This is an opinion piece.

I have a few theories on why the ratings are down for NFL games. Refute, debate, discuss............but please, leave the personal insults out of it.

Reasons for the Decline in Ratings:

1. The rule changes combined w/the league mandated emphasis regarding concentrating on certain rules has slowed the game down and made it far less entertaining. There were 23 plays that drew flags in last night's game between Arizona and the Jets. As bad as that is, it wasn't the most flags thrown in a game this year. There were 31 thrown in a contest between the Lions and Titans earlier this year.

The flow of the game is being disrupted by the high volume of flags. Furthermore, the officials give lengthy explanations as to exactly what the infractions were, which slows down the game even more.

I turn on football to watch players making good/great plays, not to see some middle-aged guy talking about the violation of the rules.


2. The presidential debates. This is a legitimate excuse.

3. MLB playoffs. The only thing is that the playoffs didn't hurt the NFL this much in the past. I think people are tuning into MLB because the NFL is becoming so hard to watch.

4. Social issues. I want to be entertained when I watch sports. I quit watching MLB years ago due to the concentration on steroids and labor disputes. I only started watching again this year.

I do not want to hear about Kapernick. I don't want to see black millionaires protesting about how bad our country is. I don't want to hear that Kap only lost his job because he protested. He was benched last year, long before he ever knelt. I want to be entertained by the game of football and I do not want to listen to all the social commentary that is being generated by spoiled, pampered athletes.

And while there are plenty of people who do like such things, I suspect that there are many more potential viewers like me who want to separate sports and politics. If I want to discuss race, I think there are far better venues than a sport's show.

That's my take. What's yours?

Oh, and again................please leave the personal insults out of it.

NFL games are UNWATCHABLE...due to all the penalties and poor quality of play.

i've mentioned in other threads, but the flags, discussions, reviews, commercials, etc have really ruined the games for me.

It's gone from 3 hours on the dot to 3.5 hours ... with no change to the time of the game.

The officiating is terrible, the players' execution and lack of discipline is excruciating to watch, and it seems way too saturated. I mean, every time I turn on the TV they're talking about "Dak/Romo" or "Brady" or "Big Ben".

We've all seen this moment coming, but the NFL is too over the top now

Probably a few reasons... some of which you mentioned.

Maybe it's football burnout.... For me, I pretty much only watch the Browns games until playoffs whereas I used to watch all that was available.
Howard Cosell once said that after awhile, one NFL game looks like all the rest.

I find there are WAY too many TV commercials, which to me interrupts the flow of the game as much as the penalties (which are an issue, I agree).

Team kicks a FG, timeout, two minutes of commercials.
Kicks off into the end zone, timeout. More commercials.

Aside from Brady, Cam and maybe Roethlisberger, who are the real stars of the league that attract the casual follower?
Just a few thoughts off the top of my head.

More and more people have pulled the plug on tv and are streaming games which does not get accounted for in the ratings.

I think that you and Dawgs4Life brought up a great point about the commercials. I should have listed that as one of my reasons.

Salaries keep going up and the number of commercials seemingly keep pace w/the salaries. Heck, they have even went to more of a running clock in the modern era. What used to be a stoppage of the clock on certain plays is no longer in effect, which reduces the amount of action, but doesn't reduce the length of the game.

I agree with the commercials and the amount of penalties. I understand the need to protect players from bad injuries but, in my opinion there are more injuries now than ever. Maybe, instead of all the silly rules they keep putting in place and the poor officiating (ex. Duke's fumble in the 'skins game, the PI by Sherman against Atlanta that 99.9% of the time they call it but, surprise surprise they didn't this time), they need to focus R&D on better equipment. My wife loves rugby as it is fluid and never stops. She can't stand American Football because of how it constantly stops/starts. Add to it all the commercials and all the injury time outs and yea, it just drags on and on. How do you grab the interest of kids who are the future audience? Red Zone? Fantasy FB?

Interesting point about the athletes and social cause/issues. I view it as a platform that allows them to have an audience. I don't disagree with them voicing their opinion. No different than Ali did before them OR, musicians. Many bands/musicians in the 60's used their stage platform and tv to go on about the war and injustices at home and abroad. No difference.

Regarding the MLB playoffs....I don't know if that is pulling people away in droves. Maybe, but, baseball is throughout the week and not just on Sunday.

A winner like the Browns might spark interest because lets face it....aren't we all tired of the same teams and faces? Example: If the World Series ends up being the Indians vs the Cubs....people might really get excited and tune in. Unfortunately, with exception to those of us who are Cleveland fans I suspect the rest of the country will want the Cubs to finally win. Same can be said if the Browns ever make it to the Super Bowl.

I agree with these posts on this matter. Just imagine if the rest of the league had to watch our Browns every week, the ratings would be worse. We've had some poor play and many mistakes due to all our young players but what has really upset me is not just the amount of the penalties but the needless ones like the one on TP for tossing the ball in the Ravens game. How about the Duke Johnson recovery that went to the Redskins? PI calls where the CB barely touched the receiver. It's frustrating and hard to watch.

Yeah, it's annoying as heck.

It's like the NFL's goal has been to become the love child of Arena Football and the XFL with a sprinkling of college ball.


It's not professional football anymore, it's an entertainment production.
Add in poor officiating and stupid rule changes that have ruined the game -- there's better things to waste time (and especially money) on.

So many of the calls by the officials are so tic-tacky...I watched a defensive lineman get called for hands to the face on a nice gain by a RB..called back.

They showed the so called infraction again and the offensive lineman had one arm of the DLman clamped to his chest (holding) and the DL guy was trying to use his other arm to get lose and accidentally grazed the face mask of the OLine guy.

...he was trying to get his arm lose from the hold and was called for hands to the face.

It would have been a good no call.

You even hear the players commenting, every time there is a nice gain the first thing the players do is look for a flag.

When an official see an obvious infraction that affects the play, call it. But calling ticky-tacky penalties away from the play...senseless, imo.

deleted...

we're scum bags and we are 0 - 6 remember?

Irrelevant to this topic, man - not trying to tell you how to post.

Ratings are down cause no team can go a whole series without one flag being thrown.

Last nights Monday night game was damn near unwatchable. There's no tempo, no pace to the game anymore.

It feels like the refs control the game, not the actual teams playing.

I think it's just a matter of over-saturation. Too many football games on too many nights, bad games (TNF), parents worried about CTE, too many penalties, no celebrations and the fantasy football bubble has burst.

I think this is why the NFL has such a hard-on for Europe and soon to be China. They know the sustained growth on US soil could only be maintained so long. The casual fan will get bored and look at other entertainment options.

+1

Plus, with all the commercial breaks, that breaks the flow as well.

