Thanks to Chad Ochocinco, area businesses and national sponsors, the Bengals avoided snapping their regular season and playoff sellout streak last year. Five times the NFL granted the Bengals a 24-hour extension to keep their streak going, which now stands at 53 games. Even while the Bengals were successful out of the gate with a 7-2 start, or towards the end while they were close to securing a playoff berth, the team struggled to sellout.
Even though they did maintain their home sellout streak, it was a running story all season. Will the same story resurface this year, even after coming off a playoff appearance?
One indicator of trouble could be that the team would be able to offer single-game tickets if season tickets, two-game packs and four-game packs do not sellout a majority of available tickets. Will the team sell single-game tickets? Joe Reedy says that "judging by the way this went last year, it is highly likely."
This Fox Sports team report writes that "it appears as if ticket sales will again be a problem this season"; though this could largely be based on Reedy's initial report on Wednesday. If that's the case, then they twisted Reedy's point slightly in that he's merely speculating on the trend from last year, whereas the Fox Sports report strictly states that they "will" be a problem again. But I'm being a bit trivial now.
In this day in age where you can sit on your couch with a big-screen high definition television with instant replay (and in DVR, manual replay on our own), a kitchen and bathroom only several feet from you, I find it less surprising everyday that any sporting event struggles to sellout. And in the freezing months of December and January, the couch inside a heated house kind of makes the argument of staying home stronger. And let's be honest, cost is always a factor, which includes parking.
Be honest: Who are you? Would you rather stay in the comforts of your own home without having to pay for anything? Or would do you go for the experience and the joy of watching the Bengals in person?