DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Why Are NFL Ratings Down?

Devil

How awesome would it be if after like a long play, someone pulled a stone cold stunner on the football....

A grown man can dream .....

or when they score a TD, they grab two beers, slam them together, drink it and then spray it at the dawg pound.

watch the ratings sky rocket.

off subject, Stone cold was my favorite back in the day but one of the most impressive things things about stone cold was....... his beer thrower, I mean that guy/girl was able to throw beers 40 yards away like perfect every time. I mean when ever he needed beer no matter where he was it would magically appear from the sky and drop perfectly in his hands..

The game has become boring,or maybe I've grown apathetic.
In either case I don't watch much anymore.I watched one complete game last year,a playoff game,and said at that time I couldn't remember the last time I had watched a complete game.
Most teams have a 6'5" freak of nature that they send deep and throw the ball up for grabs.Chances are good he either catches it or gets a PI.That's not football,that's basketball in cleats.
I love two tights and an I,smashmouth.Don't really care much for this modern day Ice Capades on Astroturf.

Don't let him fool you Dawgs... DC and I work out at the same gym...

Man that would be EPIC!!!

Gotta admit, I chuckled at this.

But I'm not old.

We have no coons.

Only thing I do at 4 a.m. is get up to use the bathroom.

I don't have a shotgun that holds 8 shells.

I don't shoot buckshot.

j/c:

Going to try and get the thread back on track.

Again, these are just my opinions, but I think that a lot of people across the country see the same problems w/the game that I do. I would like to talk about how the NFL can fix some of the issues w/the current game.

1. Penalties/Rules: I think this is the one area where the NFL has the greatest amount of leeway to fix the problems. Some ideas:

--Stop making what is a catch or not a catch such a big deal. Some of the greatest "catches" I have ever seen are deemed to not be catches. It's too technical and even the great Mike Pereira says it's the one thing that he can't seem to grasp.

--Stop making certain rules "points of emphasis" and having the refs call it over and over.

--Stop calling PI so closely. I get they want high-scoring games, but DBs are at a huge disadvantage and the frequent calls ruin the game's tempo.

--Cut down on the number of calls during a game. All these calls on the other side of the field that give teams cheap first downs are annoying and ruin the tempo of the game.

--Stop w/the lengthy explanations. Give the damn sign and allow the announcers to explain what the call was. Speed up the tempo of the game.

--I have more, but that's enough for now.

2. Commercials: Sadly, don't think this one has a chance of changing. The players make too much money and no way will the NFLPA ever agree to cutting salaries and the owners aren't going to lose any revenue that they currently make.

3. Social Issues: This is a tough one. Either way, the NFL will be criticized by the "sides" that exist in our country. But, research has shown that protests by guys like Kap is hurting the ratings. I provided a link about that earlier. I also think a lot of people don't want to hear about labor disputes, drug issues, wife beatings, etc. I think the media has a responsibility to report those stories, but I do not feel there is a need to dwell on them.

There are enough examples of stories in every day life to cover each and every issue w/out committing a dominant proportion of every sport's show on issues w/football players. For example, the story of Josh Gordon checking into rehab drew more attention than the mother who invited men to her home to rape and beat-up her 9 year old daughter. She didn't do it for money. She did it because she liked to freaking watch it! Are you kidding me!!!!

I don't care about Deflate Gate. I don't care about Kap. There are REAL people out there that can tell the story much better than he can. Keep forcing it down my throat and I'm going to quit watching! And the research shows that many more people feel the same way.

4. Over Saturation: I don't agree w/this one, but plenty of people do...........so, I will include it. I would agree it would be okay to eliminate the Thursday Night games. I love having them available, but I think the injury issue is enhanced by these games. The body needs time to mend after a football game and those of you who played the game, know exactly what I mean. I will start an Injury Thread shortly, and believe me.........the Thursday Night games will be included in my list of reasons why there are more injuries.

5. Celebrations: This seems to be a big one w/some of you. I don't know............players celebrating or not celebrating isn't a reason to make me NOT watch. I do wish they would relax the rules a bit, but I get why they want to keep the sexual innuendo out of the celebrations.

I am looking forward to hearing your intelligent, rational replies.

Injures for me are killing the sport.

there are so many "premium" talent players that are injured. It feels like there is no one fun left to watch. I think half of my FF team is on IR.

1x a week should be the norm. and one team a week would play on Monday.

Now a team can play... Sunday Monday Thurs and Sunday. That's just too much on a body and injuries keep mounting.

Also, I think too many tick tack penalties and addition or subtraction of rules.

The sport shouldn't be changing the rules every year. The rules should be the rules and it's stupid that they keep modifying them.

Good list Vers... I've given my opinions of why ratings are down overall but the reason I have much less interest in the NFL these days is, quite simply, because the Browns have been horrible for so long.

I've never been the type of person to have a "second favorite team" so when my team is out of it, the whole sport becomes much less enjoyable to watch... and this concept has crept across all sports for me, I'm just not devoting nearly as much time to following teams that I can't control and that aren't very good.

