I have watched less in recent years, even before the Kapernick nonsense.
My key reasons for watching less:
1. It’s tedious to watch a game on TV. They have so many commercials. It takes 3 1/2 hours to play an NFL game nowadays, because of commercials and replay reviews stretching things out.
2. You lose the flow and momentum of the game. They go to a commercial break after a TD or FG, which is a natural break. But then they come back for the kickoff, then go to another commercial bloc, at a time when the interrupt the natural flow of the game.
3. Girl sideline reporters who add nothing to the game. They don’t know anything about football, yet have become a fixture on football broadcasts. And almost every sideline reporter is a woman. Why?
I’d add to #2 of your list that the games are also insufferable due to penalty after penalty being called.
Agree, the constant commercials are killing football. Can’t they understand this?
Most of the U.S. population watches YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon Prime. No commercials! Everyone is sick of commercials.
If the NFL wants to stay around much longer, they better switch to very short commercials. College football is just as bad and will see the effects in a few years if they don’t wise up and shorten commercial times.
The anti-American politics is a factor also. Add politics and long commercials together and you get the NFL on sinking sand.
The second MNF game had a woman (lesbian) doing the play by play. The sideline reporter was a Hispanic dude who did the worst job I’ve ever seen done by a sideline reporter. It was parody-level pathetic.
I posted two threads about it and both got whacked.
I guess someone here is an NFL fan regardless.
The NFL got SEVEN BILLION is taxpayer subsidies.
The Cleveland Brown players demanded a video be played against racism in exchange for not kneeling.
Football needs to go. Enjoyed it, but time to pull the plug.
I suppose they are eye candy; but this reminds me of Fox News...why are all of the anchors women?
Except for Brett Baier, Greg Gutfeld (I love his sense of humor) and a few others.
But invariably, when I turn on the station, I see an infobabe wth a short skirt and high heels prattling on. And I am a woman. It just bugs me that they are basically using women to attract viewers.
That must be what is going on with the NFL.
4. The announcers constantly yammer about stuff that has nothing to do with the game. They even keep yammering during plays.
I used to be able to watch the TV with the sound off and listen to the game on a local FM station. Radio announcers have to be more focused on the game because listeners can’t see what’s happening. The local station even advertised itself as a superior alternative to TV sound.
But no longer-to placate their advertisers, the NFL mandated a delay that destroys the synchronization.
A group of us at the pub had a conversation yesterday about the declining NFL ratings, and the Kapernick situation was not the driving force. The "concussion" issue is also not a driving force given the fact that NCAA football ratings remain strong. Here's a list of our theories in no particular order:
1. The salary cap has created a revolving door that has weakened the connection between fans and the team. For example, 20 or 30 years ago, most of us could name all 22 starting players, the punter, and kicker on our favorite teams because they were there year-after-year. Under the current contract, however, players are routinely released or traded after a year, and most of us couldn't name more than three or four players on the current roster.
2. Play-by-play, color, and side-line commentators who not only suck at what they do, but are really annoying. We all agreed that the radio commentators are much better calling the game because they have to be really good given the medium.
3. Political correctness on the part of both the NFL and the broadcasters that try to shove a social agenda down are throats when all we want to do is watch football. This includes the pink uniform accessories for breast cancer month, gay pride, and the new transgender outreach program. Nearly all of us agreed that we don't give a rat's ass whether a player (or a fan) likes to wear panties, use the ladies room, or have sex with other guys, as long long as the players respect the game and the fans, and play football the way the game is supposed to be played while on the field.
4. Commercials breaks that are too many and too long, particularly on Sunday night and Monday night when there are no other games on to compete for viewership. We all agreed that this is less of an issue with NCAA football because there are usually several games on at the same time and if the commercial time-outs are too long, then they run the risk that the viewers will switch to another game. This past Monday night, for example, I channel flipped during a 4.5 minute commercial break during the first half of the Denver game. Two times I switched back to the game only to find it was still in a commercial time out. I ended up watching a documentary on 9/11, and when it went to a commercial break, I switched back to the Denver game only to find that it was in yet another long commercial break. This happened several more times. I gave up on the game.
5. Too many play reviews. Most of us agreed that the game would flow much better if reviews were limited to only plays that involve a change of possession situation or a scoring situation, and only if the review could reasonably be expected to affect the outcome of the game. If the score is 21 - 0 in the first quarter, then a review of change of possession situation might be reasonable; not so, however, if the score is 21 - 0 with 32 seconds left in the game.