The simple truth is that American football shares one of the serious flaws of soccer -- in that these are the only major sports where the clock keeps running after the whistle blows. Nowhere is this more apparent than when you attend an NFL game in person. When you are sitting in the stands without on-screen graphics and commentary between plays, and without direct access to a refrigerator, a bathroom, or anything else that could fill several minutes of time during television commercial breaks, it's amazing how dull and mind-numbing football has become. It's worse than baseball, because at least the interruptions in baseball games are "natural" breaks between innings and fit into the flow of the game.
Batter’s practice and pre game warm ups don’t take place during the game. In football, line shifts, and man in motion action all takes place in the game and before the snap and it’s very much a part of the game. Listen to the crowd noise when the players are rushing to get a play off or when the QB is pointing out a defensive shift before he gets the ball. To football fans it’s exciting.
It’s a ridiculously dumb figure, it was a dumb figure 25 years ago when some anti-sports psuedo-scientist first spewed it out, and it’s become dumber as the game has evolved and so much more chicanery happens pre-snap than did then.
It’s not just the success or failure it’s all the things that HAPPEN. The offense sends out a grouping of players, the defense reacts to that grouping with their own grouping, the offense goes into a formation the defense reacts to that formation, the offense sends guys into motion and audiblizes in reaction to the defensive lineup, the defense reacts to that, the offense often goes into motion AGAIN, and the defense reacts, AGAIN. And according to this “study” none of that is football. In a typical NFL play the offense and defense will show 3 different looks EACH, but none of that is between the snap and the whistle, so it is, according to that number, “nothing”. It’s not off the field game prep, it’s ON the field ACTION.
You might think it’s dull, but the numbers say you’re on the wrong side of the bell curve. I know you don’t like how the game has changed, but I and a growing number of people LOVE how the game has changed. Every way there is of counting fans is up, attendance, TV ratings, participation in fantasy leagues, TV ratings of shows discussing football well outside the season (the only league that gets a regular talk show on ESPN when the sport is out of session is the NFL), spending. The game is more exciting to more people now than it was back when you liked it.