I've been a season ticket holder since 1999 and I love the Flyers.

But yeah.....sometimes it feels like the Flyers grab you by your ankles, turn you upside down, and shake you to get every last cent out of you. It can get to be a bit much.
- johndewar

it's felt like that for a long time now, imo. whether you're watching on tv or at the arena there's CONSTANT advertising to buy tickets or ticket packages or merchandise around single events, holidays, the playoffs, the wives carnival....it just NEVER ends. I understand why they do it - but for a diehard like myself - it aggravates and borderline offends me. I know when things are. I know where and how to buy tickets and merchandise. Stop beating me over the (frank)ing head to buy your (frank)ing poop and win a (frank)ing goddamn stanley cup.

i was a full season ticket holder for two years. then went to a 1/4 season plan. i gave up my 1/4 season package after this past season. why? b/c my upper bowl tickets went from around $60/game to around $90/game. for row 11. in the corner. where the flyers defend twice. are you (frank)ing kidding me? the average live game experience has become stale, annoying, and just not worth the price. i'd rather stay home and not be subjected to crowds, bad food, and inflated prices of EVERYTHING. eventually i'll go back and see a few games a year in person - games of marquee value like the pens or rags - but that's it. i'm happy to sit in front of my widescreen in the comfort of my own home with replay and dvr rewind at my disposal. the days giving the flyers money hand over first are over. the lockout has only cemented that mindset.

and i love the flyers. this whole thing is killing me.

The thing I don't like in this whole process is the idea of using revenue sharing to save the teams that don't make money. I think that if a team has been in a market for say, 10 years, has put a competitive team on the ice, has marketed the team properly, and is still not making money, then they should move.

If a Sears, Wal-Mart, etc. store is not profitable, they close it. I'm well aware that a professional sports league is different, but there does come a point where the league bends over backwards to NOT move a team.
- NJFlyer42

and the expansion/relocation has largely been driven by bettman. it's a failed vision. it's generated a ton of revenue for the existing owners, but they haven't then wanted to foot the bill for their own bad decision making. the players don't want contraction because it obviously means fewer jobs.

part of the problem here is that there is a cap floor because it's forcing teams to spend a certain amount on players to just to ice a team. it may be incorrect, or naive to think if they eliminated the cap floor and went to a luxury tax system (that potentially redirected the funds to struggling teams), the league would be healthier. teams with huge budgets could still spend and keep their teams together for longer rather than having to constantly tear them apart to keep within a hard cap. it's bad for the team to give up players they've invested time in grooming, and it's bad for the fan to be rooting for laundry.

i'd be thrilled with a 24-26 team league, some relocated franchises to the north and canada, and a 65-70 game season. it would be more competitive, and players would likely be healthier going into a playoff grind. better product. more consumers. more money. everybody wins.

it's felt like that for a long time now, imo. whether you're watching on tv or at the arena there's CONSTANT advertising to buy tickets or ticket packages or merchandise around single events, holidays, the playoffs, the wives carnival....it just NEVER ends. I understand why they do it - but for a diehard like myself - it aggravates and borderline offends me. I know when things are. I know where and how to buy tickets and merchandise. Stop beating me over the (frank)ing head to buy your (frank)ing poop and win a (frank)ing goddamn stanley cup.

i was a full season ticket holder for two years. then went to a 1/4 season plan. i gave up my 1/4 season package after this past season. why? b/c my upper bowl tickets went from around $60/game to around $90/game. for row 11. in the corner. where the flyers defend twice. are you (frank)ing kidding me? the average live game experience has become stale, annoying, and just not worth the price. i'd rather stay home and not be subjected to crowds, bad food, and inflated prices of EVERYTHING. eventually i'll go back and see a few games a year in person - games of marquis value like the pens or rags - but that's it. i'm happy to sit in front of my widescreen in the comfort of my own home with replay and dvr rewind at my disposal. the days giving the flyers money hand over first are over. the lockout has only cemented that mindset.