I mentioned it on here a while ago, but if you take a step back and really pay attention, the average NFL game can't seem to get out of it's own way:

Commercial
Kickoff
Commercial
Flag
5-yard out
Commercial
Review
Flag
Sack
Incomplete
Punt
Commercial
Long TD
Replay
Commercial
PAT
Commercial
Kickoff
Commercial
Run

Like Swish said, where's the flow?

I know a lot of people can't accept soccer and this isn't an attempt to sway those people, but there are two 45-minutes halves, no replays and only commercials at the half.

Heck, I feel like MLB is doing a better job than the NFL right now.

For 10 years they have consistently made rule changes to make this a pass happy league and now they have 32 teams and only 10 QBs who are good enough to take advantage of the rules they have implemented. Some teams, like the Broncos, Vikings, Panthers (at least last year) have figured out how to play good defense against it. Maybe that will help or maybe it will just frustrate people who got used to seeing 800 yards passing and 4 TDs in games.

Their incessant fixation on the same 3 or 4 story lines over and over again... call it market saturation if you want but during the games, during the pre-game, during the post-game, on ESPN radio, on NFL network.. it's the same stories about the same teams and people over and over and over.. If your team isn't very good, it doesn't get discussed, if it doesn't get discussed, it gets boring. I don't care if Prescott or Romo starts, I'm sure there are 15 teams that wish they had ONE QB as good as either of them.

The minutia of instant replays, slow-mo, super slow-mo, 10 different angles, trying to determine if there was, in fact, a blade of grass between his hand and the ball when he fell to the ground. Even on plays that aren't challenged, it is so tedious. I would rather they spend the 30 seconds telling me how he got open or who made a great block than spending the whole 30 seconds between plays showing me the last 1/10th of a second of the play from 10 different angles to determine if it was a catch or not.

The AFC.. I give the NFC a little credit, the Vikings have risen up, the Falcons.. while the Cardinals and the Panthers are struggling, the Seahawks look good but not dominant... the 3rd rated team in the AFC in the power rankings is the Buffalo Bills. Is there anybody who honestly believes that the super bowl team from the AFC won't be either the Patriots, Steelers or Broncos? ... AGAIN? It has been 13 years since anybody other than the Patriots, Steelers, Colts, Ravens, or Broncos represented the AFC in the super bowl. Manning is gone so the Colts are not much of an option any more.. the other 4 were most people's pick this year.. You can make the argument that other teams just need to get better, and that's fine.. but I get bored watching it year after year knowing that from the very beginning, my team has no chance.

For me it started about 5 years ago with the INJURIES ...

The INJURIES are almost to hard to keep track of ... most on here only follow the browns and think were getting hit with injuries more than anyone .... well .. were in the top 10 maybe even top 5 .. but there's a few teams that have been beat up more than us and a bunch more in the same boat with us ..

Two weeks ago when TB played they had NO DL STARTERS suited up and they play a 4-3 ..

GB just traded for Kniles Davis cause they have no healthy RB's .. last week they had 2 WR's take more snaps behind Rodgers than they did there RB's .. witch was Lacy ..

Minni has lost Bridgewater, AP, Kalil and about 3 others plus there weekly injuries .. like in there last game they played w/o Diggs and another OLman ... I think in there last game they only had 2 OL starters playing ...

And all the touch football new penalties ... skirts on qb's, defenseless recievers and leading with your head are all a direct result of INJURIES .. The INJURIES have affected every aspect of the game ..

To the product on the field being diluted, new rules to keep players "safe" and it has affected the reffing ..

INJURIES are all encompassing ..

And for me personally ... the social stuff .. the only reason I even watch anymore is because I make a nice chunk of change in FF and LMS pools ..

Next year .. after the social crap ... i will more than likely be done .. if i could get a rebate from DTV I would be done now ...

Anyhow .. just thought i'd let u know U overlooked INJURIES .. as they AFFECT more than one aspect of the downfall of the NFL ..

Soccer is a great example. Especially how they make up commercial time.

I know a lot of people are against it, and I'm on the fence as well, but with the exception of the World Cup and the Euro cup (and all the other continental tournaments) they have sponsors right on their jerseys.

And the sideline walls are completely filled with advertisements.

It's a great alternative to not having TV timeouts.

+2

This is it for me as well. Between blatant BS blown calls, endless commercial breaks and flag after flag after flag, the games just drag on forever.

IT's annoying when the Browns are on, it makes me not pay attention at all when other teams are on.

Honestly, the MLB playoffs have been much better tv lately.

I agree with some of your thoughts..

Kap and his protests and those that followed him. Just makes me angry.

Also the penalties.. Far to often for my taste. And bad calls. Well, there have always been bad calls but it seems as if the Refs are even less professional this year. Not sure if that's fact, but it just feels that way.

Basically, they do so many things in an attempt to speed up the game and I think the result is the opposite.

Good point Diam, I had never considered the injuries.. if/when I tune in, I want to see stars at the highest level, not rotating back-ups.

Unless it's Browns-related, a lot of the stuff outside the lines I don't pay attention to: Kap, OBJ's crap, Goodell's power tripping suspensions cuz of substance abuse, all the rest.
Point is, that stuff doesn't bother me, I don't care.

1. Commercials are non stop, it gets almost unwatchable with so many TV timeouts.
2. Election season
3. Love it or hate it, people are sick of the liberal PC agenda the NFL shoves down peoples throats. An entire month of pink? Consistently showing Kaepernick ont he sideline EVERY SINGLE WEEK?
4. Ludicrous penalties for celebrations, ridiculous fines and penalties for trivial acts of excitement.
5. Parody actually working against them.....last night.....Jets/Cards....preseason sounded AWESOME, in reality.....two low end football teams with little at stake.
6. BLACKOUTS! No less than 3 games in my area I couldn't get the Browns game.
7. Flat out, millennials are cutting cable. $100-$180 for basic cable and internet? Netflix and internet is $50

Just possible reasons off the top.

Not to oversimplify, but I feel like the NFL's attempt to attract casual fans with rule changes that increase offense, ie, "excitement", has ruined the game for fans who remember the game as it was meant to be played. I don't say that to sound like I'm some kind of elitist, because I know there's lots of fans who know more than me, but I just feel like the game that used to be epic is now mundane, banal, and of no consequence. The only diff between TV wrestling and the NFL is that the NFL hasn't gotten around to scripting its outcomes - yet.

Summer camp instead of training camp.

They dont play the NFL brand of football in college anymore. The league continues to get younger and younger and they dont know how to play the freaking game.

Refs no longer get a lot of actual work in camp either. there are only a few hours of live football action for the entire training camp.

Commercials after TDs, after Kick Offs, during Replays, more random commercials. Sometimes the same commercial back to back. Terrible Trump commercial, followed by terrible Clinton commercial, followed by terrible local politician attack ad. Commentators/announcers trying to talk up the network's other shows which I'm fairly certain they don't watch.

