Anybody know what the deal is with the Quakes listing last night's game as a 6:45 start time, and all of the rest of the home games being listed as :15 or :45 starts, 15 minutes before the scheduled TV time? I wondered if they had some deal for a 15-minute TV pregame show and just decided to list that time, but there was no such show yesterday--broadcast started at 7 like usual. In the stadium, the pregame presentation was pretty much as usual, with nothing special starting at 6:45. Lineup announcements, player entrance, national anthems, and the game started at 7:06 or 7:07, all pretty normal. What's the point of listing an early start time that isn't really the start time of anything?
Also they probably were trying to accommodate the fact that people would not notice the new bag rules, and the security check point would jam up.
It's kind of lying though isn't it, unless they are redefining "start time". It's the old "let's tell them it starts earlier than it actually does so they'll be less late"! I have had a few people employ that strategy on me in my lifetime .
Heck I have even employed that strategy on myself in a way, by setting my watch ahead. It is of course futile because I'll simply remember to subtract by x minutes, just like we will now all add 15 min to the published start times
well they've been doing it for years - the game actually starts about 10 minutes after the stated time so that the TV guys can start on the hour or half-hour and do a quick pregame.
Normally, according to the timing sheet, a 7:00 game will start at 7:06:30. Of course, everything is subject to the requirements of the TV director -- who communicates with the red hat when to give the referee the signal to start the game.
OK that's much more precise than I was aware of, but still the point is, kickoff isn't really at 7:00. Adding 15 minutes to get more people into the stadium doesn't seem terrible.
It won't have much effect I don't think because people will just add 15 minutes to the published start time .
Publishing a start time at the top of the hour makes sense because at least it denotes the start of a real thing--the TV broadcast. People understand that there are a few minutes for the announcers to say hello and run a few commercials. The 15-minute-early time doesn't denote the start of any real thing. In MLS some games already have a larger gap between the announced time and the kickoff--most national TV games now have a 2:30 time window, allowing for a long pregame and a kickoff that might be 20 minutes after air time. The national TV games at Avaya this year still have this extra 15 minutes on their published times, so we might have some games starting 35 minutes or more after the time on the tickets.
It's just more FO bullshit. Just list the actual game start. If people can't figure out how to arrive on time for the game it's their damn problem.
No, it's the Quakes problem because 1) if people don't arrive early enough they don't buy stuff before the game, and 2) the stands look empty at the start of the game. Now I'm not sure that the "fake news" start time is the solution. But people not getting there on time is a problem that the Quakes FO would like to try to make headway on.
And if the team makes less $ than they have less to pay players. Which is material these days with all these salary cap loopholes.
So the 6:30 is for anthems, photos and a couple of commercials? Does the timing sheet break that down?
Here's an old timing sheet: START END 9:00:00 AM Operations Arrive 3:30:00 PM 5:30:00 PM Bomb Sweep Make Sure Credentials Are Worn 4:00:00 PM All Parking Lots Open 5:45:00 PM National Anthem Sound Check 6:00:00 PM All Gates Open 6:15:00 PM Team Flags & Escorts Walk Through 6:30:00 PM San Jose, Sporting KC & Referees Arrive 6:30:00 PM Ball Kids Arrive 6:56:00 PM Captains Meeting / Rosters Exchanged 7:10:00 PM Ball Kids Placed For Warm-Ups from NE Ramp 7:16:00 PM 5 Minute Warning for Start of Warm-ups 7:18:00 PM 3 Minute Warning for Start of Warm-ups 7:20:00 PM 1 Minute Warning for Start of Warm-ups 7:21:00 PM 7:46:00 PM Team Warm-ups Begin ( Clock Counts Down From 25:00 – 0:00 ) 7:46:00 PM 7:51:00 PM Field Crew Waters the Pitch 7:48:30 PM 7:49:00 PM Referee's Announced 7:51:00 PM Place Giant Scarf,Team Escorts, BCA Ribbon & Coin Toss 7:52:30 PM 5 Minute Warning to Exit Locker Rooms – TEAMS & REFEREES 7:54:00 PM 7:55:00 PM Ceremonial First Goal from North Goal 7:54:30 PM 3 Minute Warning to Exit Locker Rooms – TEAMS & REFEREES 7:55:00 PM 7:56:30 PM Sporting Kansas City Starting 11 Announced 7:56:30 PM 7:57:00 PM BCA Recognition Read 7:56:30 PM 1 Minute Warning to Exit Locker Rooms – TEAMS & REFEREES 7:57:30 PM TEAM & REFEREES Leave Locker Room 7:58:30 PM 8:00:30 PM Earthquakes Starting 11 Announced 8:00:30 PM 8:01:30 PM REFEREES & TEAMS walk out to MLS Anthem 8:01:30 PM 8:03:30 PM United States National Anthem 8:03:30 PM 8:04:30 PM Team Handshakes and Starting 11 Photo's 8:04:30 PM 8:05:30 PM Official Coin Toss 8:05:30 PM 8:06:00 PM Pump-Up Video 8:06:00 PM KICK OFF
Well that explains it then. The FO wants us to get to the game 15 minutes early to watch the ceremonial "watering of the pitch".