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New Jersey Chairman has decided there won’t be fans at Jets/Giants this season . . .
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has decided no fans in the stadium for the Jets and Giants this year.
So that’s that.
New Jersey has a dictatorship now, and that isn’t even a political statement. Whatever Murphy decides, goes right now. And he has made it clear, if you don’t like it, you can move.
“If you don’t like our leadership here, why don’t you go down to Georgia and see how that feels?” Murphy said on Friday.
“All I would say to anyone who thinks that, go to another state,” he said in May when asked about the perception that his Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo was doing a poor job.
So you can leave New Jersey if you don’t like it, but that doesn’t help Jets and Giants fans who might want to go to a game in the fall.
This doesn’t mean other teams are going to follow suit. Some teams still might have fans in the stands. Baltimore announced last week they will allow 14,000 fans in for games in a very spaced out fashion.
One Jets fan thought that’s what his team should have done.
“I don’t see why the can’t fill 25% of the stadium,” tweeted fan Matt Piskun. “Would be easy to socially distant per section.”
You would think.
They could have done partial attendance, like they had a Bristol Racetrack the other day where 20,000 fans attended a NASCAR Race.
But Murphy, who was born in raised in Massachusetts, doesn’t see it that way, and he has all the power right now. This isn’t a political statement, it’s just the way it is. I live in New Jersey. I’m living it. In fact, I’m going to Rockland County to eat INSIDE a restaurant at some point this week. You can do that in some counties in New York. Not in New Jersey. If you can eat inside a restaurant in Nyack, NY why can’t you in nearby Mahwah, NJ? Because Murphy said you can’t.
People might be wondering what this is will do to the revenue of the Jets and Giants this year with no ticket revenue, no concession sales, and so forth.
Obviously, it’s going to hurt them, but the NFL TV money is so enormous, they won’t take the bath other leagues might take with no fans in the stands.
And if remember they’re going to sell extra ads around the lower bowl of the stadium, which will generate a tremendous amount of revenue.
Also, with no fans allowed to attend games in New Jersey (and California will likely follow), and limited fans in other stadiums, the NFL’s already impressive TV ratings will likely go up, so that will mean more TV money for the networks and the leagues to share.
On top of that, with some college football conferences likely not going to play, look for NFL to move some games to Saturday, which will also create extra revenue.
The ruler of New Jersey has spoken – no Jets home games this year.
It will be fascinating to see what this looks like, and how it impacts outcomes.
July 20, 2020
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