Become a Fan of SFC
Blinded by the Dark
A city of 1.3 million, Jacksonville, Florida is well suited to support an NFL team. However, the terrible economic situation in this city has had a devastating toll on ticket sales of their only major professional sports team, The Jacksonville Jaguars...[The town's] struggling families obviously need to spend their 100 dollars on more important things than a ticket to see the Jaguars live. However, this is the only option they have to see their favorite team play on Sundays. The Jaguars, because of low ticket sales, did not televise seven out of eight of the their home games last season.
Sloan Sports Analytics Conference Report
This past weekend, I attended the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in Boston. ESPN and MIT joined together to host the one day event devoted to the business of sports. What does one take away from all of this? The bottom line is that these organizations need us to survive. Due to the economic downturn, what was already stiff competition for the fan dollar has become more rampant. It is up to sports fans to organize their efforts to demand results from the sports industry or this fierce competition ends up harming fans rather than helping the group.
Cablevision Customers Lose Again
When large cable companies play chicken with content providers, history tells us customers lose. Cablevision and WABC-TV in New York were at a stalemate over the weekend and it took one of the biggest TV events of the year, the Oscars, to push the envelope to get the deal done, but not without some damage. TV [...]
The Struggle to Convince Sports Fans of their Power
The truth is that we sports fans have a tremendous responsibility to speak up when our fan dollars are being misused. When large corporations, even if they are the teams we passionately cheer for at home or in the stadium, take advantage of us, there is recourse we should pursue. When media companies strike exclusive deals and break the law by prohibiting competition and keeping us from getting the best deal or even the opportunity to watch our games on TV, we won't take it. We will fight back. Join us in the fight to take the power back.
Listen to Brad Blakeman on Portland Radio
Check out some of the recent interviews with SFC board member Brad Blakeman on Portland radio on our media page. Check out the full list of media appearances made by Brad while in Oregon testifying in an Oregon General Assembly hearing in which he tried to convince lawmakers to step in and do something about the Trail [...]
Ticket Resale Market Preys Upon Sports Fans
On Tuesday, the four men responsible for the former ticket resale outlet, Wiseguys Ticketing, were indicted. For three years, these hackers purchased large amounts of premium seats at events, such as the 2006 Rose Bowl and the 2007 MLB playoffs. Wiseguys then sold their inventory to online ticket brokers at an increased price. The ticket brokers then sold the tickets on websites such as StubHub and TicketsNow. Fans were forced to look to those ticket resale outlets to buy what they needed at a significant markup in addition to the increased price paid by those brokers. So the fans got screwed -- twice. However, removing the Wiseguys from the online ticket purchasing game is only one hurdle facing sports fans in the technological age.
White Collar Crime: Cablevision Defies FCC, Hordes HD Sports
Despite the FCC's ruling that no local sports exclusives should exist providing both standard and HD sports to competitors of cable and, in turn, fans who subscribe to alternate providers, Cablevision, Comcast, and Cox (to name the big players) haven't moved a muscle to straighten up their act. Rather, they've taken the FCC to court appealing the decision - making false promises to U.S. Representatives - continuing to abuse sports fans across the country by witholding access to games. Below is a note from one of our intelligent members about the seemingly endless struggle to supply fans with their sports on TV:
Monday’s Call to Action by Brad Blakeman
I traveled last week to Salem, Oregon to testify before Members of the Oregon General Assembly with regard to Comcast Cable’s blacking out of Portland Trail Blazers home games. Thousands of Trail Blazers fans are denied enjoying their favorite past time because of the greed and control exercised by a cable provider who refuses to [...]
Bag the Sports Hero Worship, Support The SFC
When the Tiger Woods scandal broke, many were shocked while some were unfazed by the news that another hero had fallen from grace. Woods, the first billion-dollar athlete, had chiseled out of gold his pristine image for sponsors and fans to embrace wholeheartedly. Charles Barkley once famously asked the question, ”A million guys can dunk a basketball in jail; should [...]
Sports Fans Coalition Makes Waves in Portland
In the span of 24 hours, SFC board member Brad Blakeman represented sports fans in Oregon and across the country by going on the radio, speaking to TV and newspaper reporters, and most importantly, by testifying in the Oregon General Assembly hearing targeting the Portland Trail Blazers' deal with Comcast which shuts out so many fans from the team's broadcasts. We need to keep the pressure on Comcast, the team, and the state representatives to make this right. We Want Our Games!
About SFC
SFC is the American sports fan’s advocate in the D.C. public policy arena fighting for sports fans in every city across the country.
Sports Businesses, Leagues, and Universities are grasping for our cash left and right. Let's join together to keep their hands off our wallets unless and until we have a say in how that money is spent. Futhermore, we sports fans believe we should be able to watch our games, no matter how we get our media.