Inconsistent officiating and perceived bias. Officials often being in awful position. I think the league should go to the officials calling the penalties from a box with fixed cameras from more of a birds eye view (or at least out of the fray) with just the head official on the field to throw the yellow hankies and explain the calls. Having old men run around and try to see everything seems outdated. Those officials then actually recording what they saw/called and playing it to the audience rather than having people have no idea what the penalty actually was might help clean things up/ add transparency.

Someone mentioned that the game is more entertainment than sport anymore and while that's somewhat true, they are also trying to suck a lot of the entertainment value out of it. Who really cares if players celebrate? It's a game. I'm not a fan of a lot of Odell's actions but getting flagged for taking your helmet off after you are off the field of play? (out the back of the endzone) How is he supposed to get air time for his Head and Shoulders hair?

Plus, I think there are just so many other options out there. Setting aside a block of 4 hours is hard to do in our On Demand society. There are also more interactive ways of getting sports/entertainment. People seem to crave control as much as ever now. Madden kind of gives you a way to make the calls when you think you could do a better job of coaching, drafting etc.

My top ten reasons.

1. Online streaming.

2. Goodell's lack of leadership and vision to open NFL viewing to all cable and satellite TV providers with a pay per view option for any game sold out or not.

3. Global warming.

4. Deflate Gate.

5. Obama

6. Brett Favre

7. Johnny football

8. Hillary

9. Trump

10. Election 2016

Too many commercials...certainly.
Too many penalties...I'd say so.
Too many timeouts (3)...a pet peeve of mine.
And where are the respected announcers that by themselves are enjoyable to listen to? The Pat Summeralls, Maddens, Giffords, Meredith? Most of todays announcers are bland...

j/c:

A lot of good replies.

I want to comment about the online streaming angle for a moment. While I think that is an actual fact and a good point, I also believe that more people are getting turned off this year by many of the other things that have been mentioned on this thread.

ou brought up some good points. I might add commercials. The break in play from commercials is mind numbing. It takes away any flow in the game.

Some of the rule changes like kick offs. They took away one of the true exciting plays in the game. Think back to all of the game changing kick off returns. For awhile Josh Cribbs was the only offense the Browns had.

"Player safety" rules. I get it. Protect the players. But let's be real. One of the allures of football was violent hits. People like seeing players get "jacked up".

Social issues: I totally agree. You want to talk about race issues etc. etc. pick another time. I want to watch the game. I could care less about peoples opinions on any social or political topics.

MLB. I am in awe of what the Tribe is doing. In general though I think you are right people maybe turning away from football for many of the things mentioned. Steroids and other PED's have infiltrated all sports. Steroids in football was off the charts but people didn't care because they still were attracted to the violence.

Another factor is saturation. They have flooded the market. First it was Monday night. Then they added Thursday night? And Sunday night. And an endless amount of football talk shows and chatter. They cover every aspect of football non-stop for twelve months. Nothing is fresh. There is no more build up of anticipation because football is always on.

The future will see more changes especially in equipment and rules to protect players.

They better get a grip on the commercials.

Yeah, I don't know how the hell I didn't include commercials.

https://theringer.com/nfl-tv-ratings-crisis-81fd9dbd53a#.rax8usl1w

I personally enjoy the college rules much better, and think it's a better game to watch at this point. The NFL would be better served to implement the following rules imo....

1. PI is a 15yard penalty like college. There is no consistency at either level on the PI calls so at least quit making them 50 yard penalties.

2. I love the college OT rules and they are super exciting......wish the NFL would go this route.

3. Find out what a dang catch is and go with it........good grief.

4. The last 2 minutes of the game the clock should stop on a 1st down like college......makes for much more exciting endings.

The ratings aren't down with CFB and they are up against MLB and have had the same social issues. The problem is the NFL is just not a very entertaining product right now, because they have taken the excitement out of the game........really need some rule changes.

Vers here's the biggest reason-

People are done with cable. It's too damn expensive and people are watching via phones / tablets.

Several posters have commented on an oversaturation problem. That isn't the case for me. I would love to watch football every night. I watch a ton of college games on multiple nights of the week.

However, like someone else mentioned, the NFL has really tried to entice the casual fans to watch, so the oversaturation of the sport could be a real issue.

I think a lot of good points have been brought up and there are obviously several factors at play here.

The question is..........what can the NFL do to fix the problems? I have some thoughts, but would enjoy hearing yours first.

1. Pay per view option for any game with all the cable or satellite providers, not just direct tv.

2. Fire Goodell. He has done more to hurt the game than help it.

3. No suspensions for players that are prescribed medical Marijuana by the team doctor.

4. No UK, Canada, Mexico, or European regular season games.

5. If a ball is caught and the player makes two steps in bounds with the ball.... it's a catch.

6. Softer helmets. Helmet to helmet infractions for intentional flagrant hits only.

7. Start all evening (Mon, Thurs, & Sunday) games by 8:00pm eastern.

8. Field goals over 55 yards are worth 4 Pts

9. A runback for a TD on a kick off is worth 8pts

10. A runback for a TD on a punt is worth 7Pts

11. A onside kick recovery is worth 1pt

Officiating - Not only slowing the game down but affecting the outcomes. It's no longer "fair".

Favoritism - This relates to officiating. Bias clearly shows up in the officiating. There are league "favorite" teams. New England, Denver, and Pittsburgh are fawned over and favored. It used to be about two teams squaring up and playing football. It's not about that any more, it's about protecting the "Brand" with a capital B. Again, it's no longer "fair".

It's boring - There used to be a time in football when anything could happen. Teams could come back from three scores down and win. Play on the field could affect the game without experiencing interference from the officials in the form of a flag.

Divas and Prima Donas - Who wants to see Odell propose to a net, Brady whine whenever he's touched, or every receiver throw up the flag hand if they're brushed by a defender?

Commercial Breaks - It's impossible to become engrossed in the game, attention span is automatically and repeatedly broken.

Announcing - The announcers have become opinionated knuckleheads who bring nothing to the experience.

Overload - We don't need Thursday Night, Sunday Night and two games on Monday Night Football.

Bottom line, the game as it stands now sucks.

Who here has quit fantasy football?

I did 4 years ago and have never looked back.

After being involved for ~10 years, I found that fantasy football was ruining my weekend football experience. For example, say the Browns won, I might still be ticked off because my fantasy team lost by a point after the Titans kicker missed a FG, I started the wrong QB, or a Browns player on the team I was playing against went off and made me lose (something that should make me happy had the reverse effect). Even worse, I ended up having to root for players and teams I don't like.

