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OT: Is NFL viewership in a downward spiral?

The first step is to eliminate the Thursday night game. As a Jets fan, I have only watched full Thursday night games when they play that night. What I have watched in bits and pieces of other games have been really poorly played games (and that is not just the Jets fault!).

I agree about the salary cap. Teams are filled with players who are only on the team because they are cheaper, which means they are usually younger and less experienced. This leads to a lot of sloppy play.

The games are way too long. While I am not a soccer fan, many people are and more are jumping on that bandwagon. Games are what 2 hours, 2 and a half guaranteed. NFL games are pushing 4 hours now. People have a lot more to do with themselves than watch sloppy 4 hour games.

I don't agree that fantasy has ruined the sport, because fantasy has been big for a while. These other issues have a such bigger impact. While I do agree that its ridiculous that there are TV and radio shows specifically about Fantasy Football, I don't think its causing the issue, if anything the ratings would likely be worst without Fantasy Football right now.
 
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I stopped really watching years ago when every play was celebrated like it was a cure for cancer. Tackle a running back for only a 3 yard gain lets party, gain 5 yards on a quick pass, lets party!!!

Now once the EPL is finished for the day I might switch over to NFL Redzone to see quick plays of all the games.
 
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MadRU said:
I stopped really watching years ago when every play was celebrated like it was a cure for cancer. Tackle a running back for only a 3 yard gain lets party, gain 5 yards on a quick pass, lets party!!!

Now once the EPL is finished for the day I might switch over to NFL Redzone to see quick plays of all the games.
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My brother asked me about this a couple of weeks ago. He said "did you ever remember celebrating a first down back when we played?"
 
WhiteBus said:
This election is taking a big bite out of football. The news channels are all up over 30% viewership.
However for me personally for the past 10 years or so the rule changes against defenses, the lack of using running backs...pass happy format has killed the pro game. And as much of you like Madden, real games shouldn't be played that way. Because in the end in both college and pros. More often than not it's the teams that run the ball and play great D win it all.
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These are the main reasons why I don't care as much anymore. They are completley changing the game and it sucks b
 
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I agree with getting rid of the Thurs night game. It is fun when they do it on Thanksgiving and then can throw in one ir two marquee match up late in the year like they used to, but every week is not good. The games aren't good, and people don't always tune in for Thurs. It also takes away from the appeal of the Thanksgiving night game or late season Thurs games. Football should be played in Sunday in the NFL w one game in Monday. Also enough w multiple games in Europe at 9 a.m. you wanna do it every 3 years or something as throwing a bine to euro fans? Fine. But not twice or more a year.
 
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If I watch the nfl, I watch the red zone. I will watch top 10 college football teams ,only, except for Rutgers. The rest is a waste of my time
 
AreYouNUTS said:
Gotta admit 2 things:

- I loved The Knicks/Pistons/Bulls/Pacers/Heat wars from '88 to 2001 and enjoyed those west division series for a few years, afterwards, between Sacramento and Dallas and San Antonio.
- it was maybe from around 2007'ish on that I lost interest and a lot of it, at least for me, was the non-stop forcing of Kobe and LeBron down our throats by ESPN. Also hated that the D we saw, in the late 80's and 90's, disappeared. Call it the "Jordan Rules" effect, with every prima dona getting every ticky-tack touch foul 30-feet from the basket, and D's no longer being able to rough it up in the lane, I just lost my love for the game at this level. That being said I HAVE enjoyed watching the playoffs again the last couple of years.

Football...the officiating is really killing me. Throwing a flag when a DB touches a WR's arm, 10-yards and 2-3 steps prior to that arm moving for a catch and having NO impact on the play, I just can't deal with anymore. Protect the QB, yes, but enough with the nonsense. Also the TO's both prior to a kickoff and following the return drives me f*cking nuts.

The NFL requires - REQUIRES - 20 commercial breaks per game. 10 per half. College games run long, no question, but this kills me. I don't need to do THAT many shots. [cheers]
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It's funny you say this because I feel like the college games are even worse, at least the ones carried by the networks on Saturday prime time. It seems like the NFL games try to be completed within about 3 hours and 15 minutes or so. Meanwhile I feel like those Saturday night prime time college games go from 8pm to midnight with many more commercials and longer drawn out half times.
 
