Short the NFL?

[Roger Goodell]

I am confident the NFL's best days are ahead of it and I look forward to being a part of the bringing that to our fans.

[BullBuchanan]

What about cord cutting? What about the type of clientele likely to be interested in letting nielsen spy on them for $150? I watch 8 or more games a week but they cant measure it. TV is down across the board. I think it might have less to do with the NFL and more to do with other ways to watch.

[Heavy Kevi]

6 hours ago, Gray Beard said:

Look at NASCAR.  15 or 20 years ago it was at a peak.  Now the stands are empty, sponsors are bailing, races are on obscure TV channels.  They keep tweaking the rules to make things more exciting, which isn't working.  Now it takes too much money for new teams to compete, drivers keep changing team from year to year, and the cars are all the same with different logos.

I see a lot of parallels between football of today and NASCAR of 15 years ago.

 

You make some great points. I was a big NASCAR fan for quite awhile, but now I only watch on night races, Bills byes, or when it's the only sport in season. My favorite drivers switched to Ford and now I just can't root for anyone. I feel like I'm cheating on the drivers rooting for someone else, and I simply cannot root for someone in a blue oval.

 

The Winston cup, Sprint cup, Monster cup, Nationwide series, xfinity, etc... It's rediculous with no continuity. Rule changes like crazy, and as you pointed out FS2 is no mainstream channel.

 

I do reject Jauronimo's assessment of being percieved "asinine" or "not a sport", but understand why people who don't know think that. The real intersting things and strategy in racing do not translate well to the viewer. They are about science, drafting, aerodynamics, tire/gas/pit strategy, psi, tracker bars, etc. And none of those things are particularly demonstrable, so it takes a racing educated fan to see the intracacies. This does not help NASCAR at all. Add to that there are too many ovals, they need some more road courses. 

 

NFL is hosting a clinic on how to run a massive national pastime into the ground. Teams moving, pathetic referees, rule changes, etc are killing them. There is good news for the NFL though, and it lies in precedent from the MLB. MLB managed to be the biggest fall of an American pastime, and has fallen in popularity more than any other major sport ever has. The good news is that the 17% drop in popularity of MLB over the years is still more viewers than NHL, NBA, and NASCAR have combined. The NFL will.continue to fall for awhile, but when it hits a plateau, it will still be a high one. The NFL isn't going anywhere, but the NFL as we know it is already gone.

[GETTOTHE50]

The NFL will get better. It has so much to improve upon.

 

I want a couple things to happen, and I think it's very possible. 

 

1. Give me multiple camera angles to choose and switch from during the game.

2. Allow me to mute the play-by-play caller and color commentator so I can just hear the sounds of the damn game.

3. Less commercials.

 

I would pay at least double the price for all those features if they were available.

 

To improve the on-the-field product, just somehow improve the officiating.

 

And finally, get rid of the personal conduct policy bs. Let the organizations decide if they want to deal with a jackass. No one wanted Ray Rice in the end. 

 

I also think the fighting in the stands needs to stop one way or another. It's terrible to witness. 

[reddogblitz]

47 minutes ago, GETTOTHE50 said:

1. Give me multiple camera angles to choose and switch from during the game.

2. Allow me to mute the play-by-play caller and color commentator so I can just hear the sounds of the damn game.

3. Less commercials

 

4. Let me turn off the crawler at the bottom of the screen that repeats the same crap over and over and over ...

[GETTOTHE50]

11 minutes ago, reddogblitz said:

 

4. Let me turn off the crawler at the bottom of the screen that repeats the same crap over and over and over ...

 

Absolutely. Id even be willing to take away the tv scoreboard. I just want to see the field and stadium. Is that so much to ask? 

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

5 hours ago, zonabb said:

So you've never taken any of his work seriously yet read it all? Gotcha. I never take doctor's seriously but I go all the time and take prescriptions. 

 

Aholes like Jones are most disgusting. That and over-saturation with games 3 days a week and the inability to explain a catch turn me and many others off. Greed killing the golden goose. 

 

Yes exactly. The lack of clear catch rules annoy the everlasting !@#$ out of me. 

[BuffaloBill]

16 hours ago, Wayne Arnold said:

I'm losing interest (slowly) due to the lack of parity from the over-reliance on quarterback play which is made worse by the fact that quarterbacks are over-protected and can play well into their 40's.