Meaning, it ended up spoiling too many weekends, so I quit. I've been much happier since (well, I'm still a Browns fan so it hasn't been a picnic).

After a play is blown dead, coach gets 10 seconds to throw the challenge flag, if he doesn't throw it in time, sorry. The average review took 2:16.. so if you consider most coaches wait the full 35 before throwing the flag, that means the time between plays is almost 3 minutes.... which is ridiculous considering most of us know the answer within 20 seconds of the play being over and having seen it again from 2 or 3 quick angles.

On the NFL operations website, these are the steps of a replay..
1. The play
2. The challenge
3. Techs at game day central begin isolating potential replays (using the same feeds we get at home). They use NFL Vision, which is a proprietary software
4. While the refs meet with each coach, an official in game day central (President or Senior Director of Officiating) examines the plays and views the ones that were chosen and consults with the stadium booth and referee.
5. NOW the on-field official goes under the hood where they get 60 MORE seconds to watch the compilation of angles.
6. Walk back onto the field and make the call.

Average time 2:16.. which, if I understand math, means approximately half of them take longer than that.

Turnovers and scoring plays are reviewed, they get 20 seconds to watch a few angles from the booth or some command center, if they can't prove the ref wrong in that amount of time, ruling stands.

You shouldn't be able to review a spot unless the difference is significant like you are saying he stepped out of bounds way back up the field of if it is a potential scoring play.. this process of reviewing a spot because he was falling toward the first down marker but his knee hit while the ball was still in the air then he fell 6 more inches forward is stupid. No idea how to enforce what is "significant" it just bugs the crap out of me.

Celebration penalties should be reserved only for really vulgar or violent acts.. let the dudes have some fun.. but put them on the clock, you get 20 seconds to celebrate, have a good time then get off the field.

Celebrating a 9 yard first down catch in the middle of the second quarter or for making a hard tackle on a guy who just gained 12 yards on you should be grounds for a 15 yard penalty and 1 game suspension. Again, probably not, it just bugs me.

During all time outs or breaks, the cameras should focus on the cheerleaders and every team should be required to have them... and I'm talking scantily clad professionals, not high school girls, that would just be creepy.

Kap, Josh Gordon and all the idiots in the NFL is a real turnoff.

I think a lot of it has to do with the same reasons that ESPN is struggling mightily too. Lots of reasons though, and most have already been mentioned.

1) Commercials. The NFL sold it's soul to capitalism trying to squeeze out as much money as it could. It's sort of like when a big company wants to cut as many corners as possible with a product to make as much money as humanly possible, to the point where they just start offering an inferior product that's over-priced. That's what's happened to the NFL. They are trying to inject every possible advertisement they can into a game-space and it feels like we're watching more of a commercial than a game. The same problems plagued the Olympics and their ratings were terrible too.

2) The game rules/penalties. So when you're not watching a commercial, you're likely watching a referee or replay review. They've gone so overboard with the rules trying to protect players, that this has also killed the action. I remember some article that ran the numbers, and if you count the time that the ball was actually in play, MLB actually has more "action" than football now.

3) Cable TV/NFL Ticket. As others have mentioned. Cable TV has become ridiculously expensive. Some say that people are just watching online now, but I'm not even sure that's the case. Online/Streaming ratings have been up, but they aren't replacing the ratings that are being lost from standard TV. It also doesn't help the the NFL doesn't give a lot of options. Other sports let you buy season-packages through several cable outlets. The NFL is restricted to only DirecTV, which can't even provide access to a large percentage of households. Couple that with the one-size fits all price of $300+ a 17 week season and that probably equals a lot of cancelled viewers.

4) Political agendas. People watch sports as a means to "get away" from the stressful rigors of daily life. Politics is a part of that stress. And now the NFL players (and ESPN in particular) wants to ram politics down your throat while you're trying to escape and relax. Imagine going camping every weekend, but deer pop out of the woods every night to complain to you about social injustices that herbivores face against carnivores. You probably wouldn't want to go camping much after awhile.

5) The same stupid story lines. Sort of related to the one above, but this is the biggest sin of ESPN. Tim Tebow, Brett Farve, Deflate-gate, Johnny Manziel, Colin Kaepernick, etc, etc. Do we really need to hear the same stuff over and over? It causes viewer fatigue. Added to that, most of it has nothing to do with actual playing of football, so we're going back to some of the above items. We're talking about all this garbage during the game, nobody cares, and it's just taking away from the actual game.

6) And to that point, all the child/wife beaters, drug offenders, and other criminal behaviors. The NBA had a major image problem with this in the early 2000's. They seemed to have cleaned up their act and recovered in ratings. The NFL just seems to like to make it a bigger storyline.

7) The NFL sucking all the fun out of anything the players do. No uniform modifications, no celebrations, no breathing outside of NFL regulated airspace. If an someone is blatantly mocking an opponent, they yeah, throw a flag. If they are dancing in the end-zone, let em. if they spray paint their shoes orange, let em. I think that's what makes the college game so fun, is that the participants can actually have some fun too.


I want to say things like "brutality of the sport" or "over-saturation" or "mlb/campaign competition", but college football is dealing with those same issues and they don't seem to be having the same ratings issue. The biggest issues have to do with the watering down of the product, the injection of things that have nothing to do with playing football, and the overall cost of it.

Awesome post!

And this should be identified as an instant classic:

You speak as if politics and sports have never blended in prior to this current situation.

It's really odd that all of a sudden it's a problem now to cause a rating drop.

I already said earlier that I quit watching baseball because of all the steroid talk and the labor dispute talk. I don't watch sports to hear about political issues.

I have a feeling that many other people share a similar opinion.

Politics and sports blend all the time, yes. When politics start overshadowing the sports to the point where you can't enjoy the sport part of it anymore, then you've got a problem.

You're also acting like it's the only thing causing a ratings drop. It's part of the problem. When you water down the product as much as the NFL has, it's going to be an issue when politics are the biggest talking points of your sport.

That's fine, I'm simply asking why, and when is enough all of a sudden enough?

Politics has been in sports since, we'll forever.

How political was it when Jackie Robison joined the MLB?

Or when Muhammad Ali in boxing? Which by the way, Excel, his politics overshadowed the actual sport. Did he lose ratings?

Or the host of other factors? It wasn't too political then?

You stated an opinion. So here's mine:

I think too many are trying to dance around the issue and avoiding to admit something.

People love drama. It's probabaly the biggest reason why the NBA has blown up so quickly. Those players are some of the biggest social justice warriors in this country. Probabaly on this planet. And that, combined with the pace at which the game is played, is why it's so massive. In 20 years, it's gonna rival the massive pay days and popularity of FIFA worldwide.

Soccer is so political it crazy. And that's the #1 sport on this planet. And it's growing here in America

They both are political, yet no rating drops.