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Way too many fouls, way too much protection for qbs and offense in general, too many commercials, prima donnas, activist nonsense, skyrocketing salaries, etc etc

I've been disinterested in the NFL on an increasing scale for years now
 
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AreYouNUTS said:
The fact that, through 7 games, the Bears have played 3 prime-time games, is all you need to know about how awful these Thursday night games and NFL scheduling is right now. 14.5 PPG win spreads thus far this year on Thursday night!
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The quality of the participants for primetime games is what the problem is. Like you said why have the Bears played 3 primetime games and they stink. Sunday nights on NBC used to be great because during the week they could swap out games for better ones. Now the better games are usually in the afternoon. Monday night games lost some its appeal when they switched from ABC to ESPN. NFL should have left Thursday night's to college. NFL's greed ruined the night for them as well as college. Maybe the NFL should start Thursday night games after Thanksgiving when college football is really off the menu by then.
 
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I'm also one who hasn't watched the NFL this year. I grew up living for Sundays during the 70s and 80s. I'm just not as excited as I used to be to watch the NFL. I dvr college games and watch college football during my Sundays. I find the college game much more exciting and wide open compared to the NFL.

Also stopped playing fantasy football a number of years ago. Found myself so focused on individual offensive performance that I lost the essence of rooting for a team. Rooting for a team is why I always loved watching the sport.
 
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I listen to Colin Cowherd often and he's saying the protests don't have anything (any impactful damage) to do with it. Kaepernick's 49ers play on Fox as an NFC team and he's been saying Fox's numbers have been up this year, actually.

He says it's a combination of it being an election year, and a lot of the big name people we're used to playing in the NFL not being there anymore.The average age of an NFL players has dropped by something like 2.5 years in the last 10-20 years, younger NFL players with less experience since so many college players leave early now = less experienced players. Hell, half the NFL teams have no-name quarterbacks starting for them right now which doesn't attract casual viewers.

People complaining about commercials, well they're just as bad with College Football, if not worse considering College games are longer than NFL games.
 
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too many commercials. can't they do more ads on the screen in between plays? the viewer will always see them since they are watching the game and not getting up to take a leak during the commercial, or skipping it on the DVR. or let the announcers do a live "commercial" for 10 seconds every so often like on radio? IDK but the commercials are annoying. and at games the TV timeouts suck too.
 
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With kids, my life just got too hectic.

I can't just block out 3-4 hours -- the commercials, penalties, reviews.

It's too much of a time commitment.

I mean I can DVR and watch, but I can't tell you how many times that experience was ruined by some unsuspecting person telling me the score.
 
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AreYouNUTS said:
Once college football ends it's all about EPL on Sat/Sun mornings for me!
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Honestly, I watch more EPL/Bundesliga/Champions League/MLS than NFL. I probably watch more college football than pro. I've definitely trended toward watching college vs pro over the years, at least for football & basketball.

With the proliferation of sports channels & more coverage for other sports, it's no surprise the NBA/NFL/MLB are suffering in TV ratings. It used to be that we could only watch a certain sport or team, but now you can follow any sport or team. I'm not saying the EPL/MLS is going to eat the NFL's lunch, but it is taking some viewers away.
 
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dvb91 said:
Honestly, I watch more EPL/Bundesliga/Champions League/MLS than NFL. I probably watch more college football than pro. I've definitely trended toward watching college vs pro over the years, at least for football & basketball.

With the proliferation of sports channels & more coverage for other sports, it's no surprise the NBA/NFL/MLB are suffering in TV ratings. It used to be that we could only watch a certain sport or team, but now you can follow any sport or team. I'm not saying the EPL/MLS is going to eat the NFL's lunch, but it is taking some viewers away.
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Its has for me, Saturday and Sunday mornings (Monday Afternoon) games in the EPL...and this year that my spurs made it to the Champions League I have those games too.
 
For me personally pro football is going the way baseball and NASCAR went- I just don't have time for them anymore. I will watch college football to the extent it impacts Rutgers. As others have noted it has entirely been replaced entirely by soccer. Now that I can see every game for my teams (West Ham & Red Bulls) it is much easier to be a passionate fan. And the product on TV (2x45 minute halves with no commercial interruptions) cannot be compared with any of the other sports- It is just more "efficient" viewing.
 
