Annual neutral site championship games? Please, NFL

While we are not against Kansas City and Buffalo, you may want to support the Chiefs or the Bills in the divisional round. This weekend, Cincinnati or Jacksonville will be your choice.

It’s not personal; a Josh Allen-Patrick Mahomes AFC title game would be incredible.

It’s just that if Chiefs-Bills come to fruition, the NFL will, for the first time, stage the AFC Championship Game at a neutral site, Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta. This was necessary due to the cancelation of the Buffalo/Cincinnati football game. after Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed.

The NFL didn’t believe home-field advantage could be fairly determined since Buffalo played one fewer game than KC. (The other three potential matchups would proceed as normal — Jacksonville at Buffalo, Cincinnati at Kansas City or Jacksonville at Cincinnati.)

The NFL also has the opportunity to test a concept that would undoubtedly prove profitable, albeit in a way that is not convenient.

The league released a celebratory statement on Friday about how both team season ticket holders purchased 50,000 tickets in one day for the Atlanta game. The press release heralded that the Chiefs and Bills were working with “Season Ticket Members to provide priority access, subject to availability.”

The league is clearly hyped about a game that may never happen, and revenue is all that matters (and this is the NFL), it makes sense.

As Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk stated, “the foundation is further being put in place for the NFL’s next strategy for … squeezing more golden eggs from the goose.”

The NFL playoffs are often amazing. They can be almost impossible to miss. You could play it on a high school field in Alaska and it’d be fine.

They should not move from the stadium where they are playing for the higher-seeded teams.

There are many reasons, even before you consider how neutral websites only work for corporate executives and the most wealthy of fans.

• A neutral site conference championship game diminishes the importance of a regular season that has already been diminished by the ever elongating season. The No. 1 seed receives a first-round bye and the value of home field in title games. 1 seed. The NFL shouldn’t take that away.

• The atmosphere at the neutral site Super Bowl almost always lacks the unbridled passion of a home playoff game. Although there is some rivalry between the teams, there are more non-attached fans as well as corporate ticket holders. And the revelry of pregame tailgates can’t be duplicated.

• Taking the game out of home markets is a major loss for those communities, including local businesses and stadium workers. The NFL chose Atlanta to host neutral championship games. This was in keeping with the Super Bowl selections (i.e. Domes in certain cities or warm weather locations.

The majority of NFL stadiums are paid for with public money. It’s a lopsided deal, but among the few financial clawbacks is that game days generate enormous revenue. It’s a cruel bait and switch to take such a large one from Western New York. The new Bills stadium will cost $850 million.

This is primarily about the fans.

The NFL is the only major professional league to stage its championship at a neutral location. Fans can purchase season tickets to ensure they have the opportunity to see the final games or parts of the final series in person.

That isn’t the case with the NFL, where only the most well-heeled fans can afford to travel to the Super Bowl. The problem is only exacerbated by taking the semifinals from the local fans and creating two mini-Super Bowls.

Season ticket packages in the NFL are very affordable. In Buffalo, the average price for a 2022 season ticket was $113. A package of $1113 and 10 regular and preseason games is affordable for many middle and working class fans. And that’s the average. You can find cheaper options.

Yes there is parking, seat licensing fees and more, but it’s better than having to buy 40 or so NBA or NHL games, let alone up to 81 in MLB.

These average fans will be the most likely to miss the rare championship game. When pro sports teams start talking about “priority access,” they are talking about customers who purchase the most expensive seats and/or are willing to pay extra to be considered a “priority.”

If the NFL split its 50,000 “priority access” tickets with the season ticket holders of Kansas City and Buffalo, then each team got about 25,000 seats. The Bills, however, have 60,000 season ticket.

This is because the NFL takes care of customers who pay more (usually club level ticket holders) at the two franchises, while leaving most season ticket holders, who are less wealthy, out of the action. That’s a lot of non-prioritized customers.

That increases the value — and potential cost — for “priority access” that each team can charge fans. Neutral site games allow for the use of a portion of corporate seats or league controlled seats. They can also offer concessions from host cities or other sponsorships.

But not only would you need to spend to get “priority access”, you’d then need to spend money to travel to the neutral site game, including the likelihood of missing work the next day. And if you don’t have season tickets but want to splurge on the big game, well, add in the travel costs as well.

Plenty of people will gladly do that — no one is denying the demand.

It just won’t be the middle or working class fan who dutifully attend games week after week, year after year, in hopes of their team hosting the occasional championship game.