MLB spiked with all the Bryce Harper drama.

Combine that with the pace of the game, and the ratings don't drop.

But in the NFL, all these rules about touchdown celebrations, the refs controlling the pace of the game, stupid ass fines for different situations, and the No Fun League has finally become no fun.

The majority of people around the county watch sports for entertainment, drama, and speed of the sport.

You take any one of those things away, and watch the ratings tank.

People watch the giants just to see the next antics of Odell Beckham jr.

You take the antics and WR diva personalities away, and watch the ratings drop. The NFL has damn near made it an ejectable penalty every time a monster hit happens.

The NFL has became boring. It's going the way of the MLB. A snooze fest losing ratings because everything about it that use to be fun and dramatic is going away.

Politics creates a hero and a villain. Combined with good players, it's why people can't help but watch the legion of boom, even those they are some of the most vocal social justice players in the sport. And the fans watch them.

We all have our takes, but I think the ratings decline is due to several factors. The social issue is just one of the factors.

You mentioned Jackie Robinson, but sports were not on 20 channels all day long back in those days. What did they have? A game of the week? If that?

I also think you are misunderstanding what I--and perhaps others--are saying. It's not really about him kneeling, it's about all the sport's talk shows that deal w/it ad nauseum. It's about tuning into enjoying a game and listening to the pre-game rhetoric that is dominated by his beliefs. It's about having to deal w/it while watching a game. A lot of people do not watch sports for that type of political/cultural/social exposure.

You like it and that is cool. But, there are plenty of others who do not like it.

And again..........no one is saying that is THEE reason for the decline. It's just a possible factor. And I hope you respect the intent of the thread enough to avoid turning this thread into a political/cultural/social thread.

i understand what you're saying, I'm just adding my opinion on why I don't think that is.

This a message board, after all.

You're right, a lot of people don't watch the sport for those reasons.

But many more probably do. Because of drama that creates a hero and a villain to rally for or against.

Remember, his jersey sales shot through the roof. Hero and villain.

If social reasons are part of the reason for the decline (and I'm not saying they aren't, but rather theorizing) why hasn't there been a ratings drop for the NBA, CFB, and others where athletes have taken similar stands? The governor of Nebraska met with the team after they refused to do the national anthem thing..........but Nebraska football is still huge there.

I'm not saying it isn't part of the problem, but am interested as to if it is why is it just the NFL that are suffering from it?

Again, personally I think it has much more to do with the rules and speed of the game than anything else, but am not ruling the social issue phenomenon at all. I am just curious as to why the NFL would be the only one suffering from a ratings dip because of it.

What have been the biggest storylines coming out of the NFL that last few years? Deflategate and Kaepernick. They get talked about more than the games themselves.

In the NBA and CFL, it happens, but it's not the main story. Even if there is a non-football related story, it doesn't get talked about ad-nauseam. They move on to other things.

But like I'm saying, it's just a part of the problem. It's going to turn some people off, not all.

Of course they have and there have been ebbs and flows in sports popularity as well. Like when Jackie Robinson joined MLB, love him or hate him, people showed up to see what the guy could do. I don't need to tune in to see what Kaepernick can do, his "drama" is not at all sports related. Up until this week, he could hold a clipboard, when he's not holding a clipboard, he's a guy who couldn't beat out Blaine Gabbert. There is no drama in that.

I think whatever impact political drama is having on NFL ratings has more to do with all of the political fatigue people are feeling over the election in general... People want and NEED an escape from all of the BS going on in politics.. you turn on sports and there is more of it... I don't know how big of an impact it's having but my guess is that it's some.

I do think the bigger problem is game related issues which have been mentioned..

You say that soccer is very political.. having never watched soccer in any of the countries where they really get into it, what do you mean by that?

You never seen those famed soccer riots?

Their politics are interwoven into the matches itself. It's absolutely nuts. My wife took me to a Germany vs Poland "friendly", and it's the scariest thing I've ever been to.

Fair point. Do you think that has to do with the NFL media coverage being over saturated at this point? Personally, I think that has a ton to do with some of their problems.

What I find ironic is the way CFB has replaced the NFL as Teflon ratings on "their" day of the week. Although not as big as the NFL, CFB has solid ratings no matter the matchups nor external situations. The NFL has lost that obviously, and I have to believe the NFL lost some of their loyal fan base by just having a much less exciting product currently.

punch, I'm close to quitting fantasy now too. Did it this year, but am kinda over it

uh oh

Cause Kap is the head of the CRAP ON THE FLAG MORONS ... football is now the lightning rod for the INGRATES ... bunch a PUNKS that have NO CLUE what SACRIFICE is ...

Willie I know about 15 people that the crap on the flag stuff was the last straw .. and i would be gone also ... and all I do is DTV .. if i didn't purchase it before the INGRATE crapped on the flag ... i would be gone also ..

I am going to save a ton of money cause there's about 30 things I wil never do again due to politics and just plain flat out STUPID THINGS some businesses do ..

I think your top sentence answers the bottom paragraph. If it is less about the athlete using his/her position as a platform to speak their mind and it is more about the broadcasters constantly talking about it...then it is a media issue. For whatever reason the media are fixated on it just as they were fixated on every drink Manziel had or party he went to. It is crap journalism and it is reported 24/7. 24 hr news is one of the worst things to ever happen because to fill 24hrs of news you end up with a lot of repeat and a lot of fluff. Unfortunately, the fluff these days seems more important to many than the actual headlines.

Athletes have always promoted social causes. Remember, there were Black Power fists raised at the 68 Olympics. AND, Swish is correct on the hooliganism in European soccer. It is very political and much of it goes back to WW2, Cold War and border/culture wars. Just this past summer at the European Championships the Russian fans and the English fans rioted and the Russian team were threatened with being kicked out. England v Scotland and Wales is always tense. As is England v Germany. I know Turkish soccer fans have had issues in the past too.

I will also highlight what I said in my first post...lets not forget the "Red Zone". This is football for those with ADD. I personally hate it because when I watch a game I want to see the development of a drive (or a defensive stop) from start to finish. I don't want to bounce all over the league seeing scoring plays. However, many people love it and for some it might be how they watch the game. If it is, there goes somebody's concentration and dedication to watch a game start to finish thus, ratings go down.

I also wonder if the Oregon Ducks/Golden St. Warriors style...score fast and score more than your opponent has made people bored with a good defensive game. Everything has to be glitzy, sexy and high scoring or, once again, people lose interest (defense in the NBA is way down). Thus, why baseball is no longer the #1 sport. Soccer is definitely becoming more popular but, many Americans who still don't like it say so because they think it is "boring". There is a reason why it is called the "beautiful game". When it is good, even at 1-0 it is tremendous from start to finish. Also, it is really freaking difficult to score in professional soccer.

