Posted on 10/19/2016 2:13:20 AM PDT by raccoonradio
No dynasty lasts forever. If the Holy Roman Empire could fall, so can the NFL.
NFL ratings are down 11 percent from last year across the board and by double digits in prime time. Sunday night's Colts-Texans game drew just 12.9 million viewers, a 38 percent dip from last year's Patriots-Colts tilt. One game airing opposite a Presidential debate barely cracked 8 million viewers.
The NFL's numbers may remain enviable to virtually everyone, but that doesn't change that they've fallen. So what's to blame? Everyone has a theory. With some help from WEEI's Mike Mutnansky, who discussed this at length on the air on Tuesday night, here are 10 that make sense.
1. Oversaturation
This was Mark Cuban's rationale in a 2014 interview when he castigated the NFL for greedily expanding to Thursday nights. "Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered," Cuban memorably opined while predicting a drastic decline in the league's popularity.
Guess what? He's right. With games all day Sunday, as well as on Monday and Thursday nights, the NFL no longer feels like a clear-your-schedule event. Following every game is officially work, and the NFL has diluted signature products like Monday Night Football.
It's possible to have too much of a good thing. Three nights of football is at least one too many, and those hogs are looking mighty tasty.
2. Entertainment consumption
Frankly, it's a surprise it took this long. Virtually all forms of entertainment have taken a beating from the On Demand culture that now pervades our devices. We watch what we want when we want to on screens that fit in our backpacks or back pockets. Being held hostage by a three-and-a-half-hour broadcast simply doesn't fly.
In 1994-95, ER and Seinfeld both averaged over 19 million viewers a week, while 30 shows topped 11 million, including forgettable fare like, "Me and the Boys," and "Dave's World." Today, there are only five non-sporting events averaging even 10 million viewers a week, led by NCIS and Big Bang Theory at around 15 million apiece.
DVRs make commercials feel like a personal affront. Streaming allows us to watch on the go. Binge-watching on Netflix rewards gluttony.
In this universe, sitting through an NFL broadcast without being able to fast-forward to the good parts feels like torture. (I know, I know -- we're a bunch of Chilean miners).
3. The election
NFL owners have latched onto this in a desperate bid to deny the inevitable. No NFL matchup is as compelling as Hillary Clinton vs. Donald Trump and the league has fought the juggernaut debates head-to-head with little more than a Vontaze Burfict cheap shot for its troubles.
Sports are entertainment, and the stakes of Panthers-Falcons feel impossibly low compared to the fate of the free world.
4. The games stink
Let's not gloss over this one. When ESPN's Sean McDonough ripped the officiating in Monday night's slog between the Jets and Cardinals (bless him), he highlighted a glaring issue -- the games are boring.
Except it's not the fault of the officials so much as the schedule-maker. This season has already given us Bengals-Dolphins, Cardinals-49ers, and Texans-Patriots (without Tom Brady). Jags-Titans, Browns-Ravens, and Bengals-Texans loom.
Yawn.
5. Parity
The beauty of parity is everyone has a chance. The downside is there's no compelling team to capture the imagination of the viewing public a la the late-90s Yankees or the current Golden State Warriors, whom I'd watch 60 nights a year if TNT broadcast them.
The Patriots are the league's only marquee team and that's great, but they've got no foil. Peyton Manning's retired, Ben Roethlisberger's hurt, and the Seahawks can't seem to get out of their own way.
Fans may say they want a level playing field, but that's a lie. We want super teams, and the NFL lacks tent-poles.
6. Trust in leadership
The league has embarrassed itself for years now, whether we're talking concussions, domestic violence, or Deflategate.
Each scandal erodes public confidence in the shield, and Deflategate cast a particular pall over the last two years, sidelining one of the league's marquee players for what felt like nothing (and this from someone who believes Brady's hands aren't clean).
The NFL feels dodgy and stodgy. That's a bad mix.
7. Colin Kaepernick
This one sadly fits the tenor of our current election cycle, where any perceived aggression on the part of a minority toward the institutional power structure (ie., white people) is derided as anti-American, anti-troop, anti-flag, etc. . . .
