00:00Training camp dates released.
00:01I don't know how much you guys talked about this.
00:03Five open dates for the public, for the commanders at training camp.
00:08So last year they only had three.
00:10And I railed about this.
00:12I think it's a bad thing in the NFL that's happening.
00:16It's happening all over the league.
00:17The commanders are very much one of the teams that is now getting in line here.
00:22But last year they said, hey, we're doing construction.
00:25We can't have people around as much as we'd like.
00:27So they had three open practices and another three, I guess it was, for season ticket holders.
00:32Whereas this year they're going to have five open practices.
00:34All the tickets have already sold out immediately, obviously,
00:37because the demand is way larger than the supply.
00:41But then there's another six for special VIP season ticket holder type.
00:45So 11 total.
00:46There is more availability now without the construction this year.
00:49I guess I'll give them credit for that.
00:51But it's five practices, all training camp long.
00:54Camp is now only a couple weeks.
00:56The number of preseason games is shorter than it used to be.
00:59So to compare it to when I was growing up and going to training camp for a month every single
01:04day is probably not fair.
01:06Because it used to be, you know, 25, 30 days of training camp practices, two a days.
01:11There were a total of somewhere around 45 practices to 50 practices.
01:15And I don't know, 35 or whatever were open.
01:18It was 80 to 90 percent of them were open to the public.
01:21Now you only have training camp for a couple weeks.
01:24You end it as soon as you can.
01:26Then you just have closed practices.
01:28It's really no different.
01:29But you end the camp part of it, in air quotes.
01:31And then you're on to the regular season.
01:34To only have five practices open to the public is just such a mistake.
01:37I hate it.
01:38Yeah, it's an unforced error.
01:39And they, last year, as you said, they kind of hid behind the construction part of things.
01:45And this is one of those where they don't necessarily, whether they don't believe in the value of it or
01:52they think they're doing enough, etc.
01:54It's anecdotal.
01:55It's hard to find the exact things without going 32 teams for 32.
01:58I actually did that last year.
02:00And Washington had, by far, they were among the fewest.
02:02I just wouldn't be able to live with myself if that was the case.
02:05This is one of those things that all it requires is effort and ingenuity and planning.
02:10And last year, they built, remember, they built the stands, the temporary stands for people to be able to come
02:15out and do it and to enjoy the couple of practices that they have open to the public.
02:18They're doing a nice job.
02:19They're giving season ticket holders six exclusive times to go.
02:23Yes to that.
02:24That's good.
02:25Do things for your season ticket holders.
02:26No issue there.
02:27Five open practices.
02:29Most of the teams last year were double digits.
02:32Be there.
02:33Just do what most teams are doing in this regard.
02:35You are not, you have not arrived yet in terms of this fan base being back and the tent being
02:42as big as it was.
02:43This is one of those easy, fixable things that if I had the ear of ownership, I would say, I
02:48know this isn't ideal.
02:49I know the football ops people think they're guarding the nuclear football.
02:51They think they're guarding the most important state secrets in the world.
02:55You can absolutely get work in while people are there.
03:00I get it.
03:01Like if the whole point was we can't have an opposing scout come, then you can't have any.
03:06Right?
03:07You know what I mean?
03:07Like there is, I'm telling you there's a way teams do it around the league consistently and they are behind
03:12in this regard.
03:13I think it's easy.
03:14Such an easy point to make and it's so tangible to me when I talk about the difference between having
03:19a bunch open and only having a few open.
03:22You know, my brother hit me up.
03:24My nephew is starting to get into football.
03:26He's middle school aged and plays video games and collects cards and through those things and knew who Sonny Stiles
03:34was and is excited they drafted him.
03:36And so like you have a chance.
03:37This is a young person who has never really cared that much who, whatever the reason is, Jaden Daniels and
03:43Sonny Stiles or what have you, would like to go to practices.
03:46And it takes one of those days, potentially, you get a picture, you get a couple autographs and you might
03:52hook a guy that wants to now go to a game and then you win in the game and he
03:55has a fun time and you have a fan for life.
03:58Like that's how this happens.
04:00My fandom began because of these experiences as a very young person.
