*By Michael Teich*
The Baltimore Ravens are betting cheap pretzels and discounted soda will lure fans off their couches, away from their steaming services, and back to the stadium.
"It's going to change the game on the way our fans experience the stadium," Richard Tamayo, director of guest experiences for the NFL team, said Thursday in an interview on Cheddar. "It’s going to be really family-friendly when it comes to pricing."
The Ravens are slashing prices of 21 concession items by an average rate of 33 percent. Some fan favorites get the biggest discounts ー the price of soft pretzels and french fries will be cut in half.
The team has dedicated significant capital to an ongoing [$120 million renovation](http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/ravens-insider/bs-sp-ravens-improvements-at-mt-bank-stadium-20180130-story.html) of its M&T Bank Stadium. Fans this season will be treated to new video boards, a fresh sound system, and "some of the best Wi-Fi in the country," Tamayo said.
All those bells and whistles could be an attempt to draw in crowds that are already glued to multiple screens. The rise of streaming has been blamed for a drop in TV viewership for NFL games. Broadcast ratings fell 13 percent for the regular season in 2017-18, while playoff games slid 12 to 20 percent, according to [MoffettNathanson](https://www.recode.net/2018/1/29/16944580/nfl-ratings-structural-decline-tv-playoffs-moffettnathanson-trump-protests).
The Ravens start their season against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/strengthening-nfl-stadium-experience-with-cheaper-food).
Americans are coming off big gold medal wins on Thursday from the women's hockey team to men's curling. For premiere athletes, olympic glory can also come with high-valued sponsorship deals. In this episode of Generation Trader in Partnership with E*TRADE Cheddar Anchors Hope King and Baker Machdo explore the performance of some of the top sponsors at this year's winter games.
A number of businesses are cutting ties with the National Rifle Association in the days following the Parkland school shooting. Cheddar speaks with David Hogg, a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, about the tragic shooting in Parkland and the #NeverAgain movement. In other news, General Mills is buying natural pet food maker Blue Buffalo for $8 billion in cash. And Chris Tung, Chief Marketing Officer at Alibaba, discusses the company's first official partnership with the International Olympic Committee.
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Jeff Lin is the co-founder of Fanchest, a Brooklyn-based startup that ships boxes of your favorite team's gear straight to your door. Fanchest has high profile investors like NFL stars Drew Brees and Von Miller.
Olympic gold medalist Angela Ruggiero, CEO and co-founder of Sports Innovation Lab, discusses the U.S. Women's Hockey team's gold medal win over Canada. Ruggiero also shares her thoughts on the cutting edge technology she saw at the PyeongChang games.
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Paul Manafort and Robert Gates face 32 new charges in Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. Snap CEO Evan Spiegel gets a record-breaking payday. Teenagers across the country and politicians continues to weigh in on gun control in the wake of the mass shooting in Parkland, FL.
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The Olympics are coming to a close but many top athletes who've attracted huge social media followings may have potential far off the ice or slopes and well after the games end. Gregory Galant is the Co-creator of The Shorty Awards and the CEO of MuckRack and joins Cheddar to explain the role of social media in this year's Olympics.
After a slow start in the medal count, Team USA is picking up speed late in the game at the Olympics. In a nail-biter, the women's hockey team took home gold after beating Canada in a shootout.
