad and I always took pride in standing and yelling on every single defensive play. It was not uncommon for the two of us to be the only ones doing so in our section. 

[Restored 215]

36 minutes ago, life long said:

I went to over a decades worth of home games between RCA and Lucas oil stadiums and I have been saying this exact thing since the first game against the bears at LOS. People have denied it but it is validating to see several posters come out and agree. I've been told by fellow season ticket holders to not block their view or yell too loud many times.... I was told I was ruining their experience but my dad and I always took pride in standing and yelling on every single defensive play. It was not uncommon for the two of us to be the only ones doing so in our section. 

 

I completely agree with this and it's been my experience as well. I'm sorry but if people just want to sit around and act like they're at a tennis match, then they should stay home. And definitely don't tell fans who are cheering and paid money for their tickets to sit down because its too loud.

[PrincetonTiger 7,446]

Standing at sporting events is a prerequisite for being a fan

[life long 153]

10 minutes ago, PrincetonTiger said:

Standing at sporting events is a prerequisite for being a fan

The RCA dome had lots of bleacher seating while LOS has individual seats with cup holders.  The bleachers made it a lot harder to sit down and were fantastic for banging on, to add to the crowd noise. Nowadays if anything most fans just clap instead of making as much noise as possible. 

[cjrulli 135]

1 hour ago, life long said:

I went to over a decades worth of home games between RCA and Lucas oil stadiums and I have been saying this exact thing since the first game against the bears at LOS. People have denied it but it is validating to see several posters come out and agree. I've been told by fellow season ticket holders to not block their view or yell too loud many times.... I was told I was ruining their experience but my dad and I always took pride in standing and yelling on every single defensive play. It was not uncommon for the two of us to be the only ones doing so in our section. 

Love to read this. Where are your seats? Friends and I will be joining you next year  

 

I politely told him that I’m sorry but if they stood maybe the opponent would make even less third downs. I tried to be as political as possible being an out of towner and wanting to show respect to my elders but I was incapable of just sitting and not cheering. 

[cmgww 7]

I’ve been to many RCA Dome games, including playoffs. That place was LOUD. But it was the design. Smallest stadium in the NFL at the time, domed teflon roof that pushed the noise back down onto the field....(no pumped in noise like national * like to claim). Been to LOS every season since it opened. It’s much more cavernous, a much bigger space for the noise to dissipate. But it got loud, especially in the late Manning years. That Pats game in 2009? Bonkers. The big games in the Luck era were also loud too. 

 

But the past few seasons I have noticed more and more opposing fans. Today there was an audible cheer when the Jags scored a TD. Never heard that before. And yes the lower sections have a lot of “sit down, you’re blocking my view” types. That is crap. The 600s are generally more rowdy bc, and I’m painting with a broad brush here....those are the more “blue collar” fans who can’t afford the expensive seats. That includes me. I’ve sat down low a few times but with our budget its mostly up high when we go. I had a boss that had club seats in the 100s and it was ridiculous how people acted like it was the Masters....

 

I’ll say what others have said. Manning retiring hurt a bit, then the 8-8 seasons chipped away a little more, then Luck retiring has made the situation worse. And the home losses hurt too. Also, yes the music needs to improve. 10-15 year old rap songs, Jack and Dianne, etc....that isn’t cutting it.

 

We CAN be intimidating in terms of noise, but we’ll never be Philly or Baltimore in terms of being total jerks to opposing fans. I’m fine with that. Just be LOUDER!

[LuckyHorseShoe§ 417]

On 11/15/2019 at 9:00 PM, NannyMcafee said:

Take it for what it is, but this is definitely not a good thing. 

 

Biggest game of the year this year at home had 8000 empty seats as well. 

 

He was talking about it on his podcast. 

Maybe it’s just Indiana in general, but I see a lot of families and couples at our games. I don’t see a lot of Raiders-type fans who are hardcore all the time. I think our fan base is too nice to ever be like that, which can be a good and bad thing. The crowd still sounded dang loud today though

[Restored 215]

I think we have to take in the demographics of the fan base as well. 2009 was 10 years ago and I’m sure not all of those fans are still going to games like they used to.