But the individual decisions by Goodell have largely been bad. The confusing rules, the games overseas, the unfair and illogical discipline decisions.
The concussion issues are made worse by lawyers looking for a payday. One good thing Goodell has done is trying to make the game safer.
“But the individual decisions by Goodell have largely been bad. The confusing rules, the games overseas, the unfair and illogical discipline decisions.”
That’s just it, seems like they aren’t bad if ratings are up. You are saying they are up despite this. But what if they are up because the casual fans likes some of this salacious off-field stuff and doesn’t care about the stuff more dedicated fans generally care about? The NFL definitely wanted more scoring, to my understanding, and I think the casual fan generally equates high scoring with excitement and better entertainment.
Freegards
Of course 2 of those 3 things aren’t Goodell. He has nothing to do with the rules committee, and NFL overseas goes all the way back to Rozelle (and is actually a good idea, more audience means more players).