 

Many fans of certain teams feel they have no hope so what's the point?

 

 

Really good point on QB Play.  It is frustrating as a fan to be in a situation where you know your team does not have one of “the guys.”  Over the 17 year futility span the Bills have had some excellent rosters less a good QB.  They also play in a division against a team with arguably less of a full roster but a once in a lifetime talent at QB.  It really does make the entire focus of the league a have and have not exercise.

13 hours ago, Jauronimo said:

You create a synthetic short on the NFL by short selling BUD, F, and U.S. Treasuries.

  Add Pappa Johns 

[nucci]

14 hours ago, joesixpack said:

I love the game, but hate the league if that makes any sense.

 

it does.....love watching the games...hate everything else about it

[Chris66]

Nfl really hasnt changed much in the last 20 years.

Bottom line is if you think your team doesnt have a shot your probably not interested. 

[GunnerBill]

8 hours ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

The rules changes/re-interpretations that were instituted at the beginning of this decade to save Aaron Rodgers and Ben Roethlisberger(and their receivers) from being prematurely concussed out of the league initially created a tide that raised all ships...........7 of the top 25 passing yardage seasons by QB's in NFL history happened the following season......... but longer term it actually created an even larger gap between teams that have good QB's and those that don't.

 

As you said.......they can play much longer because they can stay healthy..........and the longer they play......the wiser and tougher to beat they become.

 

Makes it harder for poorly run organizations like the Bills to get off the mat...........and that wasn't the case when Jim Kelly got knocked out of the league at age 36.

 

Agreed and for a few years there simply wasn't enough QB talent coming into the league or enough clever coaches willing to adapt their systems to what talented QBs coming out of college do well.  

 

I think there are some shoots of recovery visible though.  For the first time in a few years I look at the QBs in the league aged 26 and under and feel like there is a healthy next generation with Carr and Dak and Wentz and Goff and still Winston and Mariota (though neither has started this year that well) and then Watson..... 

 

Hopefully we see the playing field level out if there are more capable QBs to go around.  

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

17 hours ago, BuffaloBill said:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/michael-lewis-author-moneyball-short-nfl-135810598.html

 

Author of Moneyball points out the NFL is having problems in its business model.  Primarily states that viewership is down and sentiment is becoming problematic due to CTE and protest issues.

 

 

 

 

As an FYI.  I heard yesterday that the viewership for all TV programming is down 5% 

[DaggersEOD]

4 hours ago, GETTOTHE50 said:

 

Absolutely. Id even be willing to take away the tv scoreboard. I just want to see the field and stadium. Is that so much to ask? 

 

To me the worst part is after a play they zoom in on a random player/coach’s face so we can witness their reaction or emotion. 

 

WHO CARES!

 

I want to see the field. The personnel changes. Formations (not 1 sec before the ball is snapped). Defensive communications and don’t get me started on the “follow the ball” camera. Yeah it’s good to see the action but they zoom in so much that tacklers literally appear out of thin air (off camera obviously) and you get no idea of where the play is on the field and the actions of players trying to get to the play.

 

It’s like they are so focused on the “drama” and the “emotion” that the actual game takes a back seat. As a fan I don’t care how a player/coach feels. I just want to enjoy the game. 

 

/Rant Over

[Bullpen]

16 hours ago, TheFunPolice said:

Too many prime time games. TNF has oversaturated the market.

 

To me that is problem #1. MNF is now meaningless. The games are awful almost every week. You don't hear a lady singing "Monday night's about to happen..." because nobody cares about watching crappy games with zero sizzle on MNF when there are thousands of other options on cable, streaming, etc.

 

A close second is the refs are ruining the games. Non-stop penalties. When there is a big play you have to delay your excitement to make sure there aren't any flags, because it seems like 9/10 special teams returns of any kind have a holding or block in the back penalty. Huge play on defense? NOPE! Illegal contact, automatic 1st down! Team has 3rd and 27, runs a simple draw for 3 yards and you're off the field?! Nope. Illegal hands to the face on some DL. First down!

 

What is a catch? Did the ball bobble? All this non-stop debate over plays is killing the sport. Call only the most obvious penalties and stop sucking the life out of the game with fantom holding calls that take points and exciting plays off the board.

 

This ^^^^^^^^^

 

I will bet this happens to almost all of us now, when watching the Bills or ANY NFL game, a team scores a touchdown and immediately where does your eyes go? To that little portion of the screen where the "flag tab" pops up. Was there yet another penalty that will negate the score?