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/monday-cable-ratings-october-17-2016/

ESPN’s broadcast of the game between the New York Jets and the Arizona Cardinals made “Monday Night Football” hit its season low with a 3.0 rating in adults 18-49 and just avoided an all-time low in total viewers with 8.4 million (the Sept. 26 game had 8.05 million viewers opposite a presidential debate). The 18-49 rating is three tenths lower than what the Tampa Bay vs. Carolina game scored last week.

Meanwhile, TBS’ coverage of Game 3 between the Blue Jays and Indians in the ALCS grabbed a 1.2 in the demographic. On USA, “WWE Monday Night Raw” managed to tick up from its previous 1.0 peak, to consistent 1.2 ratings throughout its three-hour broadcast. “Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood” however, dipped from a 1.2 to a 1.1 on VH1, and a late-night edition of “SportsCenter” grabbed a 1.0 for ESPN.

the jets/cards game was maybe the worst one I've seen in a long time. I couldn't keep it on

Maybe it's the Browns being so bad and a combination of the reasons I listed above, but I didn't even know who was playing on MNF until someone posted the teams and the score in the Indians thread. Sure, my focus was 100% Tribe and that's expected, but I'd normally at least know the teams and maybe have it playing on the other tuner in my DVR. Not last night.

j/c

Commercials.

The nfl is after money. But, they forget that the product is what earns them the money. They've gotten too big.

Just like nascar. 2 minutes of racing, then 2 minutes of commercials. At least in nascar, if you attend the race, you can still watch it. They don't stop the race for commercials like they do in the nfl.




Nascar got too big, and too expensive, and they are paying the price in lack of attendance and lack of t.v. viewership.

Same is/will happen to the nfl. Money money money. Parking, tickets, anything in the stadium. Money money money. They've taken away the average American fan and made it unaffordable for them to go to a game. They've replaced real fans with people that want to sit in the loge or club seats. But those people aren't generally speaking "die hard fans". People have been priced out of going to games.

Commercials and the slow game play are affecting the at home viewers.

Every one wants to get bigger to make more money. Nascar is learning - many tracks are now tearing out seats because it looks bad to see empty seats. Not many see the empty seats on tv though, because of all the commercials. People aren't going to watch.

The nfl will have that happen as well. Can't afford to go to the game, and don't want to waste all the time watching the game on t.v.

jmo

Has nothing to do with the fraudulent election being purported on the American people. Has nothing to do with baseball. Goodell is ruining the game, period.

Kickoffs used to be a game changing element, now they are irrelevant. Now it's, score a TD, 3min of commercials, kick extra point, more commercials. Goodell is turning the game into arena football.

Concussions? Who gives a damn, its like telling a fireman he might get burned on the job. Or a police officer he might get shot. IT'S THE RISK THE PLAYERS DECIDED TO TAKE!!!!

Penalties, geez what a fricken joke. You mean to tell me the offensive player can stiff arm anybody in the face mask without penalty and yet ANY defensive player does the same and an illegal hands to the face flag is thrown?
Interference calls are a complete joke.

Honestly, I was an avid fan, I can barely watch the crap this year....not much different than arena football.

Heck, I felt like I was watching an extended commercial break Saturday with a little bit of Ohio State football mixed in....

I agree with you Archie, it's too dang expensive to go to a game anymore, and once you get accustomed to HD it is quite a let down watching the game from afar.

Who has $500 to go to spontaneously go to a game? Who wants to pay $8 for a can of MILLER lite? Blech! Not too mention the corporate fan who could care less about the outcome.

Ticket from stubhub: 50$ (X2 with the wife)
Gas: 15$
Parking: 5$
Food: 10$

I'd she'll out 80-130 to go to a game, I don't know how you are spending 500 unless you're getting a hotel and whatnot.. I only like an hour and a half from Cleveland so..

I enjoy going to games. Watching it on TV has its perks, but there's nothing like being there.. maybe that's just me..

its no longer football?

its not allowed to be biggest baddest bullys win. its political correctness and 100 million dollar contracts to people not even starting.

its like sherman hogties jones and no flag. its the same few teams allowed to win because of some fantom flag. its somehow a fluke that our owner was an owner of the steelers.

after 911 the patriots win. after hurricane katrina the saints win. is it really football anymore?

I live an hour and a half away also, and there's no way I'd ever be able to do a game for 80 dollars for 2 people. Parking is 10 or more anywhere I've parked. What food did you get for 10?....Beers alone were 8 dollars the last game I went to. Don't even try and tell me to watch this team without drinking, lol. Tickets were more than 50. I agree, being there is great....but it's not worth it to me to go on a regular basis like I did years ago. Back in the day, we could decide to go the night before.... now there's financial planning involved.

I think #1 and #4 are spot on.

Way too many penalties in todays NFL. You spend 1/3 of your time watching and listeng to some ref.

While the NFL has slowed down, baseball has taken steps to speed up the game. That and baseball is a much cleaner game. The rules have largely remained the same for a century. You also have more parity. The worst teams in baseball have a much better chance of beating the best team then you do in the NFL. If a team gets down 2-3 runs, they still have a shot where in the NFL if you get down 3 scores, you are pretty much done.

Free Agency


Fans no longer get attached to the players like they use to. At one time guys played most of their careers for one team. They stayed with the team for years unless they were cut or traded. Free agency has been good for players, but bad for fans.

in terms of the cost of games, I'm lucky to sit in a loge when I do go ... free food is the best perk.

When I don't sit there, the food is both pricey and bad IMO. Cold nachos/cheese, stale popcorn, old chicken fingers/fries ... just bad food (for 10 times its value)

I am watching less NFL, and am less enthusiastic about what I do watch of it.
We have reached or are at a tipping point for viewers. The number of rules changes is rife. Yearly. And I still don't think anything but a coin toss is needed to decide what is a catch (ridiculous definitions, and can include actions after the event and even outside the field of play) and pass interference. Games are being swung or wins jeopardized when refs get really busy in the 4th quarter. The later in that quarter, the more impact it may have potentially. National Flag-toss League. I was taught that they are never an excuse, but the holding calls and such that are ignored bother me. The inconsistency is maddening. I also personally hate "Celebrity Ball" as well. NFL has moved from SI type of coverage to People magazine type garbage. I watch for sports competition, period. Spare me the social work and social engineering and opining and second guessing that is not sports coverage. I am equally worn out with large numbers of has-beens and nevers who stand or sit around and jaw at each other. Flavor of the Day lovefest for overkill coverage, names over games. Cover teams. Our priorities are wrong. Fans are not liking it. WE have overmanaged The Game with people who should know, but don't, when to leave The Game alone, but don't.

lol'd hard, so true. ESPN has turned into the Social Justice Warrior network.

