Dan Posted November 25, 2016 Posted November 25, 2016 For decades, the NFL hasn't relied on game attendance to grow the fan base. The astronomical rise in it's popularity despite the pretty much fixed number (and increased price) of seats is proof of this. Fans actually prefer to watch games at home on a nice big screen. For vast majority of fans, it's essentially free to watch NFL games--they aren't concerned with stadium pricing, etc. Most have never been to a game, let alone to a game every week--and that has been true for years. The commercial breaks are no more frequent this year either. These are things that get repeated but are no more true with repetition. The argument against the Thursday games seems to be that the NFL should get rid of what is consistently among the top ratings broadcasts in television each week......because no one is watching. Precisely my point. The NFL has grown but not by adding a loyal and devoted fanbase. They've grown by adding casual, tepid fans that having changing interests and priorities. Few of the new fans are truly loyal to any specific team, and fewer still care for the NFL as league. As a true fan of the game and diehard Bills fan, I could enjoy a 6-3 win this weekend... provided its a good, defensive struggle in cold, windy stadium full of screaming fans. For the newer fans, they're gonna switch that game off and look for the game that's giving them fantasy points. With fans like that, sure they've grown the league and its revenue, but as many have suggested... Those fans are destined to leave the sport as soon as they're no longer entertained for all the reasons listed. For one type of fan, we're here through thick and thin until the end of humanity. For the newer fan the NFL has cultivated, they'll flip the channel as soon as the Gilmore Girls reboot comes on air. Problem is.... The league spends all their time catering to these people, to the detriment of the entire game.
jimmy10 Posted November 25, 2016 Posted November 25, 2016 The best format for adding an extra prime time game is Monday Night double header. Game 1 at 6pm, game 2 930pm. Don't they do that on the Monday night opener now? That really seems to be the best solution to me. People on both coasts get a game at a decent time.
re enlightener Posted November 25, 2016 Posted November 25, 2016 I always thought there should be a Friday night game. Won't have to compete with prime time college football on Saturday, and gives us a night game that we can actually stay up and enjoy without having to worry about work the next morning (well those of us who work mon-fri anyway). agreed, why not, thurs games make the week too short for prep also.
8-8 Forever? Posted November 25, 2016 Posted November 25, 2016 I watch RedZone on DTV. no commercials. come and go as you please. and did I say no commercials?
DC Tom Posted November 25, 2016 Posted November 25, 2016 Contrary to some people's beliefs around here and else where, nothing can expand forever. You haven't seen my waistline.
Virgil Posted November 25, 2016 Posted November 25, 2016 If John's against it, then I'm on board. His retirement from broadcasting was the best thing to happen to sports commentary.
Mr. WEO Posted November 25, 2016 Posted November 25, 2016 The NFL is losing the interest of the fan, in part because the commercial breaks are too frequent due to the way replay reviews are executed. Most reviews can be done quickly and efficiently from league offices or some official in the stadium watching multiple replays quickly and relaying it down to the ear piece of the referee. This would speed it up as opposed to a geriatric ref running 80 yards across the field to look at 3 or 4 replays, make a conclusion, and then waddle back 80 yards to make an announcement. The game also runs longer due to more passing as that leads to more incompletions, which turns a 3 hour game into a 4 hour one quickly. For the Browns v Ravens game on 11/10 only 5.66 million viewers watched that game. That is terrible, when you consider that the Big Bang Theory had triple the amount of viewers and the O'Reilly Factor had a similar amount of viewers, in competing time slots. The Patriots v Seahawks game 3 days later had 22 million views and the Bills v Seahawks game 3 days earlier had 11 million. So, a bigger part of the problem is that the matchups on TNF suck, and cause the ratings to be as lower than a Bills game, or other SNF and MNF games, as well as O'Reilly and Bazinga. After it has reached its zenith, you can say that statement infinitely as the sentence is in its past tense