 

Then no one, none of us really know what a catch is anymore, it varies from game to game and sometime even play to play. You can't get excited about anything and be in the moment on a score, because you first have to check was there a flag, next did he really catch it, did he maintain possession all the way through... blah, blah, blah. There's just no flow to the game anymore.

 

[xRUSHx]

They limit the games so much on what teams are on local TV that nobody wants to watch what is being broadcasted after your favorite team is done. Why waste time watching a Colts Brown game.

 

I miss the old days when multiple games were on and you could chose what game to watch next. NFL money grabbing for control to get extra money for other games makes many fans not bother so of course the ratings and interest will go down.

 

Even radio brodcast is limited so they can charge extra for that, NFL is fun but all the extra money they are trying to push fans to spend will in the end make the ratings go down more and more. Back in the day I used  to watch and listen to a ton of NFL football now that time is used on other things.

 

I think if you buy season tickets you should automaticaly be given NFL sunday ticket to all broadcasts radio/TV. That alone will increase ratings IMO.

Edited November 9, 2017 by xRUSHx

[dave mcbride]

CTE is the biggest issue of all, in my opinion. Another take: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dc-sports-bog/wp/2017/11/08/the-cracks-in-the-foundation-are-there-bob-costas-imagines-a-future-without-football/?tid=sm_fb&utm_term=.20593835bcd0

[Gugny]

Here's why I think viewership is down:

 

• The CBA, with the limited practices/practices with pads, has led to the decline in the quality of football.
• Most starting QBs in the league are either barely average, below average, or downright suck.
• The officiating is horrible - to the point where I'm actually starting to think that some games are fixed.
• Thursday Night games are watering the NFL down.  Gotta keep 'em wanting more.
• The Sunday morning games are a joke.  Personally, I've watched one and that was when EJ led the Bills to a comeback, only to be denied by a stupid defensive penalty.
• Players seem to hate their jobs and they're not afraid to let the world know.

 

I don't think for one second that the anthem protests put more than a tiny ding into viewership.  Football has just gotten schitty.

[Jrb1979]

53 minutes ago, xRUSHx said:

They limit the games so much on what teams are on local TV that nobody wants to watch what is being broadcasted after your favorite team is done. Why waste time watching a Colts Brown game.

 

I miss the old days when multiple games were on and you could chose what game to watch next. NFL money grabbing for control to get extra money for other games makes many fans not bother so of course the ratings and interest will go down.

 

Even radio brodcast is limited so they can charge extra for that, NFL is fun but all the extra money they are trying to push fans to spend will in the end make the ratings go down more and more. Back in the day I used  to watch and listen to a ton of NFL football now that time is used on other things.

 

I think if you buy season tickets you should automaticaly be given NFL sunday ticket to all broadcasts radio/TV. That alone will increase ratings IMO.

IMO the reason its like that now is cause of the lack of blackouts now. Its NFL's way of getting some of that money back they lost in forcing fans to go to the game if they want to see their team play if the game wasn't sold out. I am sorry but you can't have it both ways. Fans bitched about the blackout policy so it was gotten rid of but now you have to pay for some out of town games. I would prefer blackouts if it meant being able to see better out of town games.

[Fadingpain]

16 hours ago, reddogblitz said:

 

Makes perfect sense. If it weren't for football, I'd hate the NFL.

 

 

 

Unless they have a lot of "extra time" and then it goes to 30 minutes of overtime and then penalty kicks.

 

But yeah it is pretty sweet that the whole game is about 2 hours.  And no commercial time outs.

Depends what you are watching and in what league.

 

Lots of games don't have extra time (overtime) or penalty kicks.

 

All games have added injury time, but 5 minutes of that is a lot.

 

I love how a soccer game is entertainment for a reasonable amount of time, and I know what that amount of time is going into it.

 

And the top clubs spend more on players than anyone in the NFL does, for sure, and yet they manage to get by with zero commercials during game play.

What a miracle.  Leave it to the USA to F the whole thing up in the pursuit of cash.

 

Greed is our national pastime.

 

 

 

 

[Tenhigh]

19 hours ago, Jauronimo said:

You create a synthetic short on the NFL by short selling BUD, F, and U.S. Treasuries.

I was going to sell warrants on my season tickets, maybe some puts on my EJ stock.