I think this is what keeps the Krafts up at night, or it at least it should. The franchise is definitely not as entrenched as others (Pitt, Cle, Dal, etc.) and there's lots of competition in the Boston market for sports eyeballs and butts in seats. If they languish for several years, they will definitely struggle to stay in the upper echelon. The fact that Brady seems happy to never come back to NE now that he's had his celebration doesn't help.
Pats first team to be flexed out of MNF
- Thread starter shawnrbu
- Start date
It very disappointing this post didn't get more love. I know it sounds like damning with faint praise but far and away the best post in this thread!
Don't all the teams fluctuate in popularity based upon success?
If these people only like the Pats because it was the greatest NFL franchise ever, I'll kick them off the bandwagon gladly. I demanded to listen to listen / watch the 2-14 and 1-15 teams.
20 years of greatness, the AFCCG meme about being the Pats game - cannot be maintained forever. They will be back
Yes, but there's typically a range and the Pats are something of a unicorn here.
There are a number of franchises that hover in the top 10 regardless of their on field results... Cowboys (almost always #1), Steelers, Packers, Bears, Eagles, 49ers, etc.
And there are franchises that are perennially in the bottom 10 regardless of their on field results... Jaguars, Panthers, Bengals, Cardinals, Texans, Titans, etc.
You rarely see the kind of leap the Pats have made since 2000, largely because you rarely see a team have that kind of sustained excellence. Especially onew that was a fan base black hole prior to their dynasty. The Cavs with LeBron and the Warriors with Steph are examples of low-ranked teams that ascend to near the top. But not surprisngly, the Cavs crashed the moment that LeBron left for the Heat (and again for the Lakers). The NBA is farrrr more star driven than the NFL, but the Pats may be the odd NFL team that experiences an NBA-like dynamic in their popularity.
This is why I'm curious. Will the millions of bandwaggoners who jumped on in the past 20 years stay for this rocky ride? Some will, of course. But those who were Brady-first fans, and/or front runners, will leap off. Interesting to see how many of them there are.
My unscientific non blinded study ... a lot are out.
And then the UM fans that are "oh i love brady! so I love the pats!" - Where was the Chad Henne Miami love? Forget them too
DDB, can I get, like, a down payment so I can purchase a ticket to this weekend’s game? I can probably buy a shitty beer, too!
I promise I’ll make good by the JF!
I’m not at all surprised that they are having a hard time drawing crowds in December for a 2 win team. They have literally zero “stars”. Cousin Sal mentioned on the BS pod that the graphic for the upcoming Thursday night game showed Belichick for the Patriots side as they don’t have a single recognizable player.
The Pats’ success timing also aligned, though, with the rise of NFL popularity and decreasing baseball popularity. And they have a much better stadium experience than they did in the 80s. A new QB will generate enough buzz that they should have no problem drawing fans next year.
They also have to keep the dynasty guys in the fold. I think they do a good job of this, mostly, but with exceptions these guys all left town once they retired. If you want to build the institution, it needs to have these guys out there and visible, passing the torch and so on. The 9ers are perhaps a good model. They have a long history but weren't a marquis franchise until the 80s and have maintained a high-level of fan engagement and organizational influence since then, despite some real debacles in ownership.