Only if it is continuously expanding... But yes, it is about the match ups. But no matter the pairings, TNF is still a solid performer in the ratings. What producer of content is going to walk away from that? Your take that games are longer because of more incompletions is unique, I will give you that. Are there more incompletions this year compared to recent years that had better TNF ratings. Precisely my point. The NFL has grown but not by adding a loyal and devoted fanbase. They've grown by adding casual, tepid fans that having changing interests and priorities. Few of the new fans are truly loyal to any specific team, and fewer still care for the NFL as league. As a true fan of the game and diehard Bills fan, I could enjoy a 6-3 win this weekend... provided its a good, defensive struggle in cold, windy stadium full of screaming fans. For the newer fans, they're gonna switch that game off and look for the game that's giving them fantasy points. With fans like that, sure they've grown the league and its revenue, but as many have suggested... Those fans are destined to leave the sport as soon as they're no longer entertained for all the reasons listed. For one type of fan, we're here through thick and thin until the end of humanity. For the newer fan the NFL has cultivated, they'll flip the channel as soon as the Gilmore Girls reboot comes on air. Problem is.... The league spends all their time catering to these people, to the detriment of the entire game. Exactly how "new" of a fan are we talking about? The NFL has been nearly completely dependent on the stay at home fan for its massive growth for the past 2 decades. In fact, no pro league in this country relies on paying customers for their growth. In fact every NFL team's goal would be to fill their stadiums every home game by restricting access to season ticket holders only. No team is "making new fans" by selling them tickets to a game. Likewise, few fans are going to wander into an NFL ticket just to see what this NFL football team is all about.
The Wiz Posted November 25, 2016 Posted November 25, 2016 Just look at the list of teams playing. It takes two. Its not just one good team. You have to have two to have a great game, and theres not a lot of great games, Madden told the San Jose Mercury News. And were spreading it out more and more with fewer good teams, which makes it doggone impossible to have good games. If the games arent good, thats part of it. Now there are other things: the Millennials, iPhone, and the stuff people do as they live differently. That was his first comment. The games are no good. you know it's legit when you see "doggone" in the quote.
Dan Posted November 25, 2016 Posted November 25, 2016 Only if it is continuously expanding... But yes, it is about the match ups. But no matter the pairings, TNF is still a solid performer in the ratings. What producer of content is going to walk away from that? Your take that games are longer because of more incompletions is unique, I will give you that. Are there more incompletions this year compared to recent years that had better TNF ratings. Exactly how "new" of a fan are we talking about? The NFL has been nearly completely dependent on the stay at home fan for its massive growth for the past 2 decades. In fact, no pro league in this country relies on paying customers for their growth. In fact every NFL team's goal would be to fill their stadiums every home game by restricting access to season ticket holders only. No team is "making new fans" by selling them tickets to a game. Likewise, few fans are going to wander into an NFL ticket just to see what this NFL football team is all about. 2 decades is probably about right... Think about it this way... Look at any long-time, enduring band. They all have one thing in common, good live shows. It's hard to build a loyal following when loyal fans can't/don't see you live. Perhaps its the same way with sports? Its not about just making new fans, its about making loyal, die hard fans that watch a game even though it sucks. Fans that visit message boards even though their team has sucked for nearly 2 decades. So yeah, there's a ton of new fans. But as soon as the product on the field sucks, they all tune out. The rub is, rather than realizing this and focusing on building long-term loyal fans, the league focuses all their efforts on making money and wooing the casual fan with ever changing tastes and attentions. It was just a thought. I guess I'm wrong.. Dallas and Washington just had record ratings, maybe they just need to show more Dallas games on TV.
