MERGED: Dolphins top of the list in the NFL for teams losing fans

[PhinzN703]

Although I agree with you, you'd be surprised.

I can't even tell you the last time I went to the beach when going back to Lauderdale. Took my girlfriend for a ride down Ocean Drive on South Beach just because she's from Amish country in Eastern Pennsylvania and they're amazed by anything outside of Pennsylvania. I guess that kinda counts as going to the beach.

Just dirt and water IMO

I absolutely adore Miami b/c of its beaches. My wife is thrilled that she married a guy who's NFL team is in a place that's nice to visit. She said she would've cut her head off if she married a fan of the Colts or Bills.

I always had dreamed of living in Florida. I've heard that people get used to the beach and don't go as often as you'd think b/c it's always accessible. I know how that is. I'm 3 hours from the nearest beach here in the D.C. area. Anytime I go to the beach I cherish every second b/c I know it will come to an end.

I'd ****ing LOVE to live near the beach. I know for a fact I'd always be at the beach b/c it's a part of the world I've always loved.

[JCane]

JCANE can attest to this.... even the mighty University of Miami was struggling to fill up the Orange Bowl before they moved to SunLife (where it is basically impossible for them to fill up now). Up until a few years ago there were a few certain things.... death, taxes, and the Orange Bowl stuffed on saturdays. but once the product started to take a step down, the "die hard university of miami fans" stoppped going to the games.

Yeap. A lot of people my age (34) can tell you about how the Hurricanes, Dolphins and the Orange Bowl helped bring a very divided community together in the 1980's. Very tense times due to the riots, drug wars, etc. But everyone got behind the Hurricanes and Dolphins. Orange Bowl was perfectly located, intimate setting but a violent place for opposing fans. As deeply as we all loved that Orange Bowl, even the last game at the Orange Bowl between Miami and Virginia wasn't a sellout. Just over 60k that night.

Other than the day my Mother passed, there has never been a day more sad than November 10th, 2007.

[PhinzN703]

Seeing topless boobies never gets old.

Unless you're walking up to these chicks and ****ing them later than night who gives a damn? You aren't 12.

[MadDog 88]

The Dolphins would be blacked out also if Ross and company didn't buy up the remaining tickets. Every Dolphins home game, except this week, would have been blacked out if they didn't buy up the rest. Thank Ross for no blackouts, not local attendance.

I am aware of that Josh. The point is that this is a problem not only in Miami nor in the NFL. There are a lot of factors driving fans away from stadiums and arenas, all of which have been touched on.

Its disappointing we don't put more fans in the stands but the disappointment stretches far beyond that single issue.

[TheWalrus]

Hard to put fans in the stands when we don't have a lot of fans to begin with.

Gonzo's posts have been great but I think this is the key point. It seems like people are blaming the "fans" for simply not existing. Which is... what? What kind of argument is that? Isn't it the team's job to make people want to watch it? The attempt to equate South Florida and Pennsylvania by Nublar was pretty comical to read, though. Gettysburgh as a pseudo equivalent tourist destination to South Beach. You don't say?
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If the Dolphins start winning, the casual fans will start showing up. If they don't win, they won't. If you don't know that's part of the game for Miami -- no matter what sport you're talking about -- I suppose you never will. The team could, you know, realize this and make the experience better for the casual fan with investment in a no-so-****ty stadium in a better location, but I doubt any of us are holding our breath. I mean, no way is the fact that there isn't a place in Green Bay that isn't within walking distance of the stadium have anything to do with how good attendance is there (which I can say definitively, having walked it myself). Metlife Stadium (home to the Jets and Giants) is closer to the city center of New York than Dolphin Stadium is to the city center of Miami, and Metlife Stadium is in ****ing New Jersey. And it's not some insignificant distance closer. It's a whole 5 miles. No way that distance doesn't make an impact on a casual fan's decision to come watch the Dolphins get pancaked again by any team with a pulse, right? Especially when they have subways going to the game and we've got a three lane parking lot like the Turnpike?

There is a whole lot of
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[WVDolphan]

If the Dolphins start winning, the casual fans will start showing up. If they don't win, they won't.
There is a whole lot of
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This statement sums it all up. The bottom line is most of the local "fans" arent fans at all. They are casual fans. They are not diehards. Its really that simple.

All of the excuses are total bull****. Plenty of people in that area have money. They simply choose not to spend it going to Phins games because they arent Phins fans. They are ****ing yuppies.

Yea, the stadium blows, but people who go to games for the "stadium experience" arent real fans. They are ****ing yuppies. Diehard fans go to games to see the games live. They give around 2 ****s as to what the stadium is like.

Just get real about it and say what it is. Most of the Miami Dolphins' diehard fans are scattered all over the country. They became fans when the team was dominant in the 70's and stuck with them. Either that or like myself, they became huge fans when Marino dazzled them with those awesome throws in the 80's and stuck with them ever since. Some of the diehards were perhaps a result of being raised by a father who was one of those 2 types of people.

Its the same reason the top "national" teams are the Steelers, Cowboys, Packers, 9ers, Pats, Redskins, and Phins. They built a lot of fans all over different parts of the country with dynasties or special players. Simple as that. There are very few diehard phins fans who actually live in Miami. Its a god damned shame really.

[WVDolphan]

I know Lancaster very well. Not everyone is Amish or farms.

I hope this isnt your way of hinting to J that you broke that in for him.
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[TheWalrus]

Yea, the stadium blows, but people who go to games for the "stadium experience" arent real fans. They are ****ing yuppies. Diehard fans go to games to see the games live. They give around 2 ****s as to what the stadium is like.

But insofar as the crowd impacts the game, the Dolphins do themselves no favors having a bad stadium in a bad location with a bad product on the field. That special combination of variables makes fewer people show up, which makes the team worse, which makes fewer people show up, and so on. It's a slow death spiral and the team has been in it for the better part of a decade.

Like I said, it's the team's job to make people want to show up. Realizing the situation they're in would be a start, but they've shown no signs of it. If it takes yuppies showing up for the team to win, then we better start appealing to some ****ing yuppies.

[roy_miami]

Unless we sign Mike Wallace in the offseason theres a pretty good chance it'll look as bad or worse next season especially if we let our only dynamic player in Reggie Bush walk, which it looks like will happen. Its going to take at least 2 years to draft some playmakers and find out if they're worth a dam, and it'll probably take more like 3 or 4 years.

If Tannehill turns out to be a bust and Ireland keeps doing his cornfed thing the team moving could be real possibility. Either the Dolphins or Jags will likely be moved at some point in the not so distant future. I believe Ross is all about winning a championship and he's going to need the 12th mans help, even if that means finding a new 12th man.

[MadDog 88]

Unless we sign Mike Wallace in the offseason theres a pretty good chance it'll look as bad or worse next season especially if we let our only dynamic player in Reggie Bush walk, which it looks like will happen. Its going to take at least 2 years to draft some playmakers and find out if they're worth a dam, and it'll probably take more like 3 or 4 years.

If Tannehill turns out to be a bust and Ireland keeps doing his cornfed thing the team moving could be real possibility. Either the Dolphins or Jags will likely be moved at some point in the not so distant future. I believe Ross is all about winning a championship and he's going to need the 12th mans help, even if that means finding a new 12th man.

The Dolphins moving is wild speculation. Jacksonville may very well wind up in London and the logical choice for L.A. is the Chargers. If you follow what is going on with the possibilities of franchise movement you'll realize that those two scenarios are most likely in any future movement.