It is much more common now for me to DVR the games... but I don't avoid finding out the scores and when the scores are less than compelling, I never go back and watch it. Game 4 of the ALCS I was out with the family having dinner for my sons birthday and checking the TV periodically.. game 5 of the ALCS I was at a company function checking the score on my phone (that one I did go home and watch)..

Don't really know how to explain it, I just don't feel this rabid devotion to watch these games live like I used to.

That makes sense. Personally, I have always been more of a fan of the sports than the teams, but that is probably rare. It just bothers me to see how bad some of these games have become.

Other than playoffs and an occasional match-up, I rarely watch a NFL game other than the Browns. Pretty much that way with all sports except college football.

nfl network showed a replay of the giants/ravens game from last week ... they cut out all of the excess commercials, challenges, meaningless kicks, etc ... the replay was from like 4:00 to 4:30 ... just incredible

Wow. That's amazing.

Too many commercials are a problem, but I doubt they ever have fewer commercials. The owners and players are much too greedy for that.

I think one of the reasons that I have noticed it more this year is because I have had NFL Ticket for years and would just switch to another game when commercials came on. However, at my house in Ohio--where I have been for most Sundays this year--I don't have the ticket and only get 1 or 2 games for each time slot on Sundays. It's brutal!

Same way.

I refuse to boost the ratings of channels by watching NFC East games.

My opinion:

1 - People are cutting the cord. When they do this, they learn not to use sports so much for entertainment.

2 - NFL was at all time highs, really could it go any higher?

3 - Generational interest, I think younger people aren't in to sports as much, they have other interests.

4 - Too much PC - People use sports as kind of like a guy's soap oppera, now, when coaches or players are asked questions, true answers are never given, all the answers are basically the same creating a boring interaction between media and players.

It seems strange that people say they don't like football and aren't interested in sports on a football message board.

I think he means people in general, and I agree. I know people who are big fans but don't know the players on their own team other than the big name guys, they don't know where their team ranks within their division and don't know any coaches beyond the head coach.

i will say this, over the past 8-10 years I would never miss a game. Not a Browns game, not a Thursday game, not a 4:25 game, etc

for whatever reason, this season I've already missed numerous games ... or flipped around on the TV to baseball or something else

I agree. Good point. The NFL is a short game on the action. The clock runs when nothing is happening. In BB it doesn't, in hockey it doesn't, and baseball doesn't have a clock. Baseball might be slow, but everybody gets their allotted at bats unless they are at home and ahead after the other guy gets their at bats.

No doubt, football might look like a 60 minute game, but in reality it is maybe a 20-25 minute game. Teams in the huddle or heading to the huddle and running the clock down to 3 seconds every play isn't very exciting......not to mention reviews, penalties, and halftime.

I hit this point about 2 seasons ago.
It got to the point for me where even if I did nothing at all, it was a better use of my time. I might start off sitting down to watch a game, but I'd usually turn it off at half time unless I just really had absolutely nothing else to do. Add in being a cord-cutter and as such I cannot watch MNF or most TNF games, and I'm already missing games by default.... and realizing that I'm not missing anything.

I am now one of those guys that barely knows the names of most of the players on our roster..... the team, and the league, just isn't worthy of the self-investment of time & energy. It has lost its entertainment value.

J/C

I stopped watching the pregame shows, in particular, ESPN some moons back. Week in and week out on ESPN it was Favre this Favre that. Manning this Manning that. Brady, Ben, Romo.... and if you knew NOTHING about the NFL, and only watched the pregame shows, you'd swear only five teams played.

Then you do watch a game that doesn't involve one of those five teams and you get to hear two bozos who do nothing to enhance what you see and after a few minutes you start to hate them for intruding upon your 3 and half hours of football. I streamed a game from some station in England and during the "commercials" they would have three guys break down what you saw and what you need to see from both teams. I'd take that all week over the announcers.

The sideline reporters bring ZERO to the game. They ask no relevant questions and only serve to dumb down the game.

Instant replay for the fans at home is a nice thing. It can be a great tool to learn the game some or show that touchdown or great catch again. But, when it is used to determine pass interference on the last play it only undermines the credibility or lack thereof that the officials have. Seeing something in super slo mo versus real time can dramatically alter the perception of the game to the point where it becomes a detriment, not an enhancement.

If the game itself has been bastardized to becoming a shell of what it once was, the media is the proverbial hammer to the nail Goodell has placed on its coffin.

Not me. I went two season without Sunday Ticket - financial reasons, had to cut back til I regained my footing money-wise - so this season I wake up every Sunday excited about game day, and watching the Browns.
Yeah we're 0-6 but we're young and for the most part, haven't been excruciating to watch, as we have for most seasons since 1999. Hopefully we beat Cincy today and win three or four more the rest of the way. Build a winning culture, looking for better days ahead.

As do I, lamp...

