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Sorry Rex, Fans Don't Make Noise At Sterile MetLife


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Sorry, Rex, fans don’t make noise at sterile MetLife

By Brian Costello

October 15, 2013 | 7:30pm

 
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Show us the money: High prices at MetLife are shutting out the rabid fans that can make a difference during home games, The Post's Brian Costello writes.

Photo: AP

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All Rex Ryan needs is a pair of pom-poms to complete his transformation into a cheerleader this week.

 

The Jets coach exhorted fans to recreate the frenzy of the 2009 game against the Patriots when Ryan’s Jets won 16-9 in his second game as coach. You may remember Ryan giving the fans a symbolic game ball afterward because the noise level was so high the Patriots had 11 penalties, including four delays of game.

 

“If you make it like that,” Ryan said on ESPN Radio, “we’re going to beat this team.”

Here is the problem: That scene never will be duplicated. Any hope of that ended when the wrecking ball took down Giants Stadium a few months later and fans were given the $1.6 billion MetLife Stadium in its place.

 

The 3-year old stadium has as much charm as a parking garage, with its gray, metallic exterior and its drab interior. The Jets are 16-11 in the new building, but it’s hard to remember any games when the fans were a factor. Any home-field advantage the Jets ever had left with the last remnant of the old stadium.

 

The new stadium’s main issue is a problem many franchises are facing across sports — many true, rabid fans have been priced out of the stadium entirely, or at least the good seats, thanks to PSLs and high prices on everything from parking to a bottle of water. In their places are the fans whose wallets are bigger than their knowledge of Jets history.

 

When building the stadium the Jets put a higher priority on the bottom line than making sure the place was loud when the opponent was on the goal line. The Team Marketing Report put together a “Fan Cost Index” that evaluates the fan experience based on a game for a family of four. The Jets are the fifth-highest priced team with an average cost of $577.12, including tickets, parking, food, drinks and souvenirs. The Giants, who face the same home-field problems as the Jets, are third on that list.

 

There is also the basic structure of the building. The larger, newer buildings never seem to contain noise the way the old buildings did. We’ve seen it in The Bronx with Yankee Stadium and in East Rutherford.

 

It’s hard to fault the Jets for wanting to score a profit, but at what cost?

The lower bowl between the 20-yard lines, where the highest-priced seats are, clears out just before halftime and remains empty deep into the third quarter while those ticket-holders head to the club areas to eat their sushi and shrimp cocktail. It’s a sea of gray in these areas when the second-half kickoff hits.

 

Then you have the issue of people trying to recoup some of their money by selling their tickets to opposing fans. There were so many “Terrible Towels” in the stands Sunday it looked as if the Jets were giving them out. Steelers fans took over the stadium by the end of the game the same way 49ers fans did a year ago. I don’t blame the fans for selling their tickets. I blame the Jets and the NFL for creating an environment where people feel the need to sell their tickets in order to offset the costs involved with going to the games.

 

The Jets are trying to improve the fan experience. Led by team president Neil Glat, the team has introduced things like the “Aviators,” a drum line shown on the big screen during games and the team walk through the parking lot before the game. They are also studying the decibel levels at the stadium and trying to figure out when the building is the loudest and what they can do to keep it loud.

The problem is these ideas were conceived in a board room not Section 308. The best fan traditions are organic. “Potvin Sucks” at the Garden or the “J-E-T-S” chant that for years dominated Jets game. Like him or loathe him, “Fireman Ed” did bring something unique to Jets games, something which is now missing.

 

Sometimes you wonder if the Jets understand their fan base, too. All I have to do is check my Twitter mentions or my email to get reminded of how jaded and cynical Jets fans can be. “Jet Up” videos on the big screen might work in Indiana. Here they’re likely to get a “Bleep You.”

 

Four years ago, Ryan delivered an automated voicemail to season-ticket holders asking for the crowd to get loud, and it worked. The stadium that day was stick-your-head-in-an-airplane-engine loud as the fans embraced their new coach and beating Tom Brady for the first time in East Rutherford.

 

On Sunday, the Jets hope to give their fans another moment like that. How loudly will the Jets fans cheer it?

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This is the sole reason I was opposed to the West Side Stadium.  The cost probably would have been 40% more then the New Meadow lands, and Driven out the crazy die hard fans with cost.

 

The Jets greed drove then out anyway, so I guess it's a moot point

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A big sticking point when they built Metlife was the colors, they wanted it to be neutral between the teams, so they just chose grey for everything, then changed the banners and colors of the board between games.

 

I feel like they took the personality out of the building by doing that. I have been to many games in both stadiums and I felt like Giants stadium had more personality (as much personality as a stadium can have) and will always feel like home to me more than Metlife.