04:04A lot of people remember being at these practices and getting pictures with players and getting autographs and hunting down,
04:11you know, people along those railings and ropes at practices for years and years and years.
04:18And those anecdotes still live on as you're 30 and 40 from the time you met Chris Cooley or you
04:24met Terry Allen or whoever it was, Frostburg, Carlisle, Ashburn, wherever you were.
04:31My brother hit me up and he's like, hey, man, Cam wants to go to a practice.
04:36Like, what are we thinking?
04:36And I'm like, yeah, let me look.
04:38All the tickets are already sold out.
04:40That's just a person that wants to go, a young person that could get hooked that now there's no availability.
04:45It should not be that way.
04:46It's wrong.
04:47It's bad business.
04:49You don't need, to your point, to do it that way.
04:51The Cowboys I saw have one of the highest total of practices open to the public, which is still, again,
04:56lower than it used to be.
04:57But remember, instead of a month-long unimpeded of training.
05:00Yeah, you're not choosing from two a days from July 1st all the way to the end.
05:04The number is smaller.
05:05So let's say it's like 15 to 20 practices for most teams.
05:08The Cowboys I saw have 15 or 16 open.
05:11The Colts have 13.
05:12The Ravens have 12.
05:13The 49ers have 11.
05:15The Dolphins have 8.
05:16And then you do have some teams down around 5 or 6.
05:19The Eagles have long had, like, one big open practice where it was like a scrimmage at their stadium, which
05:24is even worse.
05:25They do it actually at Lincoln Financial.
05:27The Jets, I saw, are going to do something like that this year as well.
05:30But this is not just a commander's point.
05:32I've talked about this every year the last couple years.
05:34It's what the trend is in the league.
05:36Teams like to get on board because it's easier for them.
05:39The coaches love it.
05:40The front office loves it.
05:42Like, they don't want the fans around a ton.
05:43They don't want the distractions.
05:45Players, to some extent, might enjoy it because you're not getting, you know, people chanting at you or begging you
05:51for autographs as you've been out in the sweltering heat for two and a half hours.
05:54And after you sign 100, because you didn't sign the 101st, someone's got a story now that you turned them
05:59down.
06:00So there's a lot of different reasons for this, Danny.
06:02But it is just a bummer to me.
06:04And I think it's misguided and it's incorrect.
06:07There is.
06:08I mean, just, again, you can start Googling, go alphabetically by team.
06:12Jacksonville's got 10.
06:13I think the Colts have 13.
06:14Although a couple are, you know, may not be totally open to everybody.
06:18But the point is, everybody else has more than they do.
06:20So, and they're going to, I guarantee you someone from there would say, but look, we have 11 total and
06:26six are for season ticket holders.
06:28My point is, yes, you should be servicing season ticket holders to absolutely do things to make it more worthwhile
06:33for season ticket holders.
06:34That's your base.
06:35I'm not naive.
06:36I get it.
06:36The story that you just told about your nephew, there's a lot of nephews.
06:40There's a lot of kids that might want to do it.
06:42I was talking to a buddy today, literally had a meeting this morning, and he said, my kids are bugging
06:48me to go to training camp.
06:49Is that something we can do?
06:50And I said, no, tickets are already sold out for this, that you can't get there.
06:54And he went, oh, really?
06:55I said, yeah, they do a very limited number.
06:57You are turning away would-be and willing fans.
07:01Not everybody can pony up the thousands of dollars or give up weekends to go to, you know, 10 home
07:06dates or whatever, or deal with the hassle of it.
07:08You are limiting your fan base.
07:11Every one of those kids or every one of those teenagers, every one of those fans where this could be
07:15their touch point, could be a person that one day is part of your season ticket base.
07:18Or they might not be.
07:20But even still, you want the tent to be bigger.
07:22Somebody's buying those jerseys.
07:23Somebody's, you know, as you said, falling in love with that player.
07:26I mean, to me, all I can think of is being awestruck seeing Gary Clark, an Art Monk in person,
07:31you know, going to those training camp dates.
07:32And you're depriving people of that.
07:34The days that you have are sold out as evidence of demand.
07:37Good for you.
07:38They should be doubling what they're doing here in this regard.
07:41And they just don't feel like it.
07:41What is the drawback to an open practice?