"I stopped watching the pregame shows, in particular, ESPN some moons back. Week in and week out on ESPN it was Favre this Favre that. Manning this Manning that. Brady, Ben, Romo.... and if you knew NOTHING about the NFL, and only watched the pregame shows, you'd swear only five teams played."

On this I agree. I stopped watching any commentary shows on the NFLN or ESPN or such. They talk about Pats, Boys, Giants, Packers, Brady's, and Manning's. If you aren't into one of those teams you won't get more than a nonosecond of coverage...or in the case of the Browns the only 'coverage' is when a talking head uses the team as a punchline to a bad joke.
I've often wished the networks would develop shows for the fans of the rest of the league. A show about the teams on the bottom half of the league. Focusing on why the teams are struggling and what could be done to improve them. From on the field tactics to front office issues.
I understand that winners drive ratings but if there's a bunch of us that have had enough of the Brady love fest hour known as Inside the NFL, and don't watch, then they're losing viewers. Half the teams in the league are on the bottom, and they get very little coverage because of it. Give the rest of us a reason to watch. Is even an hour a week away from the Brady jock riding really going to break the network?

I agree PD. Every week that's all you hear about, those 4 or 5 teams and their QB's. oh and let's not forget Rex Ryan, a coach that really hasn't done anything up to this point. But in a way it really can't be helped. Until some of the other teams like us , Detroit, San Diego etc. step up and do something this is what we have to live with. Other teams winning and beating the so called glamour teams would solve the problem.

I think a lot of people do.. but I'm not all that interested in watching the Steelers play the Bengals on Thursday night.. Now if that game had an impact on whether the Browns made the playoffs, I might watch it.... or watching the Patriots play the Bills on Monday night.. if the Browns might play one of them in the playoffs, I would be more interested in watching it.. go down the list. From the quarter point of the season, the Browns (and a lot of other teams) are just going through the motions with no chance.. so yea I can watch to see how Kessler is doing, I can watch to hope for the elusive win or two, I can watch to see some of the other young guys and how they are doing... but to watch other games? Especially a bunch of teams who are that much better than us.. not that compelling for me.

With a flag on virtually every play, with defense pretty much illegal, with fewer and fewer great players..... No wonder ratings are down..... I used to watch every game aired in this area. Now I suffer through the Browns games and that's it....

6-6 tie last night. Awful.

I hope tonight's game can carry an audience because Thursday's tilt will have ~5 viewers (Jacksonville at Tennessee).

last night's game was SOOO boring. but, i only watched about a quarter

I don't even know who plays tonight?

Thursday ... HAHA laughable matchup

Your not a fan of pitchers duels are u .. *L*

I LOVED last nights game ... LOVED IT .. hard hitting great defensive due from start to finish .. loved loved loved it ...

Funny thing is 4 ... Are u one of the guys that said one of the reasons the ratings declined is because the league has made it impossible to play D and guard anyone? ... now we get a GREAT DEFENSIVE BATTLE and you said it was boring ....

Hmmm ... ...

How is kickers missing 30 yard field goals fun?

no i'm not one of those guys. I like a good balance of O and D.

Penalties, missed fgs, dropped passes also helped last night's 6-6 game, not just good D.

Guess we watch football for different reasons .. i don't watch it to see FG kickers make 30 yard FG's ... if thats why u watch it .. soccer may be for u .. *L* ..

4life - as opposed to the games penalties aren't a part of the problem is .. *L* ..

I LOVED THE GAME ... thought it was hard hitting and did u see how FAST THOSE DEFENSES WERE ...

SWARMING COMES TO MIND ... speed is a HUGE PROBLEM on our D .. HUGE ..

I did not think there were alot of dropped passes .. and some of the "drops" were caused by a defender being right there and fighting with the receiver ...

Now, if u saw the Iggles/Vikes game .. that was UGLY ... in the first 3 drives there were 5 uncontested drops ...

I don't think Seattle gained an easy yard til OT .. they FOUGHT for EVERY INCH they gained ..

To each there own ..... I LOVED IT ...

I thought it was a good game, too.

I remember when FG kickers were money from inside 40, now an EP is a crapshoot

yeah, it's so weird

Phil Dawson for his career from 30-39 yards is 118-135, which is 87.4%.. the average in the NFL right now from 30-39 yards is 93.7%.. (This number may slide down a bit once we get into bad weather season)

And according to the one article I read, said that the top 10 most accurate kickers of all time are:
10. Blair Walsh
9. Robbie Gould
8. Shane Graham
7. Rob Bironas
6. Nate Kaeding
5. Mike Vanderjagt
4. Steven Hauschka
3. Stephen Gostkowski
2. Justin Tucker
1. Dan Bailey

Every single one of them is either still playing or has retired in just the last couple of years.. So I believe your premise is incorrect. We are seeing an unprecedented level of accuracy from NFL kickers.

Don't they use a "kicking ball" as opposed to the regular ball?

For this season, extra points are being converted at a 95.17% rate. I wouldn't define that as a "crapshoot".