Roger Goodell Hates Detroit

As you are well-aware by now, the Detroit Lions broke the leagues longest winless streak when they beat the Washington Redskins on Sunday to reside in the win column for the first time since December 23, 2007. I don’t know a single person, except for maybe the Redskins fans, that wasn’t happy to see them finally get off the snide. However, there is one major problem with the events that took pace on Sunday at Ford Field: the residents of Detroit and the surrounding markets were unable to witness their beloved Lions win (a regular season game) for the first time in 21 months because they were blacked out due to league restrictions. And this is where my beef lies.

According to the league’s blackout rules, if the home team does not sell out the game it will not be aired on local TV. Now normally I have no problem with this being the case. It is a rule that is in place in order to drive up revenue for the league, and the bottom line is the league is a business. So, if the stadium is full, they’ll air the game to the other fans who are at home because, in the league’s mind, the reason they’re watching at home is because they couldn’t get tickets to the sold out event. But in the case of a game that is not sold out, the league penalizes their local fans by blacking the game out and basically telling them, “if you wanted to see the game so badly, you could have bought a ticket, but since you didn’t, screw you.” And I am completely okay with it, because in business logic, it makes complete and total sense.

But the league has made exceptions before. Right after Hurricane Katrina depleted the New Orleans area, the league recognized that there were dire circumstances and allowed the game to be aired without the game selling out. Roger Goodell recognized the fact that the people in the area had more important things to worry about and spend their money on than the Saints game. But he still recognized that there were some who still might want to check out their favorite team play football.

Detroit is also currently in a dire situation, though not because of a natural disaster (or really bad public planning, however you want to look at it). Just like in New Orleans, thousands have lost their homes, jobs, personal possessions, etc… But because these things were not taken away by a horrible storm means they get different treatment when it comes to watching the game on TV? I don’t get it. I don’t feel bad at all for the people in Oakland who’s game was also blacked out. They didn’t go because their team stinks and they hate their owner. This is a completely different set of circumstances.

Lions fans have proven over the years to be an extremely loyal fan base. For people who don’t pay attention, they are probably thinking I’m an idiot for saying that, but it’s true. Maybe it’s because they’ve had the Red Wings and Pistons bail them out, and even the Tigers have shown a competitive streak in recent years. But for whatever the reason, their fans have stuck by them, and believe you me, it’s been extremely rough for them. They’ve had to go through countless losing seasons, even a completely defeated season last year, Matt Millen’s obsession with drafting wide receivers, and not having a legitimate quarterback since Bobby Layne in the 1950’s. Their lone bright spot was Barry Sanders, and even he gave up on them in the prime of his career. Yet somehow, their fans still managed to stand by them and showed up at their games year after year, regardless if they had a bag on their head or not.

Detroit fans have always supported their Lions, even if they look like idiots doing so

But now Detroit is in the worse shape of any city in the country. The auto industry, once the apple of the city’s eye, has gone straight into the toilet. The unemployment rate is up to 29%, the average home value has plummeted to $12,000, and half the city has turned into a decrepit slum. People are moving out of the city in droves, trying to find a city that has more jobs and a better outlook for living. It is an eerie recreation of the immigrants mindset when they originally boarded ships to Ellis Island. America was supposed to be paved with gold and was the land of opportunity. Detroit residents are now relegated to hoping the streets outside of Detroit are at least paved with tin.

Yet Roger Goodell still was too stubborn to allow the local and loyal fans of the lowly Lions to watch their team register that first elusive win in over a year. It’s disgraceful really. What he did for New Orleans was applauded as a kind gesture and the right thing to do, but no one seems to notice that the same opportunity presented itself in Detroit, yet he didn’t act.

Mike Ilitch, the Tigers owner, has found ways to appease the local fans. He has provided reduced tickets, and even given a boatload of tickets to underprivileged families in the area. He has provided the opportunity for families to get away for a little bit, forget about their financial woes and enjoy a day of baseball. Granted, the Ford family could do the same thing to try and avoid the blackout debacle, but Ilitch’s Little Caesar franchise is probably doing a little better than the Ford’s family business right now, so they might not be at liberty to make such concessions (even though they still don’t get the money if the seats aren’t sold, so they should).

Even with that taken into consideration, Goodell should know better than to treat the league’s fans like this, especially with a potential labor dispute on the horizon that threatens to lock out the players in two years. Goodell believes the league is above the recession, and for the most part is has proven to be just that. But this isn’t New York or Philadelphia. This is Detroit. Oakland and Jacksonville have their problems, but maybe it’s because they can’t legitimately support a team or maybe simply because their teams stink. But if the fans won’t go to the games because the team isn’t any good, then indeed, they probably can’t support a team. But Detroit’s proven they can support a team. Their problems run much deeper than the team simply being no good. When the decision becomes whether you eat for a month or go to the Lions game, the decision seems to be pretty simple.

After the game on Sunday, coach Jim Schwartz did a very classy thing. After a short speech he sent his players back out to celebrate with the fans and thank them for standing by them. This is exactly what fans are supposed to do. Fans are supposed to stand by their team whether for richer or poorer, in sickness or in health (and yes, it is like a marriage). Oakland and Jacksonville have failed. But Detroit’s fans are resilient, as are the people of Detroit. Goodell could learn a lot from them.