Our Fans Deserve Better
October 2, 2018
by Alex Zeese
If the empty seats in the stadium do not make it obvious on TV, some long-term damage has been done to the fanbase over the last few decades. Through 2 home games, the Redskins have had an average of about 58,000 fans show up so far to each game. No doubt about it: this fanbase is damaged, and in some ways, the fans are broken worse than what you see in perpetually losing cities like Cleveland or Buffalo. And while I have no doubt that success on the field will solve some of the turnout problems, the team could do more and be more pro-active.
In about a decade, the Redskins will have that shiny new stadium, and yes, a super fancy 60,000 seat stadium will be great in 2027 and probably be chock full of Ashburnians and Loudounites if the team flees the suburbs for the exurbs. But what can the Redskins do to bring back fans for their remaining 9 years in Maryland? What the team needs to be doing is giving fans a reason to come earlier to games and stay later on the game day, and they need to make it easy as possible to get to and from the stadium.
Let’s start with getting to games. If there’s one thing that Redskins fans love to do, it’s complaining about getting in and out of Raljon. The Redskins could lose a game 52-0 and odds are the next day on 980 and 106.7 you would still get a call in complaining about traffic. There’s not much you can do to fix the infrastructure around FedEx Field, but the obvious thing would be to bring back the Metro shuttle that they had in 2008. The shuttle used to run from Landover Station to FedEx Field for $6 a rider, though it went up to $20 later. I know lots of fans loved that service, and bringing it back would be a great PR move, but even more importantly the team needs to make sure Metro is open through the end of the games. As any Washingtonian knows, the WMATA’s policy is that it will only stay open past closing time if someone puts up a deposit and is willing to pay some of the costs to keep them up and running past midnight. Other local teams have started paying this, often finding sponsors to help defer the costs away from the team. If there’s one thing this team’s great at, it’s getting sponsors for everything.
Pre-game festivities at FedEx are okay, and with tailgating being as big a part of the football tradition as the game itself I can’t see it changing any time soon. But I am sure that there are things other teams are doing for pre-game festivities that the Redskins could use to step up their game. For example, the Buffalo Bills have a giant indoor space for food vendor options and other entertainment. Cities like Houston apparently have some sort of competitions going on for best tailgaters. It would be nice to see the Redskins look into how these top venues are doing it and mirror what they can. I’m not saying they need to build a massive facility somewhere on the property, but just find a place to mix some carnival games with moderately priced beer and hot dogs, maybe a few food trucks – you know, step things up a little. They also need to figure out some ways to keep fans around after the game, keep spending, and help alleviate the traffic issue a little bit. My first thought would be to add in something like a post-game concert from time to time, maybe do autograph sessions, shoot off some fireworks. Everyone loves fireworks.
As to what’s going on inside FedEx for game day, there’s only so much you can do. I give the Redskins and Bruce Allen credit – I think in the last decade he has done a good job improving some of the food options at the stadium, plus other things like installing the upgraded video board. It’s a lipstick on a pig situation, but they got that pig coated in lipstick as well as possible. There are a few other things personally I’d like to see. Personally, I’ve always thought they should use the band more to their advantage. I’d rather they cut out all the recorded music they play over the PA and go with just the live band all game long. Also, I know a lot of people say that the fans get too crazy to the point where people don’t want to bring their kids. This one’s a bit more difficult to deal with but the solution is obvious: security needs to be cracking down more and be way more observant. There’s no reason for ushers and security folks to let things get as bad as they do before intervening. Anyone who’s been to any sporting event can tell you early on who is going to be causing trouble in their section.
When the new COO Brian Lafemina came on board we saw a big shift in how the team started operating. The Redskins aren’t just in the football business. They need to understand that they are in the entertainment business, and they need to give fans a reason to come out and be entertained, both on and off the field. I hope that Lafemina understands that. To his credit, he came right into the job and told Dan Snyder that the emperor has no clothes. But given this team’s history of knee-jerk reactions, I wonder if Dan Snyder will fire him before Lafemina has a real suit ready for him.