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Green Bay Packers survey fans about attendance

The Green Bay Packers want to know why they struggled to get their fans to attend a playoff game at Lambeau Field.

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ESPN.com's Darren Rovell reported Tuesday the Packers sent surveys to season-ticket holders and individuals on the team's waiting list asking why they stayed away from the team's wild-card matchup against the San Francisco 49ers on Jan. 5.

The Packers had 40,000 available tickets six days before the game. They received an extension from the NFL, and finally achieved a sellout two days before kickoff to avoid a local television blackout. Packers sponsors and three Fox TV stations bought a large number of tickets.

The survey asked fans why they didn't purchase playoff tickets and where they watched the game instead. According to Rovell, the surveys differed slightly based on the individual's financial commitment to the organization.

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The Packers weren't the only NFL franchise that struggled to move tickets this month -- the Colts and Bengals also narrowly avoided blackouts. Still, there's a big difference between attendance woes in Indianapolis and Cincinnati and in Green Bay, a place where the Packers represent the identity of an entire region.

Our guess? A large segment of Packers fans didn't want to watch their mediocre team get beat by a superior team on a day in which the temperature hovered around 5 degrees. Survey sayyyyyys ...

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