The Eagles prove our demand for even meaningless football is insatiable. Imagine the changes to come.
Joint practices seem to be the latest and greatest way to keep raising interest in America's most popular sport. They could lead to a money-making cycle that perpetuates itself.
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The Inquirer, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022:
“Take the Eagles’ first preseason game last week, which aired on NBC10. More than 325,000 households in the Philadelphia TV market tuned in to watch the meaningless exhibition game, easily making it the most-watched program of the evening, according to an NBC spokesperson. In fact, during the game, NBC10 delivered three times the audience of 6abc, Fox29, CBS3, PHL17, and CW Philly combined.”
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The Inquirer, Monday, Aug. 22, 2022:
CLEVELAND — Eagles coach Nick Sirianni was pleased that none of his players suffered any severe injuries Sunday, but that was the only thing that pleased him about his team’s lackluster performance in a 28-10 loss here to the Browns. “Look, it’s great we got out of here unscathed,” Sirianni said, “but honestly, the joint practices were better and more productive for us.”
» READ MORE: Eagles preseason game draws big on NBC10; TNT once again defers to the NFL
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The Inquirer, Friday, Aug. 25, 2023:
Eagles players and coaches lauded the atmosphere and competition over the two days of joint practices that the team held this week with the Buffalo Bills. “What you want as a coordinator is to be able to test your defense against the best quarterbacks and offenses in the NFL,” Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon said. “Going up against Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs and the rest of the Bills gave us a great sense of where we are as a unit.”
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The Inquirer, Monday, Aug. 28, 2023:
After the Eagles and Bills sat all their starters for the entirety of their preseason game Sunday night, fans at Lincoln Financial Field lamented the high cost of being on hand for a game that didn’t count and wasn’t particularly interesting.
“I paid full price for these tickets,” Joe Josephson of Levittown said during the fourth quarter of the Eagles’ 2-0 victory. “I paid full price for parking. I paid full price and then some for drinks and food. This is my one chance to bring my kids to an Eagles game, but what good is it if it costs this much and we don’t get to see any of the players we know?”
The Eagles announced the game’s attendance as 55,555, but it was clear to any reasonable observer that the stadium, which seats nearly 68,000, was no more than one-third full.
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The Associated Press, Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023:
NFL executives and observers were stunned Monday by the revelation that television ratings for the league’s preseason games had fallen from last year. Experts speculated that the gradual shift among head coaches toward emphasizing joint practices and away from focusing on preseason games in evaluating players had led to the decline.
» READ MORE: Five favorite NFL futures for the 2022 season
“None of these coaches are playing any of their starters or their high draft picks or even their important backups in these games,” said one league official who requested anonymity. “It looks like the public is starting to catch on. I never thought it would have been possible, but I don’t blame people. You can try to fool them for only so long.”
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The Inquirer, Saturday, May 25, 2024:
The Eagles will become the first NFL franchise not only to open its joint practices to the public, but also to show them on its in-house website, team chairman Jeffrey Lurie announced Friday. The price of tickets — all of them standing-room-only at the NovaCare Complex — will start at $4,000 apiece, with just 1,000 available. To watch the practices on the Eagles’ website, fans will be charged a viewing fee of $1 per minute.
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NFL.com, Friday, Jan. 1, 2027:
The National Football League will do away with its entire schedule of preseason games as of 2028, commissioner Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson announced Friday.
“As the most popular person in America and as the person in charge of the most popular institution in America, I am charged with delivering to people what they want,” Johnson said in a statement. “The economic success of the joint-practice movement, initiated by Jeffrey Lurie and the Philadelphia Eagles, has demonstrated that our preseason-game model is obsolete. It’s time to shepherd meaningless football into the future. What can I say except, ‘You’re welcome?’”
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The Inquirer, Thursday, Aug. 23, 2029:
Thousands of Eagles fans stormed the franchise’s headquarters Wednesday, forcing an early and abrupt end to the team’s joint practice with the Dallas Cowboys.
» READ MORE: The Jets’ cheap shot on Jalen Hurts should have the Eagles concerned. About Hurts.
With only a handful of overmatched security guards to stop them, Eagles devotees — their faces painted Kelly green and white, some clad in full football padding — hoisted themselves over the steel fence and several thick hedges surrounding the NovaCare Complex for a chance to see quarterback Jalen Hurts’ first workout since he returned from a lengthy contract holdout. A three-time Super Bowl MVP, Hurts agreed to a four-year, $3 billion extension with the team earlier this week.
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The Inquirer, Wednesday, March 20, 2030:
Citing the high demand for tickets to their traditional joint practices, the Eagles will move the event to Lincoln Financial Field this year, team chairman Julian Lurie announced Tuesday.
Ticket prices for the practices, with the London Jaguars, will be the same as they are for any of the team’s 16 regular-season home games.
Inquirer Eagles beat reporters EJ Smith and Josh Tolentino preview the team’s second preseason game against the Cleveland Browns and recap the two joint practices leading into the game. Watch Sunday at 11:30 a.m. at Inquirer.com/EaglesGameday.