Football used to be one of the most popular pastimes of American society. Often, the fans would cheer and throw parties just to watch a football game that would make even the biggest college parties seem like childish outings. After all, the beer bong, all the beer drinking paraphernalia and many chugging games originated from yes, tailgating parties. Fans would flock from miles and miles away, hours, sometime even days, before a scheduled game and mingle amongst each other in the many parking lots surrounding stadiums across the country.

That, however, was the past. Now the old ways of football fandom have begun to fade out.

Thanks to the introduction of state of the art stadiums, watching the game of football live has been changed forever. Approximately 13 NFL teams have upgraded or built new state of the art stadiums set to do one thing only: generate revenue. The stadiums are cram packed with seats; the seats and positions closest to the field are going to the highest bidders, including the box seats. True fans can no longer get close to the game without a pocket full of cash, and bribe money. The nosebleed section is where most fans will find themselves these days, nowhere near the field.

Most of the teams also have built a sort of club or mall nearby that is meant to profit off the average tailgating party. Fans are no longer allowed to tailgate in actual stadium parking lots and have had to move elsewhere and scout out nearby spaces. The places they are forced to move their parties to are often miles away from the stadium, making for a very timely string of events traveling to and from the actual stadium.

Everything sold in the new stadiums now costs 50-70 percent more than it used to. This coupled with the falling economy is not a good mix at all. Every aspect about the new stadiums across the country suggest that team owners and managers no longer care about their team winning; they now care most about making money…not that they never did before.

The football game now also has to be paused every ten to fifteen minutes for television commercial breaks, and along with all the other football related pauses the game has become a very grueling thing to watch live. Forget what even happens if a player is injured, centuries would pass by and fans quickly find themselves sitting around looking like Rip Van Winkle.

Have you been to a state of the art stadium game yet? Do you believe the old ways of football fandom have been brushed out the door?

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