Just last night after baseball I considered tuning into to some sports. Saw "His and Hers" was on, turned my TV off and went to bed.

His and Hers is incredibly unwatchable for me. Whenever ESPN gets into race discussion, I turn the channel. Not because I'm white and racist, but because I don't want to think about that stuff when tuning into ESPN.

Jemele Hill, Michael Smith, Cari Champion, etc seem to bring everything back to racial inequality. Just not my cup of tea.

I can have discussions on it, I can discuss opinions in great depth.....when I want to.

EVERY SINGLE TIME I see Jermell Hill it's a race ware debate. I can't even stand her face anymore because it reminds me of her constant harping. If she is on Mike and Mike in the mornings, I am not listening to Mike and Mike that morning.

ESPN is owned by Disney, extreme liberalism is not surprising, it's just annoying when I want to watch sports.

Jemele Hill is horrible. She's more annoying than Skip Bayless. At least Skip had a quirky crazy uncle charm about him. Jemele is just loud and annoying.

Also have to give props to the MLB and NBA. They are smart and have looked to expand globally. The NBA is killing it in China and Europe. Everybody knows about MLBs effort to expand in Central and South America. The NFL is going at a snails pace trying to expand in Europe.

Not sure who I despise more....Jemele Hill or Tony Rizzo.

Jemele.

Not even close. Depends on how much you watch TV vs listen to radio.

I don't think that has anything to do w/the decline in ratings here in America. In fact, I bet your typical American viewer would like to see fewer games played overseas rather than more.

I agree.

Also, rugby is big in Europe and Australia. They rather watch than than the slow pace of the NFL. It isn't even close, and one of the reasons NFL Europe died. The NFL is soft compared to the hits and pace of the game of rugby.

My apologies Vers. I was going in a different direction. As in I believe the NFL should have had a failsafe if ratings dropped in America. The MLB and NBA were smart and have backup plans.

It's okay. It's been a very good thread thus far. Many good replies.

The NFL in Europe is like soccer here.. They play basketball in China at a reasonably high level, Central and South American amateur baseball is arguably better than ours.. those are natural expansions.

Fitting the NFL into Europe is fitting a round peg into a square hole. Not saying it won't ever get done but it's not a natural fit like the other two you mentioned.

Not to mention, I'm not sure what kind of expansion you are looking for because the product on the field already has a talent dilution problem.. so adding 4 more teams, 6 more teams in Europe and Canada is going to do what exactly? Take the 4 best back-ups in the NFL right now, put them in as starters on 4 new teams and tell me those teams are going to be any good.

The average NFL owner saw the value of his franchise grow by 19% last year... Not sure about you, but I would take that for my investments.... Goodell works for the billionaire owners and they didn't get to be billionaires by being stupid about their money... if there was any consensus at all that Goodell was damaging the game (and by default, their investment) he would be gone in a heartbeat.

If ratings are dropping, maybe when it's time to renegotiate TV deals and the money drops, then the owners will look at Goodell.. but the fact remains, they can fire him anytime they want, which is one of the reasons I don't usually jump into the "Goodell is ruining everything" conversations.. Accountability starts at the top, the owners are the top, Goodell is just the face, the figurehead, the whipping boy... and I'd take that job all day long for the money Goodell makes.

I watch Sunday when Bills and or Browns or on thats it, I have no interest in Sun nite Mon nite Thur nite, I have been wrapped up in the Baseball all year with the Tribe also Cavs around the corner, Plus OSU , that 3 teams who are winners. I already know the Pats vs pick NFC for SB , No Drama

Back to the injuries ..

The packers wil be without there top 3 corners this week .. that means there dime CB will be there #1 ... and they only have 2 healthy corners on there roster ...

This week they will be starting a dude they traded for on Tuesday of this week at RB ..... and there #1 corner will be there dime corner ... as of right now .. they won't have a NICKLE corner cause they don't have 3 healthy cb's on the roster ...

And they have other BIG INJURIES ... no word on Buluga yet . And there missing 3 or 4 other starters ..

INJURIES make this game more a war of attrition than anything else ..

Injuries are huge and I am going to start a thread about them, but do you think they are adversely affecting TV ratings?

The NFL's selling point is the product. If you don't have elite athletes because they are hurt....why not just watch college football?

quote above by BpG:

"The NFL's selling point is the product. If you don't have elite athletes because they are hurt....why not just watch college football?"

Because - unfortunately for us - of product loyalty.

They need to let the them celebrate... I actually love it when they score and have a fun celebration, as a fan I will jump in and do the celebration dance with them. Come on watch the video of the Chinese football league, and tell me the touchdown celebrations are not awesome.

That's some good stuff lol

Personally I've felt for awhile that the games were over saturated with end zone celebrations and sack dances. When I was growing up, not everyone did all this stuff every play. There were only a few guys like Willie "Flipper" Anderson and Ickey Woods that were known for that kind of stuff.

But then, Barry Sanders has always been someone I've admired greatly. One of, if not the most electric players in NFL history, would simply hand the ball off to the ref when he scored. No dance, no shenanigans, no "look at, look at what I did". I've always admired that level of professionalism from someone of that talent level.

I feel you, football is entertainment, and I like to be entertained, so I like the fancy stuff, I am pretty high on the crazy scale so I absolutely will join in with them during a celebration at home, bar, or at the game. I think that craziness will get people excited.

Although I'm not a big fan of rugby, I love to watch Australian Rules Football. The action is fast-paced and virtually non-stop. I usually go outside for a smoke whenever there is a score in the NFL game I'm watching and when I get back, I find I've perhaps only missed a play or two...

if you ever watch an NFL game that goes into overtime, it's a thing of beauty to watch ... there are NO commercials (they already met their quota) and it's straight action. If the entire game was like that, I'd be so much happier

My whole thing Devil is I want the celebration to be proportional to the significance of the play..

You don't celebrate an INT in the 2nd quarter at midfield the same way you do with :20 on the clock in the game winning drive. You don't celebrate a TD when you already have a 3 TD lead the same way you do a TD that puts you ahead with less than a minute to go.. You don't celebrate a first down much at all unless it's the big one that allows you to run out the clock to win the game..

See what I'm saying? I like celebrations but what makes them fun is when they mean something... when they are celebrating something that is fairly insignificant it gets old.... and, like most people, when it's a team celebrating together is a lot more fun to watch than one jackwad trying to make it all about himself.

If so why did it just now start being an issue? I mean injuries have always been a huge part of the NFL...heck I think this is APs 3rd year that ended on IR??

I have another theory as to why the ratings are declining, and that is the lack of new stars being created. Think of this the SB winning QB last year was pushing 40, and the most consistant QB in the NFL is 39 (Brady). Where are the young guys that will replace them? Rogers has not been very good for over a year now, and Newton was incredibly good last year, but has been inconsistent throughout his career (back to the norm this year?).