07:45I don't think there is one.
07:47And if the answer is, well, access to seeing what the team is doing, that's ridiculous.
07:54I'm sorry.
07:55That's not a good answer.
07:56So what's the next thing?
07:58Skip that one.
07:59Well, the fans can record and post videos.
08:01And everyone's now got a podcast and a YouTube show.
08:04That's true.
08:05But those people are there anyway.
08:07They're getting VIP passes.
08:08They're getting, you know, season ticket practice availability.
08:13And by the way, sorry, the L.A. Chargers and the Denver Broncos are not scouring YouTube shows to look
08:20at your formation.
08:20Yeah, the guy that you're going to get cut that gets picked up that week that has every intel and
08:25every signal and every bit of verbiage is way more damaging than Freddie with a phone.
08:301,000%.
08:31Some of the guys you're cutting are going to be playing against you in week one.
08:35They're going to be on a practice squad of the team you're playing in week two.
08:38They've got pictures of all of your plays and all of your terminology.
08:43That's just a ridiculous argument.
08:45It's not correct.
08:46So what's the next one?
08:48If it is the distraction element that you get more work done when there's fewer people around, I think there
08:54is something to that probably.
08:56I would say the juice is not worth the squeeze.
08:58The greater good is still to grow the brand.
09:03Like you're focusing on the wrong thing.
09:05I think both can be done.
09:06You can get all your work in all summer long.
09:08You can get to a point where you do everything you need to do to become the quality operation come
09:13September that you're going to.
09:14And also, from a marketing standpoint, you further indoctrinate yourself to a community that you need to.
09:22So you look at the Chiefs, for example.
09:24And again, it's anecdotal, but you're just picking these different ones.
09:27They have so many practices that are open to the public.
09:29Here's how they solve that access problem.
09:31They declare certain days.
09:33So, for example, Thursday, July 30th.
09:36Autographs?
09:37Linebackers.
09:38Hey, linebackers.
09:39This is your day.
09:40You've got to wear it.
09:41Go.
09:41When practice is done, you're sweaty.
09:43You're miserable.
09:44It's going to be miserable.
09:45It's awful.
09:45You're tired.
09:46All you want to do is go inside and go to the cold tub.
09:48You sign your autographs.
09:50Two days later, it's tight end day.
09:51Three days later, it's defensive line.
09:53I love that, actually.
09:53It is so simple and such an easy fix.
09:56All that, you know how long that took me?
09:57You were talking.
09:58I looked it up.
10:00Done.
10:0116 practices.
10:02It's so easy.
10:02For the Chiefs.
10:03It's so easy.
10:03Well, by the way, the Chiefs could do what Washington's doing, and it would be fine.
10:08Because you've won so much.
10:09You have the pelts on the wall.
10:12Because you've got Mahomes and Taylor Swift's husband and so many other important players
10:18that you don't really need to continue to grow this thing.
10:21You're selling every game out constantly.
10:23Your season ticket waiting list is massive.
10:27Washington is not in that boat.
10:29It does feel like sometimes they act like they don't need the olive branch.
10:34I think new ownership gets this in so many ways, though.
10:36In a lot of ways, they do.
10:37Josh Harris and Mitch Rails and those guys are brilliant and have been so good about extending
10:42their arm to the community.
10:45But it has not translated over to training camp.
10:48And I think the reason why is it seems like they prioritize the football operation calling
10:54the shot on that.
10:54And generally, I love that.
10:57I love saying, what do you need, football?
10:59We're about winning football games.
11:01What do you guys need?
11:02That's not coming back home between games and going out to Arizona and staying and all
11:06that kind of stuff.
11:06This is a different thing, though.
11:07But this is a different thing.
11:09This is about growing fandom.
11:11That's what training camp is about.
11:12And if you can't get both done, then yes, prioritize football.
11:17There is zero evidence to say that that has ever been the case.
11:20The Chiefs have 16 or more practices open every year.
11:23It doesn't seem to hurt them very much come the start of the season.
11:27Alex Ovechkin said something within the last couple of days that makes me think, not only
11:31will this season not be his last year, but he might be playing more than two more seasons.
11:36I'm going to tell you what he said next.
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