[publius321]

I appreciate you cynical view and on a micro level it is accurate. On a macro level, the fan is the customer because that is who the network wants to reach and if the fan doesn’t like the product, the fan won’t watch. As ratings decline, the price the networks bid will decline and evetually won’t buy if things are bad enough.

We can debate beyond that but ultimately - without the fan’s participation, it dies like any other business venture.

[Alberta's Child]

Right. But for the vast majority of the NFL’s revenue, the fan doesn’t spend anything but his/her own time. If the fans stop watching, then the NFL is going to have find something else to sell to its “customers.”

[lapsus calami]

 

 

I think you guys may be forgetting all the officially licensed NFL commercial crap of all descriptions - the shirts, hats, coffee mugs, posters, jewelry, video games and on and on - tons of it. That's a lot of bread and butter, and if the public shied off from buying, it would give'em a crimp and send a message.