There's an interesting twist for season ticket holders this year that may have an alternative motive: trying to get some opposing fans out of Cowboys Stadium.
Last year was embarrassing. Denver completely took over the stadium, as did the Packers, Giants, Commanders, and Eagles in the division-deciding game. Jerry can't tell a home game from a road game anymore, other than his vantage point is much better here. It's sad, because below Jerry is always a throng of opposing jerseys surrounding his exposed Emperor's balcony. He gets an earful.
The year before, you would have thought you were in Pittsburgh; it was 50/50 and they were louder. New Orleans always takes over, too, as do the Bears. In 2014, we have Houston, San Francisco, New Orleans, and Indianapolis due here in addition to the divisional foes.
So what is the tactic?
I received an e-mail strongly encouraging me to pay my full invoice by tomorrow, when the schedule is announced, so I could have immediate access to putting my tickets up for sale on the NFL Ticket Exchange.
(For reference, every year I put all my tickets up for sale at a ridiculous amount, just in case someone is willing to pay $1K or more per seat to go to the game. I go to all the games, unless I have an unavoidable situation where I can't.)
Here's the catch this year: the instructions say that you have to print out your tickets first before you can put them up for sale.
Why is that interesting? If you print them, ANY of them, you won't receive the pretty package of commemorative tickets this season. Instead, you'll have to print them all and suffer the indignity of a plebian ticket buyer with common 8x11 paper tickets. Indeed, such bad form. (You'd be surprised how much that matters to some.)
There's a "green" aspect to that and a savings to the team, but I think there's more to it than that. They're (Jerry) is hoping it will discourage season ticket holders from putting them up for sale until AFTER they get their commemorative tickets in late July.
By waiting until the real tickets arrive, opposing fans from opposing places can't make their flight and hotel reservations as cheaply as they could further in advance, especially for the early games. (Jerry makes no money off of that.) Plus, fans of teams coming here later in the season might think twice if those teams are losing or suffer a lot of injuries during the preseason. (What if Andrew Luck was lost for the season; does an Indy fan want to still pay to come here in December?)
Sure, some won't care, but enough might.
I can tell you this. I'm tired of going to the games, sitting at midfield, and being surrounded by Commanders fans. It's so disgusting that I often look forward to the road games so I can sit at home without the angst.
The effect will be limited, but I have no doubt there's a tinge of intent in this because of this very real problem at Cowboys home games.