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The width in the upper deck increased tremendously- simple physics dictates that a wider area will not be as loud, add into the fact that the noise is coming from the upper deck and you have a recipe for decreased noise from the "Rabid Fan Base." The cheapest seats up top make it reasonable to say that the older "rabid" fans are mostly up there.

 “Jet Up” videos on the big screen might work in Indiana. Here they’re likely to get a “Bleep You.”

 

Funny...that's exactly the reaction the Twitter streams from the 12 year olds that were being broadcasted on the Jumbotron elicited, from our section at least.

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Woody doesnt care as long as his seats are sold.

 

They (NFL,Jets or any team or league) dont care about the fans, just our money.  They dont give a damn.  And when fans dont show up, then the press will write articles on how we dont appreciate the awesomeness of our teams...  Hell Nick Cafardo wrote 2 articles at the end of August blasting Red Sox fans for not selling out Fenway with the Sox in 1st.

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Woody made a blunder, he pushed hard for an Upper West Side Stadium instead of one in Flushing and very predictable, he lost.  Flushing was the best location for the fan base since it was right here in the city and very close to LI.  The Libs' hippies/activist/environmentalist headquarter in NYC, there was no way they would have allowed Woody to build a Stadium in their own backyard. They were almost were successful in blocking the Brooklyn Nets' arena.   Also, It is simply amazing that the new Meadow lands was way pricey than the Cowboys Stadium yet the Cowboys Stadium is 1,000,000 times better looking than the average looking Met life. 

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The new stadium is worse than the Meadowlands. Blame Woody, Rex and Geno of course

Wife and I went to the 4th pre season game and wow was it a blast. Loud stadium and everyone had a blast. All due to watching an actually qb play (simms). Simms played extremely well. No one was disappointed and almost no one left early. I myself would buy lower tickets if I knew Simms was starting against patriots.

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The loudest I ever heard a Jets crowd was the 2009 home opener against the Patriots at Giants Stadium; in fact, it may have been the loudest thing I've ever heard, it got to the point where my inner ears were vibrating, it almost felt like my head would explode. And the very next year I was shocked at just how quiet the crowd was at the new stadium. For a comparison, I believe the tickets I had for the 2009 home opener were $100 on stubhub, the very next year I think the prices doubled at least for the home opener against the Ravens, and in both instances I'm talking about upper level seats, that's the only place I get tickets. I didn't go to the home opener in 2010, but went to the Jets Texans game and the crowd was absudly quiet for such a good game, and considering how well the team was doing. I think the high prices pushing the die hard fans out coupled with the fact that the design of the new stadium isn't conducive to noise makes it so that the crowd noise will never be what it was at Giants stadium.

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The new stadium sucks balls. its worse than the old stadium. no spirals to get out at the end of the game is a problem. the bathrooms are ******* retarded (only in one way and only out the other way). no other bathrooms in any other stadium but this pos has an ''in'' and an ''out'' door in the bathroom. the upper bowl is way too high and its on a 45 degree pitch downwards, its like black diamond slopes out in Colorado.

 

I went to opening day and havent gone to a game since. I have to admit the home xp is much more enjoyable. I only miss tailgating with friends, that was and will always be the best part.

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Maybe score a touchdown or two and the fans might cheer? Just a crazy thought ...

Def not crazy enough to work. If wr actually had an offense to push the ball the fans would def have something to cheer for. Come on what's the point of the fans making noise to help the def when off just gives it right back?
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Maybe score a touchdown or two and the fans might cheer? Just a crazy thought ...

 

Agreed.

 

I've heard the new stadium get plenty loud. I've got decent season tickets and I'm pretty close to what you would call a 'rabid' fan. Put a winning product on the field and the noise will come. Remember how loud it got when McElroy threw his one TD pass last year when they yanked Sanchez?

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Maybe score a touchdown or two and the fans might cheer? Just a crazy thought ...

Def not crazy enough to work. If wr actually had an offense to push the ball the fans would def have something to cheer for. Come on what's the point of the fans making noise to help the def when off just gives it right back?
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Wife and I went to the 4th pre season game and wow was it a blast. Loud stadium and everyone had a blast. All due to watching an actually qb play (simms). Simms played extremely well. No one was disappointed and almost no one left early. I myself would buy lower tickets if I knew Simms was starting against patriots.

 

#SMS

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Also, It is simply amazing that the new Meadow lands was way pricey than the Cowboys Stadium yet the Cowboys Stadium is 1,000,000 times better looking than the average looking Met life. 

The owners were far more concerned that the two teams' respective locker rooms were the exact same size (down to the square inch) as well as the number of luxury boxes, than with any interesting features or fan friendly amenities.

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I like going to "the Luke" out in Indy. You can park anywhere in the city, pre-game by bar-hopping and then stroll right up to the stadium. No traffic, no bullsh*t.

Also, they had Peyton and now have Luck.

Other than the Giants being there, it was supposively also the best SB venue he NFL has ever had.

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