The experience in Indianapolis is wonderful. I've never had a bad time at either dome. The fans are friendly and polite outside of a few knuckleheads; that equation is reversed in Cincinnati. I'm going to my second Bengals game of the year Sunday and I know I have a 50/50 chance of enjoying myself without some drunk picking a fight with me or my friends and/or puking on us.
When I lived in Cleveland it was even worse than Cincinnati. I attended the infamous "beer bottle game" against Jacksonville. It is the only time in my life where I sincerely feared for my safety at a sporting event.
I don't think its going to be a problem.
Even with the alcoholic experience, if it looks like a game isn't going to sell out, it gets blacked out in the local area. Once the announcement is made, people either buy tickets or companies purchase an allotment to give to employees.
And of course, if the game does get blacked out, then HDTV really doesn't help (unless you live outside of the blackout restricted area).
The blackout policy is why teams with horrendous owners (aka the Bengals) can still make a profit even when their team is in the toilet. If the Reds have a bad season, fan support drops and attendance plummets. Not the case with the NFL.
Hmmm, Indy is a winning, well run organization and has a good fan environment. Cincy and Cleveland, two poorly run, losing organizations with drunk fan problems. I see a pattern here. Its the old "tone at the top" dynamic at work.
"Rounding 3rd and heading for home, good night everybody"
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