Anybody Else Find Themselves Less and Less Interested in the NFL?

[boyst]

3 minutes ago, Lurker said:

The actual games on the field?   Nope, still love em.

 

The 24/7 media and message board remora attached to those games.   Yeah, I'm increasingly tired of that...

Was the impetus Twitter, ESPN, or what that broke you?

 

ESPN killed me of the sports diet years ago.  Twitter helps restoration in some regards because it has made football more personable.

[BillsfaninSB]

Depends on the Bills.  If they are winning I will watch the rest of the league more.  If they are losing I don’t bother as much.  Don’t want to be reminded in anyway if they are sucking for a stretch of games.

[BillsPride12]

Some very interesting and good replies in this thread.  I can't pinpoint exactly when it started but my level of enthusiasm for the NFL as a whole has been declining more and more each season.  I haven't watched any preseason football outside of the Bills games this year.  The NFL as a product has just gone completely downhill.  The coverage is way too commercialized these days, the big hitting has been taken out of the game, the officiating is always terrible.  Somebody posted that video collection of all of Bruce Smith's sacks the other day and it was beautiful but oh so bittersweet at the same time because that's when the NFL was in it's prime and what made me fall in love with the sport.  The presentation was so much simpler back then and they used to let the players have fun, and the games were more intense with real rivlaries.  The game was for the blue collar demographic and nowadays the NFL markets itself to the mainstream and I think that has taken some of the special feelings I always had for the past-time away for me.  I still watch but can see the day where I walk away from it if things keep trending this way.  I stopped watching the NBA this year because of the circus that became.  

 

Edited August 24, 2018 by BillsPride12

[bobblehead]

The Brady/ESPN/ Manning generation turned me away from football. I still watched the Bills every Sunday and preseason. But that was it. I’m slowly coming back to the league though 

[Gugny]

In my 20s, my entire Sunday was devoted to football, from 1pm till the end of the last game.

 

I still watch every Bills game, but I'm far less likely to sit in front of the TV for all the other games.  If I'm home, I'll have the games on, but will be busy doing other things.  If the Bills aren't on, I'm fine with doing something outside of the house, now.

 

It's not that I like the NFL less, or that I'm less interested, per se.  It's just less important to me.

 

I do enjoy watching high quality football.  So if there's a great matchup on for a 4pm game, I'll sit and watch it closely.  But the Patriots usually play at 1.  

[GunnerBill]

No. I love the NFL.

[Augie]

I’ll always watch every Bills game I can get, but it would have to be a really compelling non-Bills regular season game for me to watch now. I used to watch much more NFL, but I do watch a lot more college now.

 

Having said all that, I was up WAY TOO LATE watching a Browns game with a 5-0 score in the 4th quarter, so...... don’t believe anything I say. I must be an idiot. Maybe it’s the long offseason? It’s my only excuse I can think of. 

14 minutes ago, Gugny said:

In my 20s, my entire Sunday was devoted to football, from 1pm till the end of the last game.

 

I still watch every Bills game, but I'm far less likely to sit in front of the TV for all the other games.  If I'm home, I'll have the games on, but will be busy doing other things.  If the Bills aren't on, I'm fine with doing something outside of the house, now.

 

 It's not that I like the NFL less, or that I'm less interested, per se.  It's just less important to me.

 

I do enjoy watching high quality football.  So if there's a great matchup on for a 4pm game, I'll sit and watch it closely.  But the Patriots usually play at 1.  

 

Is that your way of saying you have a life?

 

Braggart! 

 

I make no such claim. (But I probably would if it was true...) 

[steven50]

Count me in the not so much an NFL fan anymore. I never miss a Bills game but the days of me running to the TV to watch any NFL team play are over. The game barely resembles the one I watched growing up, the pregame show is full of politics and the players seem to swap teams year to year, ESPN and even our local radio are all either 30% about politics, players acting out in their personal life or people trying to outshout each other.

 

I am still a diehard Bills fan but unless the other teams playing have some kind of implication on our playoff spot or something I am not going out of my way to watch.

Edited August 24, 2018 by steven50

[CajunBillsBacker]

Outside of the Bills games, the rest of the NFL is background noise unless it’s the playoffs or a game directly involving my fantasy team.

College football is my first love, LSU season tickets, but I will watch any game on any level with interest.

[8-8 Forever?]

5 hours ago, The Real Buffalo Joe said:

My Sundays in the fall used to be centered around the NFL. I'd wake up, watch the pregame show. Drive to the bar. Watch the Bills. Drive home. Watch whatever late afternoon game I could get on local TV, or RedZone. Watch the Sunday Night game. Then usually watch MNF. 

