Three little maids from school are we
Pert as a school-girl well can be
Filled to the brim with girlish glee
Three little maids from school
Noble cause. Barfalicious implementation.
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.
Don’t Kneel; Stand Up.
Kaepernick’s kneeling anthem protests take great courage, considering the backlash he has received...
Kinda makes the whole article garbage when he writes that.
I dont give a #### either way. The jets are 1 and 5.
Just give the Trophy to the Patriots and call it a season.
“I think that most players will be making one-third less than they do today, and pretty frustrated over what Kaepernick started.”
And I hope they put the blame solidly on Kaepernick, even if it may not be 100% his fault.
People want to feel noble.
People want to flatter themselves with highbrow notions of why they are doing what they are doing.
If people can latch onto a high-minded, America-and-Apple-Pie reason to do what they were going to do anyway, it makes that action assured.
Which brings us to the NFL.
There are a lot of reasons people are starting to wander away from the NFL. The concussions, the commercials, the parity, the lack of compelling games, the ridiculous penalties, the contradicting feelings that it is unfortunate that these men whom you admire are being crippled vs. the frustration that the new rules are turning a man’s sport into Flag Football for Pussies. These are all good reasons for turning off the tube and finding something else to do on Sunday Afternoon (and Sunday Evening... And Monday Evening... And Thursday Evening... And Saturdays in December...)
But they lack the feel-good hook. The self-flattering notion that one is doing what one is doing for high-minded principles and in defense of some greater moral purpose.
Enter Colin Kaepernick.
Colin Kaepernick permits people to do what they were going to do anyway, turn off the game, with the gloss of defending the Flag, Family, Motherhood, and Apple Pie. His pathetic and irrelevant protests give people the opportunity to do what they were going to do, but for all the Right Reasons. That is why his puny actions are having such an out-sized effect.
Thank you, Colin Krapperneck, for helping to free up my time on Sunday afternoons!!
“...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.......”
Celebrating in the end zone and taunting opponents is not the kind of individuality that I want to see. It is poor sportsmanship.
The idiot with the Afro is the reason the ratings are down.
The NFL has gone full-bore, Leftist PC, and the organizers, being dolts, simply don’t get that the American people - in their sports, at least - hate that.
Those who want hillary watch soccer.
Stupid analysis who give a fu** what Mark Cuban says .
Good! I dont follow NFC. Good at all positions this year?
Is Romo out for good, back, or/and will he start when he comes back.
Three little maids from school are we
Pert as a school-girl well can be
Filled to the brim with girlish glee
Three little maids from school
Noble cause. Barfalicious implementation.
The league’s salary structure is ridiculous. A star QB can earn a huge chunk of the teams entire salary budget — making him in effect the owner’s key asset. We see this in the NBA, too. Kobe Bryant getting a coach fired/hired because he’s ‘unhappy’. Professional sports are teaching all the wrong lessons today.
Romo is probably out as starting quarterback. Prescott is doing to well to take him out of the lineup, and my personal opinion is that Romo’s injuries are a little bit worse than what is being talked about.
The lineup is good, not great, but Prescott seems to be able to adjust to his team and make the plays. A really good whooping of the Packers showed some good line reading abilities.
I was born and raised in Dallas, used to watch the Cowboys at the Cotton Bowl. Still miss Landry.
I hate that aspect of the game, that some of the greatest athletes in history get crippled as a result of it.
Oh, here we go again!
Noble person of color versus eeeevvvviiilll white people.
Throw in some vague Trump/Deplorable comment (tenor of our current election) and you see exactly this idiot's politics.
So what color is Hillary? Will she be our first black woman president?
Boycott is just #7 ha ha NFL is essentially the same as it has been for last several years the difference is the mutts who disrespect America. We vote with our remote.
Last I checked, the Seahawks were 4-1. It will be interesting to see the numbers for Sunday nights game between the Hawks and Cardinals. The ratings may be down, but will it be a historic drop off?
Kaepernick’s right to free speech ? The First Amendment constrains GOVERNMENT action. Kaepernick is an EMPLOYEE of a private firm. If he does not follow management direction, and as a result, damages the team, they should dump him for cause. No severance, contract voided.
The author forgot to mention the thug/gang culture that pro football presents. And then these thugs call me a racist.
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