Buffalo_Stampede Posted November 25, 2016 Posted November 25, 2016 (edited) Contrary to some people's beliefs around here and else where, nothing can expand forever. Eventually there is a high watermark and then a contraction. I believe and have for some time the N.F.L. has reached its Zenith. Thursday Night Football is still top 3 on TV every week for cable rankings, and MNF is still #1 every week. In a ratings fall they still hold 2/3 of the top spots. SNF is tops for broadcast. Perspective always helps. They arent going anywhere. Edited November 25, 2016 by TheTruthHurts
Dragonborn10 Posted November 25, 2016 Posted November 25, 2016 The NFL is losing the interest of the fan, in part because the commercial breaks are too frequent due to the way replay reviews are executed. Most reviews can be done quickly and efficiently from league offices or some official in the stadium watching multiple replays quickly and relaying it down to the ear piece of the referee. This would speed it up as opposed to a geriatric ref running 80 yards across the field to look at 3 or 4 replays, make a conclusion, and then waddle back 80 yards to make an announcement. The game also runs longer due to more passing as that leads to more incompletions, which turns a 3 hour game into a 4 hour one quickly. For the Browns v Ravens game on 11/10 only 5.66 million viewers watched that game. That is terrible, when you consider that the Big Bang Theory had triple the amount of viewers and the O'Reilly Factor had a similar amount of viewers, in competing time slots. The Patriots v Seahawks game 3 days later had 22 million views and the Bills v Seahawks game 3 days earlier had 11 million. So, a bigger part of the problem is that the matchups on TNF suck, and cause the ratings to be as lower than a Bills game, or other SNF and MNF games, as well as O'Reilly and Bazinga. After it has reached its zenith, you can say that statement infinitely as the sentence is in its past tense Ask yourself, is there any person in the country not born in Buffalo or Cleveland that would want to watch Bills-Browns? College has many horrible games too it is just that every week there is at least one and usually as many as three or four can't miss games.
\GoBillsInDallas/ Posted November 25, 2016 Posted November 25, 2016 (edited) I agree, Thursday night football sucks. What they should do is to move all of the games to Sunday/Monday and stagger the starting times. Sunday 1 game starts at 12 2 games start at 12:30 3 games start at 1 2 games start at 4 2 games start at 4:30 4 games start at 5 1 game starts at 8 Monday 1 game starts at 8 You will have continuous football for 11 hours You do not need halftime reports - you can cut into other games and get bonus viewing Edited November 25, 2016 by \GoBillsInDallas/
K-9 Posted November 25, 2016 Posted November 25, 2016 I doubt most self-respecting football fans are fans of TNF. If they insist on keeping these bad games, then they should NEVER be between divisional opponents. Hell, they shouldn't even be between conference opponents. Make them all inter-conference games or be done with them completely.
Fixxxer Posted November 26, 2016 Posted November 26, 2016 Kyle doesn't like TNF, either: All right. Get greedy. What else would you change? I don't like Thursday night games. I don't think anybody does. Do away with those. The quality of football is no good. You put people at risk physically by playing two games in five days. Just because you're trying to grab a share of the market on a different day of the week ... You're already on Sunday and Monday. To go after Thursday, it's just not good for the players, and it's not a good brand of football on Thursday nights. http://buffalonews.com/2016/11/25/11-years-nfl-career-kyle-williams-continues-defy-outside-expectations/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
dave mcbride Posted November 26, 2016 Posted November 26, 2016 (edited) I think people are going to look back on this debate and realize that a truly unprecedented election sucked all of the oxygen up. I know it did for me -- my interest level in the Bills went way down as the election approached. My renewal of interest is in part escapism from the anger that continues to consume me, and I suspect I'm not the only one. Anyway, I'm gonna bet that nfl ratings post nov 8 will look pretty solid relative to other years. Having said that, the game has problems (e.g., ads) that are increasingly unacceptable to a lot of viewers. Also, new media habits will probably drive down ratings at the margins, and these things shouldn't be forgotten. Edited November 26, 2016 by dave mcbride
Saxum Posted November 26, 2016 Posted November 26, 2016 The only issue with TNF IMO is schedulers need to put it between bye weeks meaning they should not be using it at beginning or end of year. Maybe even make some of the TNF games the England ones since it gives them time to recover and players could use as excuse to be tourist for a day or two. Putting games overseas has another advantage in that Madden will not go since he refuses to fly!
26CornerBlitz Posted November 26, 2016 Author Posted November 26, 2016 That wasn't his point. His point was that players don't recover well enough to play at 100% in 4 days. He thought only teams coming off a bye should play on Thursday - I think he's right.
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