 

Now, I'm just as passionate about The Bills as I've ever been. Go out to the bar, watch every game. New Year's Eve was probably the best day of my year last year. Pumped for this season. But I can count on one hand the number of non Bills games I watched last year. If anything, I'd rather watch a college game if I have no direct rooting interest. 

 

I don't give a **** about the anthem protests. While I'm not the biggest fan of the new rule changes, it hasn't turned me off completely to the NFL. I just find myself less enthused to watch NFL football than I used to be. Even my fantasy players I usually just check the stats online. Anybody else feel this way?

i've lost a lot of interest.   games are too slow, too many ads, in stadium experience has become standing for 4 hours, everyone is blasted, and did I say the games are too slow?

[Toledo Bill]

I have followed the Bills since their inception. I still watch all their games and follow them as a fan. I used to watch all other possible games (1:00, 4:00, 8:00, Monday night but no more.

Maturity, more time with family, other interests... I could care less about other teams. I will generally watch the playoffs and Super Bowl but a lot of times only a half or so.

Why... spoiled athletes, other interests... I don't have a great explanation,  maybe when you get in your sixties you find there is more to life than the NFL.

I have had a similar experience with all major professional sports. I lived for the NBA (old Celtic/Lakers rivalries, then Magic versus Bird, but then team play went away and I cant remember the last time I watched an NBA game.

[keepthefaith]

Watching and caring less.  Weekends are short and it's been tough to devote 3+ hours to this team for 16 weekends for many years but the current Bills team, coaches and personnel dept really bring hope and a reason to pay attention. 

[WyoRN]

Haven’t cared about the NFL for many years, and until recently had little reason to change this.  In Wyoming, we don’t have a pro team and only the one 4 year school.  Then, Josh Allen came along, and I seem to have a team to follow again.

[JerseyBills]

6 hours ago, Rad Likes The Bills said:

NO ITS JUST YOU. I WILL NOT LET YOU TALK ME DOWN. THE BILLS ARE GOING! WE GOT A NEW QB, WHEW! WE GOT A CULTURE. THE BILLS ARE BACK BABY. WE GONNA BE CIRCLING THE WAGONS FOR THE NEXT DECADE. 

Need some work on ur delivery  and it could be sarcasm but He might be right guys...

 

It's not that big of a stretch to say Allen will be a legit franchise QB , even elite. If Allen is the real deal ,with this coaching staff , we're SB contenders for 10+ years..

[Radar]

Would be interested to see this survey by age group. I'm 75 and followed Bills from day one and usually watch two games on Sundays. Having said that my passion has dwindled greatly over past ten years. Commercials and money  grabbing league have contributed but with age I'm not into it like I was at twenty to forty years old.

[mjd1001]

I'm less interested in all sports than I used to be.  Why?  There is very little I see in a game that I haven't seen before in one way or another.  I still watch most Bills games, but I'm not glued to the TV like I once was.

[scribo]

No.

[B-Man]

Anybody Else Find Themselves Less and Less Interested in the NFL?

 

I am in that category.

 

I watch and root for my Bills, but I cannot imagine watching any other games at this point.

 

Sunday, early afternoon, late afternoon and night.., Monday Night,  Thursday nights, throw in some Saturdays near the season's end.

 

Hey, lets go to England for 4 weeks of Sunday morning football !

 

Too much.

 

 

I watch college games more now, and even some other sports (Premier League, Golf, etc,)

 

 

.

[Straight Hucklebuck]

Yes. 

 

It started immediately when Roger Goodell took over. 

 

Ive grown out of wanting to attending games (money, weather, fans) but really it comes down to a few factors: 

 

1. The constant rule changes have eroded my interest like NASCAR. The rules they add are increasingly subjective. Refs don’t call what they see, they can be talked into throwing flags by players motioning several seconds after the play ended. 

 

2. The amount of commercials 

 

3. Media spends more time on off the field incidents than the football itself. That started when they were breaking down Cam’s dab dance and RGIII’s socks. Constantly talking about “distractions”. 

 

4. Instant replay 

 

5. The Bills have been horrible since 2000 and watching the Patriots go every other year since then. 

 

6. The hype. Constant slow-mo montages with rap music banging in the background. Maybe this gets some fans hyped, it’s not exciting for me, just get on with it. 

 

7. One more thing I thought of and have become more attuned to - when media and footballers talk down to the fans. They’ll say things like “what most fans don’t realize is” or “what people have to understand is” or “the NFL is a business” like we’ve never watched the game. 

 

Overall I enjoy the off-season more. Free agency and the draft. Team building and how GMs think is more interesting than the actual games. 

Edited August 25, 2018 by Straight Hucklebuck

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

A lot of what's been said here is right where I'm at. I'm really hoping that the Sabres turn it around soon so I can get more into hockey.