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miketd1 said:
With kids, my life just got too hectic.

I can't just block out 3-4 hours -- the commercials, penalties, reviews.

It's too much of a time commitment.
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In a funny way I think this sums it up for a huge amount of the population. It isn't that having kids is a new thing, but the amount of time dedicated to raising your children and ferrying them to/from all their activities has skyrocketed. When I was a kid I didn't have every sat/sunday booked up by various activities/sports. Now? Everyone I know, myself included, has basically all weekend, every weekend involved in kids sports or dance or singing or whatever.
 
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MoobyCow said:
In a funny way I think this sums it up for a huge amount of the population. It isn't that having kids is a new thing, but the amount of time dedicated to raising your children and ferrying them to/from all their activities has skyrocketed. When I was a kid I didn't have every sat/sunday booked up by various activities/sports. Now? Everyone I know, myself included, has basically all weekend, every weekend involved in kids sports or dance or singing or whatever.
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Agreed and I don't think this societal child-rearing change is necessarily a good thing. At least not entirely a good thing. Is good that parents focus on the children. Is bad when they hover the way they are doing these days.

Edit: I'll also add that I think parents should spend more time boinking each other and less time helicoptering over their kids. Be less divorces and kids will have a fighting chance to mature before they turn 30.
 
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TMF: Too Much Football

Thursday night NFL game...along with a few college games.
Friday night college games (usually garbage, so easy to not watch)
Saturday: All day/night college games on ABC, CBS, NBC, NBCU, FS1, FS2, Fox, ESPN, ESPN News, ESPN2, BTN
Sunday: Morning (for london), early afternoon, late afternoon, sunday night
Monday: monday night football
Tuesday/Wednesday: Break

It is simply too much. I have a wife, a job, other interests, etc. I won't simply watch because it is on. I like the NFL, but when things are too available, they lose value. The NFL, being on all the time, has actually diminished the value of the product.

I would absolutely get rid of the Thursday night game...would make the 'NFL gap' from Tuesday to Sunday and give people time to recuperate and start to crave the NFL again. I think the success of college thursday night games (particularly in 2006 with Louisville - West Virginia then Rutgers - Louisville) was viewed as a threat to the NFL and they felt compelled to own that night and not cede it to college.
 
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mildone said:
Agreed and I don't think this societal child-rearing change is necessarily a good thing. At least not entirely a good thing. Is good that parents focus on the children. Is bad when they hover the way they are doing these days.

Edit: I'll also add that I think parents should spend more time boinking each other and less time helicoptering over their kids. Be less divorces and kids will have a fighting chance to mature before they turn 30.
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Even if you don't hover, until a certain age you need to bring them to/from activities. Life is just more scheduled now, good or not it's hard to get out of. We tried very hard to not put our daughter in every last class/sport she wanted to do so she could have unstructured time to play. Turns out that there's no one for her to play with because everyone else is in an activity of some kind.
 
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It is just not true. The numbers are down for CABLE.

But the NFL network is not offered on Playstation and Xbox, on SmartPhones, streaming devices, etc.

Furthermore, you have games on twitter as well.

Also Redzone is getting more popular and many people just watch that all day on Sunday instead of the full games with endless TV commercial breaks. Red Zone has zero AD breaks and is preferred by fantasy league folks.

All of that plays a part, so it isn't because people don't care as much or aren't watching as much but also because they are now watching in many different ways besides sitting in front of the TV.
 
MoobyCow said:
Even if you don't hover, until a certain age you need to bring them to/from activities. Life is just more scheduled now, good or not it's hard to get out of. We tried very hard to not put our daughter in every last class/sport she wanted to do so she could have unstructured time to play. Turns out that there's no one for her to play with because everyone else is in an activity of some kind.
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Good point. At least in suburbia, there are fewer and fewer options for kids to just go outside and play w/other kids that don't involve a lot of parental oversight and, typically, a drive to somewhere.
 