and i love the flyers. this whole thing is killing me.
- hammarby31

Great points...
that's what happened to me...I've been a Season Ticket Holder since 1985 and my father had tickets since 1972...
I remember the old Tuesday/Thursday/Sunday schedule...like clockwork.
I suffered like all of us did from the heartbreaks and the deaths.
Now, as noted above the whole game experience is just boring and i'm exhausted from the inflated prices. Over the the last couple of years, I had my family take over the account and i buy into maybe 5 to 10 games. I mostly pick Saturdays so i can head up early, head into the city to grab a bite to eat and then go back and watch the game.
The constant buy this, buy that and the POOR in house entertainment has taken a toll. Overall, they really don't care about the fan, it's all about the dollar.
At least at home, if they stink up the joint I can change the channel.

and the expansion/relocation has largely been driven by bettman. it's a failed vision. it's generated a ton of revenue for the existing owners, but they haven't then wanted to foot the bill for their own bad decision making. the players don't want contraction because it obviously means fewer jobs.

part of the problem here is that there is a cap floor because it's forcing teams to spend a certain amount on players to just to ice a team. it may be incorrect, or naive to think if they eliminated the cap floor and went to a luxury tax system (that potentially redirected the funds to struggling teams), the league would be healthier. teams with huge budgets could still spend and keep their teams together for longer rather than having to constantly tear them apart to keep within a hard cap. it's bad for the team to give up players they've invested time in grooming, and it's bad for the fan to be rooting for laundry.

i'd be thrilled with a 24-26 team league, some relocated franchises to the north and canada, and a 65-70 game season. it would be more competitive, and players would likely be healthier going into a playoff grind. better product. more consumers. more money. everybody wins.
- hammarby31

when GB kept the Yotes alive, i knew the league was doomed. Terrible...just terrible...

Great points...
that's what happened to me...I've been a Season Ticket Holder since 1985 and my father had tickets since 1972...
I remember the old Tuesday/Thursday/Sunday schedule...like clockwork.
I suffered like all of us did from the heartbreaks and the deaths.
Now, as noted above the whole game experience is just boring and i'm exhausted from the inflated prices. Over the the last couple of years, I had my family take over the account and i buy into maybe 5 to 10 games. I mostly pick Saturdays so i can head up early, head into the city to grab a bite to eat and then go back and watch the game.
The constant buy this, buy that and the POOR in house entertainment has taken a toll. Overall, they really don't care about the fan, it's all about the dollar.
At least at home, if they stink up the joint I can change the channel.
- phi1671

it's true. i can change the channel. watch another game. female dog on hockeybuzz. go to my own bathroom and own refrigerator and not be aggravated about the drive into or out of the city. watching at home has become a much better experience - minus coatsey yelling the whole time - than being there, for the most part. playoffs are different. hugely different for the energy and emotion in the building - and value for the money.

they've done nothing really at the WFC to make the experience better - everything is just louder, more expensive, and lower quality. for some reason people just continue to pay for it.

when GB kept the Yotes alive, i knew the league was doomed. Terrible...just terrible...
- phi1671

ballsillie could have purchased that team with cash, moved it to canada, and print money from it. instead, GB fought tooth and nail against it because he didn't like the way the jim tried to buy in. yet, under bettman's watch we've seen plenty of guys with no money who were criminals get franchises. it's just (frank)ing incredible. and the league STILL OWNS THE (frank)ING COYOTES. OWNS! OWNS!

(frank). now i'm all (frank)ing riled up.

ballsillie could have purchased that team with cash, moved it to canada, and print money from it. instead, GB fought tooth and nail against it because he didn't like the way the jim tried to buy in. yet, under bettman's watch we've seen plenty of guys with no money who were criminals get franchises. it's just (frank)ing incredible. and the league STILL OWNS THE (frank)ING COYOTES. OWNS! OWNS!
- hammarby31

What's truly hysterical is that despite being owned by the league (due to being a complete cash sink) the Phoenix Coyotes still aren't as embarrassing as the Columbus Blue Jackets.

