The Redskins want me back.
They just emailed the 2014 invitation to me as a former season ticket holder to get back in the game and order tickets now.
Here are two things interesting about it.
First, this wasn’t an invitation to get on the waiting list. It was an invite to buy tickets right now. Today.
Isn’t that hard to do with 150,000 names on a 25-year wait list? [Snarky comment]
Second and unlike last year, the ask did not feature Robert Griffin III. RG is a controversial lightning rod for the Redskins right now. Instead, the pitch featured the newest Redskin ̶ DeSean Jackson, a potentially more controversial lightning rod.
As a seeming afterthought, new head coach Jay Gruden and new D-lineman Jason Hatcher were part of the pitch.
Jackson has a 12-month honeymoon with us. I figure it will then take another six months before Redskins fans see whatever the Eagles saw in Jackson that led to his ouster.
Expect the best from DJax
Hey, a man can change. He can grow from a bad experience. [Lord knows I did.] Hog Heaven is willing to give DJax the benefit of the doubt. He has a clean slate in Washington and can write his own destiny.
It’s not like we haven’t coped with MeAngelo since 2008.
Come to think of it DeAngelo Hall landed in Washington in the exact same circumstance as DeSean ̶ unceremoniously dumped by his prior team.
It’s no wonder that that Hall was the second Redskins player after RG to reach out to Jackson.
DHall now shares responsibility to make DJax successful in Washington. Something tells me DJax will listen to him more than to anyone else.
Ticket incentives are not enough to lure me back
The Redskins offered three incentives to former season ticket holders to renew right now.
One Robert Griffin III, Alfred Morris or Pierre Garcon jersey
A $50 FedEx Field Concession Gift Card
An invitation for you and a guest to attend a private Chalk Talk with GM Bruce Allen and Head Coach Jay Gruden
I’m a bit surprised they didn’t offer a Jackson or Hatcher jersey. I already own a Griffin and a Morris. Maybe Griffin III, Morris and Garcon jerseys are not selling well after a three-win season.
The $50 concession card is good for about six beers at stadium prices. Fifty dollars almost covers the price of one upper-deck game ticket. That offer has merit, but I’d rather have that discount on a ticket to the November 1 Navy-Notre Dame game at FedEx.
The private chalk talk with Gruden and Allen is an intriguing chance to feel up close with the team. But the happy talk won’t reveal anything they don’t want the Eagles, Giants or Cowboys to know.
As Mitt Romney learned, private talks are always leaked.
There are two reasons why Hog Heaven, will not renew. Both lead to bad fan experience.
The offer is for upper-deck seats. Upper deck is not a good football experience thanks to the Joe Gibbs Plaza, that mid-tier of premium seats that separates the upper deck from the field. One gets better views of the game from a home big screen, or from any sports bar than from the upper deck. An offer for the lower deck seats I once held would have drawn a second look.
Second, I feel less connected to the game in the stadium than I now do from home. That wasn’t true in 2005.
See, I tweet the game during the action now. I consult sports sites online for live stat updates. Live updates of other games are critical to fantasy owners now. The broadcasters show instant replays. Teams do NOT show replays in the home stadium, especially if it might help opposing coaches with a challenge.
That’s odd, because coaches in the booth see all the replays. Fans in the stands suffer.
Licensing agreements with broadcasters may have something to do with it.
My last live experience in FedEx Field left me feeling deprived. I could not pick up a 4G signal through T-Mobile. Wireless connection? Don’t bother.
My tweets completed 60 minutes after I touched the send button. Most of the time, they didn’t complete until after the game.
My tweeps must have thought I was an idiot, I mean more than usual.
Tailgating is fun but more than offset by traffic.
I miss the pulse of the game when I go to the stadium. Watching a live game from there is a passive thing. That’s true however well the team does.
What the Redskins should be selling me on is the $27 million the NFL is investing to upgrade the broadband infrastructure at FedEx Field. That would almost match the whole fan experience that I enjoy everywhere but at FedEx Field.
For a handle on what I’m talking about, read Teena Hammond’s story on techrepublic.com, Stadiums race to digitize…. It’s lengthy, but highly recommended if you want to see the future (and are a tad nerdy).
Stadiums race to digitize: How sports teams are scrambling to keep Millennials coming to games http://t.co/32Yr5l6RQI by @teena_hammond
— TechRepublic (@TechRepublic) April 11, 2014
Go take a look. We’ll be here … watching games on the big screen … when you get back.
Sorry, DeSean.
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