(Thumbnail image: The Sporting News)

“The tailgate party. This is uniquely an American thing. Take a look.  Tailgating in the City of Brotherly Love is a unique tradition. The dawn of each new Sunday beckons thousands to the concrete gridiron: the parking lot. The tailgater is a mirror image of the man that plays the game he worships. He is resourceful, tenacious, and tough.” (The Jay Leno Show)

Tailgating may be a rowdy American tradition, but last season, the NFL created a “Fan Code of Conduct” to help curb bad behavior at football games.

One of the rules limits tailgating to three-and-a-half hours before the game. Since last summer, only one team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has complied. Almost all other teams still allow tailgating for four to six hours.

But now, the league is trying to crack down again. This has many questioning the difficulty of implementing the rules, and fans are divided on the issue.

We take a look at the reason behind the crackdown and reaction from fans on ABC, USA Today, Blogging Stocks and others.

An ABC affiliate in Denver gives one reason why a league-wide crackdown is difficult to enforce.

“Well, how that’s been described to us, is that they can’t mandate it because about ten of the stadiums in the league are still owned by the cities or the municipalities where those stadiums are.  So, in those cases it’s the city that has ultimate control.”

USA TODAY gives one perspective on the economics of the crackdown.

“The effort reflects rising concern among league officials that boozed-up, unruly fans are scaring away the family audience at a time when the number and quality of NFL game telecasts are increasing the attractiveness of watching at home for far less money.”

A column on BloggingStocks, an AOL news business blog, gives the perspective that fans are already too unruly.

“Folks, when the Philadelphia Eagles have an in-stadium jail, all 32 teams allow text messages about unruly fans, the NFL has adopted a Fan Code of Conduct, and some stadiums have adopted the NFL's 20-ounce beer limit, it is time to admit that there is a problem with fan behavior at games.”

TMJ4 in Milwaukee says that people will drink regardless of the rules, and it’s better to do so at the stadium than off-site.

“If people are going to power drink, they’re going to power drink. OK, so you say you can’t party in the parking lot you know before three hours before the game, well do you think people aren’t going to party? If you’re a hardcore drinker, you’re going to be a hardcore drinker.  It seems like the NFL trying to take control of something that they really can not get control of.  That’s right. Because if you are going to drink and people will drink before the game, better they drink onsite than drink at their house and then be drunk, driving out to the stadium.”

USA TODAY talks to a New York Jets season ticket holder, and he says it's all about revenue.

“He calls tailgating limits a money grab by teams wanting to force fans to pay for food and drink inside stadiums.”

So what do you think? Would a crackdown on tailgating time help curb unruly fans, or is it bad behavior just part of the football tradition?

Writer: Melissa Ulbricht

Producer: Nathan Giannini