What's truly hysterical is that despite being owned by the league (due to being a complete cash sink) the Phoenix Coyotes still aren't as embarrassing as the Columbus Blue Jackets.
- BulliesPhan87

well now that John Davidson is on board, hopefully he can turn that franchise around.

it's true. i can change the channel. watch another game. female dog on hockeybuzz. go to my own bathroom and own refrigerator and not be aggravated about the drive into or out of the city. watching at home has become a much better experience - minus coatsey yelling the whole time - than being there, for the most part. playoffs are different. hugely different for the energy and emotion in the building - and value for the money.

they've done nothing really at the WFC to make the experience better - everything is just louder, more expensive, and lower quality. for some reason people just continue to pay for it.
- hammarby31

Coatsey isn't eloquent, but he's far more entertaining than the maximum volume torture at the WFC. I can't even tell if it's music they're playing anymore, or if it's just an undefined deafening tone. The only thing that should be that loud is the goal horn, and even that might need to be toned down. But just a smidge.

Coatsey isn't eloquent, but he's far more entertaining than the maximum volume torture at the WFC. I can't even tell if it's music they're playing anymore, or if it's just an undefined deafening tone. The only thing that should be that loud is the goal horn, and even that might need to be toned down. But just a smidge.
- BulliesPhan87

the whole experience needs a reboot.

well now that John Davidson is on board, hopefully he can turn that franchise around.
- hammarby31

The only thing that can turn that franchise around is the metaphorical toilet flushing it out of memory.

the whole experience needs a reboot.
- hammarby31

I can even understand that all the ADD inducing nonsense is needed to keep the casual bloated-wallet fans interested. Maybe it's impossible to exorcise that from the professional sports experience, I don't know. Even if it is, the ever increasing volume only serves to alienate anybody with functional eardrums and half a brain cell. I sincerely doubt they'll ever drop ticket prices, let alone to a reasonable number, so the volume would be a good start.

But I'm no season ticket holder, and I'm not giving them my money anymore regardless, so I guess this whole post is kind of irrelevant.

(frank). now i'm all (frank)ing riled up.
- hammarby31

Coatsey isn't eloquent, but he's far more entertaining than the maximum volume torture at the WFC. I can't even tell if it's music they're playing anymore, or if it's just an undefined deafening tone. The only thing that should be that loud is the goal horn, and even that might need to be toned down. But just a smidge.
- BulliesPhan87

the marketing department has invested all of it's corn chips in a one guy

the marketing department has invested all of it's corn chips in a one guy
- phi1671

the marketing department has invested all of it's corn chips in a one guy
- phi1671

They get it all back from him on Dollar Dog nights.

The only thing that can turn that franchise around is the metaphorical toilet flushing it out of memory.
- BulliesPhan87

nice avatar sir

i feel like Vonnegut and Shero wouldve been great friends

I'm so hyped for Shayne Gostisbehere
- Richieattack18

It's nice to see the Flyers have a prospect who will play for one of the big boys in this tourny, this has seemingly not had many the last 6-7 years.

nice avatar sir

i feel like Vonnegut and Shero wouldve been great friends
- Crimsoninja

Thoughts on Eagles and Reid?

Thoughts on Eagles and Reid?
- stveshdy

morningwieg is a loser and has been since his days in detroit

and they have an offensive line that is decimated and pathetic.


cant wait til next year when i have 2 teams to root for.

Thoughts on Eagles and Reid?
- stveshdy

Almost as pathetic as the Packers and Aaron Rodgers, but not quite.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Big Blue (frank)ing Wrecking Crew.

Almost as pathetic as the Packers and Aaron Rodgers, but not quite.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Big Blue (frank)ing Wrecking Crew.
- PLindbergh31

beyond lame

beyond lame
- Crimsoninja

The Super Bowls are getting lame as well. Starting to bore me.

The Super Bowls are getting lame as well. Starting to bore me.
- PLindbergh31

big
blue
(frank)ing
wrecking
crew
!!!!!!!!!!!


good god