Watching NFL Games on TV is So Good Now That Even the Green Bay Packers Had to Run a Promotion in Order to Sell Out a Playoff Game

Signs and wonders, brother. Signs and wonders.

On Friday, two days before the Green Bay Packers were to host the New York Giants in an NFC Wild Card game at Lambeau Field, there were enough tickets still available — good ones too — that the Packers sent out a press release offering free hot chocolate for attendees.

"The Packers and Delaware North will be offering free hot chocolate, limited to two per customer, during Sunday’s game to help fans battle the forecasted cold. The free hot chocolate will be available at each concession stand with hot chocolate on the menu, which is about 40 locations throughout the stadium. Limited tickets for Sunday’s game remain available and can be purchased through Ticketmaster online only. Ticket prices range from $118 to $145, depending on location."

The Packers wound up selling all the tickets, but it’s a sign of the times that there was ever any doubt about it. Interest in the NFL seems to be down, generally speaking, this year, evidence of which can be found in the decline in TV ratings for NFL broadcasts.

But even if you’re just as interested in the NFL as ever, the viewing experience on television has gotten so good over the last 10 or so years that people can be forgiven for finding it increasingly difficult to convince themselves to battle traffic to an overpriced parking lot so they can sit in a cold seat 50 yards from a crowded bathroom, surrounded by drunks and where half the time they have to watch the replays on the video board to find out what happened. The high today in Green Bay is 18 degrees.

But at least there’s hot chocolate.