Ravens Will Show NFL Red Zone At Games
By Joe Barnes
Today’s news is a bit flat, as the best story we can find is that the Ravens will be showing NFL Red Zone at the stadium, on their new 24×100 foot HD screens. They are following the Patriots’ lead, and the screens will be pretty much everywhere in the stadium. It’ll be like Nationals Park on steroids.
Oh but no big deal, it’s only 500 screens being installed. All showing the same exact channel. And now that sentence has set the tone for the whole article. Believe me, it gets better, just wait. I’ve managed to turn the lamest daily headline into an all-out exaggeration.
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Here’s a snip-it of the article from ProFootballTalk, but buyer beware, it’s written by Mike Florio.
"“Our continued investment at M&T Bank Stadium is to enhance our fans’ game-day experience and to attract more non-Ravens events,” Cass added. “We work to create an environment that is more compelling than a fan’s staying at home and watching our games on television. RavensVision will be a significant part of our presentation. We’re excited for our fans and others to see these dramatic video boards.”More than 500 flat-screen HD televisions also will be installed throughout the facility.It’s all part of the league’s effort to compete with the millions of man caves throughout the country. As the private viewing experience improves, the NFL needs to ensure that folks will still prefer to attend games in person."
Let’s break that down.
1st paragraph: Dick Cass, the team president, talks about “RavensVision”, says that they’re hoping fans will enjoy coming to games more than watching them on TV, and that the new screens will be “dramatic”. Makes you wonder what kind of LSD Dick Cass is using. “RavensVision” is the worst name ever for two reasons: 1) It’s not catchy and sounds like some show that would be on MASN at 2:30 AM hosted by Matt Katula, and 2) It’s not gonna show the Ravens game!!! It’s NFL REDZONE!!! It shows the entire NFL!!
Not only the name bothers me, but the fact that Cass thinks that fans like watching the game more at home. The main reasons fans watch at home is because tickets are too expensive, or they just don’t have the ability to go. I doubt that if fans end up getting the privilege to go to a game that they would just watch highlights of the Lions losing to the Falcons all the time. No, they would watch the game. And really, “dramatic” video screens? They’re just huge pieces of technology all showing the same exact highlights and telling you how many interceptions Mark Sanchez has thrown in the first quarter. Incredibly exciting, but not that dramatic.
Paragraph 2: One sentence about 500 screens being installed. Nice paragraph, Florio. It’s very useful to randomly put a sentence smack in the middle of an incredibly interesting and though provoking article. And when you said that they’d be “throughout” the facility, I nearly soiled myself!!! What a revelation!!! I thought they’d all be installed on top of one urinal in an upper deck bathroom.
Paragraph 3: Florio uses his incredible mastery of the English language to say that the NFL needs to get people to spend more money at their stadiums than watch their games on TV, where the league is paid billions of dollars to have them broadcasted. The fact that the words “man caves” were used makes this article one of Florio’s best ever. And honestly, if this is really what the NFL thinks will attract fans, they need a wake-up call. Does the league really think that people want to go spend over $100 to go watch a channel with football highlights? Makes you wonder what kind of LSD Roger Goodell is using too. Nothing compares to the real thing, and because of that, people will still go to games. This won’t solve the problem in Jacksonville, the only thing that will is ticket prices. And if it’s really about attendance, why would the two teams with some of the best attendance in the league install them? Just seems stupid to me.
Sorry if this post was incredibly cynical and sounded really immature, just the whole idea of this, and the way Mike Florio tried to turn it into an NFL lollipop-licking party really gets me mad. He and the league think the fans are stupid, and I know firsthand that they aren’t. I would assume the Ravens would think that their fans wouldn’t fall for these gimmicks, but I guess not. I guess I’m just an idiot.