For me it's all sports

Was a nut years ago...would watch anything sports related..adn football was a whole weekend deal

Age did me in...just don't have the patience for the length of games...MLB is the worst

Still check scores and highlghts but only games I see the whole thing are those I am attending

And NFL in particular they wrecked...let the D backs play already....and officiating in CFB and NFL is maddening...
 
MYHATINTHERING said:
no, not in protest. A simple analogy, they like the military where certain rights we take for granted, they have willfully signed away.
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Wrong. This is the not the first time you posted this, and guess what, it's still wrong now. There is absolutely nothing in their agreements that bans them from kneeling.

You can disagree all you want but at least stick to facts.
 
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NotInRHouse said:
Wrong. This is the not the first time you posted this, and guess what, it's still wrong now. There is absolutely nothing in their agreements that bans them from kneeling.

You can disagree all you want but at least stick to facts.
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stick to facts? you are wrong, like you usually are as the rules that govern players in the NFL specifically says to them they can't wear, posture, etc etc forms of protest without prior approval which is why Roger had to give his ok. There are all sorts of clauses for these guys

The agreement that governs player actions is part of the collective bargaining agreement. These guys need to get NFL approval for literally every endorsement, charity, anything they want to wear, demonstrate voice through word or action if viewed under association with the NFL.
 
Can we stick to the topic being discussed - which I find *very* interesting coming from a college football web board -- and leave the politics for the Current Events Board? I follow the Eagles in the Philadelphia Inquirer because it's fun to read about personalities and strategies, but I really have better things to do than watch the NFL, especially now that I'm finally getting married.

I'm like a lot of people here; I used to watch far more. One of the sports memories of my life time is listening to the excellent radio broadcast of the Oakland Raiders 28-26 victory over the Miami Dolphins in 1974 (I think) that ended the Dolphins' chance of going to the Super Bowl for the fourth straight year., and I will never forget Dwight Clark leaping for "The Catch." As a child, I listened to the Baltimore/Giants game that went to overtime -- the game was blacked out on TV in NYC -- but I've never gotten over the Giants losing the game.
 
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IMO, the NFL product, which is clearly not as good, is the result of two things: (1) college football and (2) the new practice rules. As for college, they no longer develop tough, strong players who can handle the rigors of the NFL game. College is now about the spread offense which places freak athletes in space to make plays. Most NFL teams don't want any part of the spread but they are forced to run some form of it now because the kids coming into the league are ill-equipped to handle the traditional pro set. Next, the new practice rules have gutted the ability to have real practices. Players are now in shells most of the week so there is almost no hitting anymore. I get that it was related in part to the concussion issue. But, the fact remains that it has lead to poor play and soft players who either can't take a hit or simply don't know how to wrap up and tackle. Overall, it's just bad football.

As an aside, I disagree concerning the salary cap. It's at an all time high. The issue is that the best players simply take whatever money they can rather than thinking about their team. Drew Brees gets paid but there is never any money for the defense. Look at New England. Brady is a great player but they have always been able to bring in very good talent every year because he gets paid half of what other top QBs get paid. Seattle was great when Wilson was on a rookie deal -- he gets paid, they can't keep everyone on defense and team dips for a year or so until the GM can redistribute the cap money. If the cap went up the top players would get big raises and the low level guys would still make low level money.
 
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MYHATINTHERING said:
stick to facts? you are wrong, like you usually are as the rules that govern players in the NFL specifically says to them they can't wear, posture, etc etc forms of protest without prior approval which is why Roger had to give his ok. There are all sorts of clauses for these guys

The agreement that governs player actions is part of the collective bargaining agreement. These guys need to get NFL approval for literally every endorsement, charity, anything they want to wear, demonstrate voice through word or action if viewed under association with the NFL.
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OK.

Post the rule that says they can't take a knee.

We wait with baited breath.

I'll save you some time- I posted what the player agreement said the last time you tried this dud of an argument, so you can just search this site.
 
camdenlawprof said:
I'm like a lot of people here; I used to watch far more.
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I would guess i watch more than I used to considering how much it is on, but a lower percentage of what is available to watch vs. when I was a kid (the 1980s) and my level of engagement is lower. I used to plan my Sunday around the Giants game...now it is almost background noise.
 
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