Does Anyone Really Watch an NFL Exhibition Game?

Yes Football fans across America are rejoicing in the knowledge the 2018 season is finally here.

Thursday things began for real with 12 Exhibition games on Thursday night and a smattering of people who actually paid money to go sit in the seats to watch.

For the next few weeks, NFL Fans will be treated to a series of practice games where it doesn't really matter who wins or who loses but rather how individual players play.

Those same fans managed to fork over money for a full ticket price (min. $65 or so and up), super marked up concessions and a chance to watch the starting players on their team play for a series or so.

Yay.....?

Yeah, sure, I get it. Teams play these games mostly to get some game reps for starters and find out how untested reserves will react to game situations. It's a chance to identify players worthy of making the roster and who will eventually be cut.

And that's the system.

I don't generally watch NFL Exhibition football and never have. I'll pay attention to the box scores or occasional story lines along with stats (Fantasy Football y'all)....but that's about it.

The teams know most have little interest in attending said games so they make exhibition games part of season ticket packages. If you're a season ticket holder---you are paying for game tickets, so yeah, you might as well plan on going--at least for a little while.

It's one of the many ways the NFL and its owners extract a little extra money out of you the fan. But I'm guessing you already know this.

NFL Exhibition games are attended much like lower level NCAA College Football Bowl games. They are mostly for TV contracts and season ticket holders.

If you pay for an individual game ticket to an exhibition game....uh, well, good on you I suppose. You probably have disposable income and are a devoted fan. Good for you.

Exhibition games aren't for everyone---it's easy to take shots at their lack of worth. But I won't do that other than to say they aren't for me. But I'm not a crazed, hardcore devoted to everything my favorite team does kind of fan. I love Sports in general and consider myself more a Sports Geek than anything else.

And if I happen to turn on the TV and find a game featuring the Miami Dolphins or sometimes Atlanta Falcons---yeah, if nothing else is going on, I'll probably watch....