The highly anticipated NFL game at Croke Park in September was marred by a significant ticketing fiasco, leaving many Irish fans disappointed and without tickets. The Ticketmaster system was overwhelmed by the immense demand, resulting in hours-long queues and numerous technical issues.
The event caused widespread frustration among Irish fans, many of whom already pay substantial amounts annually to watch NFL games. This debacle is seen by many as indicative of a lack of regard from the NFL organization toward its fans.
Despite the immense popularity of the NFL internationally, the organization's apparent lack of preparedness for the high demand raises questions about their priorities. The article further criticizes the NFL for receiving €10 million from the Irish government for the event, with questionable economic benefits to Ireland, characterizing it as value extraction rather than fan appreciation.
There has been no shortage of flowery press release language used to describe the Pittsburgh Steelers’ tie with the Minnesota Vikings in Croke Park in September. “Historic” though the occasion may be, any remaining vestiges of romanticism around the game are rapidly shrivelling up after this week’s ticketing fiasco.
Irish supporters were left frustrated – and, in many cases, empty-handed – after queuing for hours online to buy tickets for September’s fixture, frequently dealing with technical issues that pushed them back to the end of a 600,000-person virtual line.
It’s hard to lay the blame for that frustration solely at the NFL’s door when it was TicketMaster’s systems that were overwhelmed by demand.
[ NFL: More than 600,000 join ticket queue for Croke Park gameOpens in new window ]
Yet the debacle has left a bad taste in the mouths of hard-core supporters. Many diehard Irish fans – who already have to pay out hundreds of euro a year to both sports streamer DAZN and Sky Sports if they want to watch their team’s 17 regular season games – feel it’s indicative of the organisation’s lack of regard for their custom.
Given the popularity of the NFL’s international games, which draw large numbers of fans from all over the world, there was no question that Croke Park was going to be a sell-out. That Ticketmaster and the NFL were unaware of this seems highly unlikely. The message fans are taking is that they just didn’t care.
Why would they? After all, the NFL, owned ultimately by the billionaire owners of the 32 teams that comprise it, is the richest sports league in the world. Its $20 billion in annual revenues didn’t stop it from wringing an extra €10 million out of the Irish Government for the privilege of hosting a competitive fixture at GAA headquarters, the economic benefits of which are, at best, difficult to quantify.
The simple truth is that, despite what anyone with skin in the game says, the event is not about rewarding fans here for their support: it’s an exercise in value extraction, plain and simple. And when it comes to parting fans and governments with their money, no sporting organisation is more successful than the NFL.
If you often open multiple tabs and struggle to keep track of them, Tabs Reminder is the solution you need. Tabs Reminder lets you set reminders for tabs so you can close them and get notified about them later. Never lose track of important tabs again with Tabs Reminder!
Try our Chrome extension today!
Share this article with your
friends and colleagues.
Earn points from views and
referrals who sign up.
Learn more