NFL TV Partners Set To Lose Up To $500 Million On Ratings Decline

[CodeMonkey]

An interesting perspective and one I happen to agree with.

NFL TV Partners Set To Lose Up To $500 Million On Ratings Decline

[Gugny]

I agree with most of it.

 

I think horrible officiating is another factor that I would have included.

 

I like that they minimized the impact of the protests.  I think any decline in viewership due to the protests has been very small.  Obviously, that's just my opinion.

 

Lastly, I think social media has had an impact - and it's the players, themselves who have hurt the league.  I think players like Richard Sherman, voicing his displeasure with the league and - pretty much - telling us how much he hates his job, hurts viewership.  I'm not saying Sherman doesn't have legitimate gripes.  I'm simply opining that the more fans see how unhappy the players are, the less fun it is to watch.

 

This is why I think bringing back TD celebrations was a good idea.

 

People want to watch good football (playing and officiating) and they want to see players having fun.

 

[Chris66]

Networks will still try an outbid each other in nect contract.

[aristocrat]

ny teams both suck. look at all the start players who are out? it's nut. 

[ghostwriter]

And Roger Goodell wants 50 million a year and a private jet? Owners want to re-sign a guy to a lucrative contract when ratings are in the tanks? The NFL has become too successful for it's own good, they turned into a greedy cash money machine. I can't even click on a link on NFL.com without being misdirected to something I didn't click on, dishonest bastards. Not to mention the good teams in the NFL are always good, the bad teams are generally always bad, there's no real competition, it's the same teams dominating year in, year out. Why should I pay an extra $50/month to watch my team get smoked 16 games a year? Not even just that but Roger Goodell will suspend a player for 6 games for PEDs when EVERY PLAYER IS USING THEM!! How about instead of suspending players for stupid **** you make the players stand for the national anthem?

[buffalobloodfloridahome]

In all the games I watched I could count on one hand how many punts that didn't have a flag this weekend the majority of the flags would have had little or no bearing on the outcome of the play. Ala blocking in the back when the guy fair caught it.

Edited November 28, 2017 by buffalobloodfloridahome

[ALF]

Time to keep players out of sight during the anthem and stop Thursday night football except 1st game of season then when 2 teams come off bye week.

Edited November 28, 2017 by ALF
spelling

[C.Biscuit97]

Is there a link to a more credible source?  That website is very slanted.  

 

And nfl contracts were completely insane.  At some point, the bubble was going to burst. 

[Gugny]

1 minute ago, buffalobloodfloridahome said:

In all the games I watched I could count on one hand how many punts that didn't have a flag this weekend the majority of the flags would have had little or no bearing on the outcome of the play. Ala blocking in the back when the guy fair caught it.

 

More so with kickoffs.  I think it's dirty.  I think the league has been telling refs to over-flag returns for years.  They want to get rid of them and the fans want to keep them.  The more of a hassle it is for the fans (dealing with a flag on - seemingly - every effing kickoff), the more likely the fans will be to say, "hmmm ... maybe we don't need them, after all."

 

[Gregthekeg]

I think it is because of Fantasy Football.  I used to watch every game I could just to soak in the games and see the games.   However I do think they oversaturated the market. I don't care about a game itself anymore, just the player in it. (Besides the Bills)  I don't have to watch them play now, I can just check the stats on my phone and not need to waste 3 nights (Thrus, Sun, Mon)  

 

I really think that backfired, because now young fans don't cheer for one team anymore, they cheer for players, and the can't  even watch them because of their market.  They just watch the highlights on social media.  

 

It doesn't help that the qbs in the league are awful except for the top 3 or 4.  Nobody wants to watch Tom Savage on a Monday Night.  I know I didnt.  

 

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

When you throw a boatload of $ at a network in this day and age and don't foresee the expected losses because of cord cutting - you didn't do your job right and you shouldn't receive a golden umbrella for the piss poor job you did.

[thenorthremembers]

I agree with all of these points.  Officiating is a joke.   The same 12 teams made up 80% of the playoff spots over the last three years.   Hard to keep watching when you have a 20% chance of watching your team play in the playoffs if you arent in New England, Green Bay, Pittsburgh, Carolina, Seattle etc. 

 

However, to know if the NFL is really in decline I think its important to look at comparative data with other network shows and sports.   Is the decline because of the NFL, or is it in step with television ratings across the board.   I think its entirely possible the game is losing steam but I wonder if this is indicative of the change in technology.

[TheFunPolice]

Young people don't watch live TV anymore

 

That is a big part of it. If it's not Netflix or streaming many aren't interested. Many young people also follow sports on some sort of mobile device while doing 15 other things.

 

The era of sitting down on the couch and devoting 3 hrs to a game (and its commercials, which are the real show as far as the networks are concerned) is coming to an end. People are on their phones in movie theatres after spending $50 to see a film

[yungmack]

I read most of the comments following the article and about 95% hit the protests as the reason for the ratings decline. Yet according to polling done among the general population, it is only one factor, and not a major one, as the article states. In fact, ratings have been in decline long before Kaepernick taking a knee. 

 

So how to explain the large number of anti-player protest comments at this particular website? So many of them went off into a litany of racial caricatures that it seems the protests just serve as an excuse to spew out long held negative opinions about black people, Democrats, MSM, "elites," etc. that it seems to me the website must for some reason appeal to these sorts. Anybody know anything about it?