Kaepernick's kneeling anthem protests take great courage, considering the backlash he has received. They also have undeniably alienated fans who view them as disrespectful or out of place. It's a controversy the league would prefer to silence, except trampling Kaepernick's right to free speech would backfire and create a civil rights furor.
There's no winning this one.
8. Rules changes
The 19 penalties whistled on Monday earned McDonough's understandable rebuke, but what really makes the league feel old is its pointless insistence on limiting celebrations. Robbing the league of its personality is never a good idea, especially in a sport where everyone wears helmets. Stifling individuality in this context feels dated and stuffy.
9. Red Zone
This channel is amazing, but it encourages a fractured viewership, because why watch one game when you can watch them all, and with limited commercial interruption? If you're interested in scoring plays, Red Zone has you covered.
Also, with games ending simultaneously across the 1 and 4 o'clock starts, respectively, Red Zone lets you catch the final frantic minutes all at once without actually tuning into a broadcast.
10. Kids don't play
This is totally anecdotal, but in my circle of friends, we've got kids that play hockey and lacrosse and a lot of soccer, but not a single football player. With parents concerned about concussions and other violent injuries, letting a child hit the gridiron feels irresponsible.
It should come as no surprise, then, that this factor -- along with the others mentioned above -- might influence our viewing habits.
11. American kids are becoming a generation of p*ssies.
Forget a tough hit by the defensive lineman; Junior can’t even endure a rebuke or two without seeking a “safe room.”
I don’t consider the Patriots a marquee team. I consider them a team that cheats and the NFL burned the evidence. They are one of the reasons why I turned it off.
The Kaepernick thing probably started this, but as the commentary indicates....it’s a snowball effect because there are lots of reasons why people are fed up.
I think as the season ends and owners sit to review salary offers for 2017....players will be shocked that there are no pay-raises in the deals....only to keep pay at the same level...even if you are a four-star player.
Players will go to the union and talk about a strike, and that will just pump up the anti-NFL feeling with fans to another higher level. Within three years, I think that most players will be making one-third less than they do today, and pretty frustrated over what Kaepernick started.
Thankfully, college football has been really good this year and my interest in baseball has increased.
bookmark
I have discouraged all the young boys in my family from playing football. It is just to risky. I know several college and NFL former players that suffer from serious medical complications due to injuries. I played for years and I also have some medical issues directly associated with the game.
Baseball: No taking a knee during the national anthem or 7th inning stretch God Bless America
others:
Fantasy football takes fans from individual teams to their team
Tax dollars to build stadiums, turned many off forever
Last player strike, turned many off forever
Paying full price for practice games is a rip off
Going to a game is very expensive and you wait a lot for commercials
Season is way too long
Once you watch a game in Compressed mode it is hard to go back to watching the three and half hour live commercial stuffed broadcast.
>Kaepernick’s kneeling anthem protests take great courage,
Bwaaaaaahaaa! When you’re getting millions of dollars a year you can laugh all the way to the bank while you pi$$ on the flag. Great courage indeed.
The Deflategate idiocy should have been included.
the league want all in for fantasy league popularity with the emphasis on scoring.. but you don’t need to watch to play fantasy football so there you go.
The league has too much pink IMO..
Tebow was ridiculed for showing his Christian beliefs and that didnt help the NFL image. Rush Limbaugh was run out of ESPN for giving an opinion, but the libs can say or do anything. Ray Lewis as the face of the game, and now this Bengal Burfict criminal is maiming people on the field. Very poor top level leadership as I see it.
Lack of diversity is why it’s banned in this house - all the players are black
The felonious nature of the gangstas on the field doesn’t help either.
Gone are the days of class acts like Mean Joe Green.
Who in their right mind would want their kids to emulate the thugs on the field today?
Anyone who says that Kaepernick’s kneeeling took “great courage” does not know what courage is. And anyone who thinks that disciplining him would violate a civil right does not know what a civil right is.
Kaepernick’s position doesn’t take courage - his is a whiny, entitled kneel brought to him by people with courage.
And he doesn’t have “freedom of speech” when in uniform - he has what his job allows him. Shame on the NFL.
Baseball is the national pastime.
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