 

 Funny thing about the comments is they overlook the vastly greater ratings and attendance decline that's hit NASCAR the last few years. And there is no "sport" in this country whose fan base is more white, more support-the-troops faux patriotic, more right wing than NASCAR.

 

When it's the NFL in decline, the cause is ignorant, uppity, ungrateful, entitled black men. When it's lily white NASCAR, we get crickets. 

 

Edited November 28, 2017 by yungmack

[Chuck Wagon]

I think it's Redzone.

 

It's a fantastic product, no commercials, you can sit down on a Sunday afternoon and soak up the vast majority of the football for that week in a neat and tidy seven hour window. 

 

It makes the lack of flow in the primetime games that much more obvious.  After getting seven hours of nonstop action, it's painful to watch a primetime game full of commercials, random stoppages and several bad matchups.  As Redzone's prevalence grows, the gap between watching in that window and the viewing experience of of a single game widens.  Add in that Fox and CBS aren't getting all the eyes for their premier weekly matchups anymore and it's all a snowball.

[26CornerBlitz]

11 minutes ago, TheFunPolice said:

Young people don't watch live TV anymore

 

That is a big part of it. If it's not Netflix or streaming many aren't interested. Many young people also follow sports on some sort of mobile device while doing 15 other things.

 

The era of sitting down on the couch and devoting 3 hrs to a game (and its commercials, which are the real show as far as the networks are concerned) is coming to an end. People are on their phones in movie theatres after spending $50 to see a film

 

1 minute ago, yungmack said:

I read most of the comments following the article and about 95% hit the protests as the reason for the ratings decline. Yet according to polling done among the general population, it is only one factor, and not a major one, as the article states. In fact, ratings have been in decline long before Kaepernick taking a knee. 

So how to explain the large number of anti-player protest comments at this particular website? So many of them went off into a litany of racial caricatures that it seems the protests just serve as an excuse to spew out long held negative opinions about black people, Democrats, MSM, "elites," etc. that it seems to me the website must for some reason appeal to these sorts. Anybody know anything about it?

 Funny thing about the comments is they overlook the vastly greater ratings and attendance decline that's hit NASCAR the last few years. And there is no "sport" in this country whose fan base is more white, more support-the-troops faux patriotic, more right wing than NASCAR. When it's the NFL in decline, the cause is ignorant, uppity, ungrateful, entitled black men. When it's lily white NASCAR, we get crickets. 

 

 

Numbers are down with regard to live television viewing irrespective of genre.

[BuffaloBill]

1 hour ago, CodeMonkey said:

An interesting perspective and one I happen to agree with.

NFL TV Partners Set To Lose Up To $500 Million On Ratings Decline

 

 

I also agree with the opinions stated in the article.  The NFL product is in decline and they are oversaturarting the market.  If the Bills had left Buffalo I would not watch games.  The CTE isssue remains a ticking time bomb and it has worn luster off the league.

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

Nothing about cord cutting?? His top four doesn't include cord cutting at all? Cord cutting is #1 IMO. I don't watch a lick of MNF or the exclusive NFL network TNF games due to cord cutting. I'm sure I am not alone.

[Royale with Cheese]

15 minutes ago, TheFunPolice said:

Young people don't watch live TV anymore

 

That is a big part of it. If it's not Netflix or streaming many aren't interested. Many young people also follow sports on some sort of mobile device while doing 15 other things.

 

The era of sitting down on the couch and devoting 3 hrs to a game (and its commercials, which are the real show as far as the networks are concerned) is coming to an end. People are on their phones in movie theatres after spending $50 to see a film

 

When I was at the Falcons game, it looked half empty but it was sold out.  There were thousands of people just walking around the stadium site seeing.

 

There are bars and restaurants inside as well where people where eating/drinking while watching the game on TV.  They were literally watching the game on TV when they are actually at the game.

 

There's games and other activities to get involved in during the game.  Really shocking to see people 1/2 the people wanted to partake in other activities rather than just sitting in the seats they bought to watch the game.  

1 minute ago, Sammy Watkins' Rib said:

Nothing about cord cutting?? His top four doesn't include cord cutting at all? Cord cutting is #1 IMO. I don't watch a lick of MNF or the exclusive NFL network TNF games due to cord cutting. I'm sure I am not alone.

 

I only watch Bills games now since I got rid of cable.  I used to have Sunday Ticket and would watch the Bills and then other games.

Now I go to my parents or a bar to watch the Bills game and then go home after that.  

I was spending $130 a month for cable that I got tired of spending.  I can live with Netflix, Hulu and going somewhere to watch the Bills.

[plenzmd1]

I think there are a couple

 

1) Flags and Replays. Too much of the excitement is gone as I know I never celebrate a TD or big play anymore until 100% confirmed . Takes the joy out of watching the game. 

 

2) LA Market is gone.

 

3) I think people are watching on multiple devices, and these are not counted in the ratings as far as i know

 

4) NFL still feels very fan-unfriendly at the stadiums.Pisses me off to no end I cannot watch streaming games within a mile of the stadium. Fine, black out the other games during the live game I am attending, but damn it let me watch the other games in the lot. For that matter, show the damn red zone during commercials on one of the big boards.

 

EDIT..someone else mentioned red zone, that's a good call. For games I am watching on TV, i set up one TV for Bills game, the other is always exclusively REDZONE through a stream and firestick. I am sure that is killing ratings as the poster mentioned above. Never really realized there were no commercials, interesting.

Edited November 28, 2017 by plenzmd1