The lack of big time QBs replacing the older guys I mentioned above (as well as Ben who is getting older) is a problem imo. QB isn't just the most important position on the field, but I would argue it is the most important position off the field as well for marketing purposes.

There just isn't any young QBs who have come in and set the league on fire like we were used to seeing in the 80s, 90s, and 00s.....jmho.

There is probably some truth to that.. the NBA has had a ton of success marketing PLAYERS while the NFL still markets teams. Even MLB, I think, has started having some success marketing players over teams with guys like Harper, Trout, Kershaw, etc... There are a lot of people out there wearing Cavs jerseys and watching Cavs games, who don't give a crap about the Cavs, but they love LeBron..

Then the NFL gets a guy like OBJ who has all of the talent in the world and yea, he acts a fool sometimes, but all the NFL talk is about how to get him to calm down..

I don't mean to compare tennis to football but when McEnroe and Connors retired, tennis had some of the greatest players it had ever had but what ratings it was used to plummeted because nobody had any personality... which brings us back to the point that we all want to see great players but we want to be entertained.

I also think it's harder to market WRs because they are less consistant week in and week out than a great QB can be. OBJ is a perfect example of a guy who will have just a monster game, but then doesn't have an impact on the game at all for the next two weeks.

QBs are so important to the NFL (and again not just on the field) because they touch the ball every play of every game. If they are consistently great they become HUGE stars because of it. I just don't see the new crop of guys (Rogers, Newton, Luck) doing whatthe guys who came before them doing........being consistently elite every year.

Luck very good this year....last year not so much

Newton had a great year last year.....has struggled to be consistent throughout his career.

Rogers is the closest out of this group, and he has been bad for a calendar year now.

I understand that with FA and thus parity (which might be another cause imo) that playing at a high level consistently is a lot tougher now days, but I do think the lack of elite QB play is hurting the product, and the casual fan.

I agree to an extent, brother. However, there are two fundamental differences with rugby and American football. I saw loads of Professional and International rugby games when I lived in London and the school I taught at was a rugby powerhouse. I also had this very discussion over beers MANY times with my English/Welsh/Scottish/Australian/NZ/South African friends who would all give me a bit of stick by saying American football is for _______ (insert word here that begins with "P").

Those two major differences are:

There is no forward pass in rugby. Therefore more often than not the person receiving the ball can see the defensive field of play and avoid blind side hits like we saw with Poyer or, the violent mid-field collisions we see between WR and LB/DB's.

The punt in American football puts a sole player in serious harm's way with 10 players barrelling at full speed to hit him. There is no play in Rugby on that scale. Because of this, while violent, Rugby doesn't have the huge hits we see in American Football that can be lethal.

That said, rugby players are clearly tough as nails.

Looks like a Middle School game.

My roommates cannot stop retching after every hard hit they watch. I don't know why they watch it tbh.

I had some errands to run today, and I heard three different radio stations talking about why NFL ratings are down. One of them was a local station.

I wonder if they read our board for material.

This is interesting:

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/news/fans-w...-172059483.html

Rush Limbaugh was talking about it today ... its HUGE news ...

Diam, after you posted about knowing 15 guys who quit the NFL over the social stuff I had guy at work tell me he has quit ALL sports over the social stuff.

I think for a lot of conservatives it is a bigger deal than I initially thought. This has been a great thread, and has brought out a lot of good topics. I've really enjoyed this.......much better than the usual stuff where no one is learning anything or trying to.

For several reasons NFL ratings are down.

I ain't going to see Josh Gordon catch for any number of yards.

PInk. Sorry, it's stupid. they should limit all pink wearing to ONE WEEK and THAT'S IT! (and if you disagree, you are pushing a social agenda too far)

Throw back uniforms. Each team should have two uniforms and Nike can go pound sand, get their noses out of the tent!

The 33 yard extra point. It's STUPID, and Bill Belichic ain't the emporer, nobody should have listened to him.
Seen any bungled snap extra points that ended up a 2 point conversion this year, probably not, because now the kicker would have to throw a 20yard pass.

And they can't even fake a kick for 2 points because they have to declare now. it's stupid.

The overtime rules. The old version was fine, sudden death, Must watch , and you know what, if you didn't like it, then win the game in regulation (60 minutes of gameplay, you had plenty of chances)

I think there is a LACK OF URGENCY TO WIN IN REGULATION THAT I'VE SEEN MULTIPLE TIMES BECAUSE OVERTIME IS TOO " FAIR TO BOTH SIDES" ANYMORE, it was better the old way.

Somewhere, years ago, they let players "catch" a ball by getting their hands under it, when it's a ground level.
Sorry, but they should amend this, it should be called a "trap" you should have to have your hands " off the ground" when you get them under the ball, there should have to be space between those players hands and the ground, otherwise it's not a catch.
And I think this would eliminate a lot of the non catches where they fall on top of the ball headed to the ground and roll over on top of it and put it on their chest and pretend they actually caught it.

changing rules in the last 2 minutes of a game. time clock rules as to whether a clock stops when a player gets out of bounds and whether it's in the last 2 minutes? That's stupid and difficult to understand.

The Cleveland Browns, can't beat anybody, and can't keep the nucleus of their team together in any way, from top to bottom, owner to waterboy.
If the Cleveland Browns were contenders,... DUH!!! ratings for the whole NFL would be up. Just look at the history.

There is no matchup I want to see. period.
Cant' think of any two teams that I say, wow, can you imagine if those two teams played vs each other?

I watched, (just as something different) a game at 9am from London. It was awful. the only first downs came from pass interference penalties. and the Euopean crowd does not understand enough to appredciate defense.

Throw back uniforms, ? I see a highlight, ? is that the packers, steelers, rams or chargers? ? why the throwback uniforms, there is just no need.
They look like from the 1940's anyways.

ONe problem, really should be addressed, is announcers with an agenda. Oh you can certainly tell, with the way they excite their voice, when the perceived favorite team does something little and no consequence, and they try to trump up the importance of it.

ESPN. Espn had a good 15-20 years but now I think they are, well , if they aren't doing more harm than good, it's a close tie.

I don't like the Tennessee Titans or Houston Texans, and I can't tell them apart, and don't try to force me to watch them.
The NFL was better, with only 28 teams.

10 win teams that don't make the playoffs, when 8 or 9 win teams DO make the playoffs, and

When a 10 win team has a road playoff game at a team with 8-9 or fewer wins because of their division. That's not something I want to watch either.
AND YOU KNOW WHAT! It probably makes the next round of the playoffs less competitive.

deflate gate, suspensions, strikes/work stopages, drug tests, social issues, CTE,

Anytime the biggest story of your sport for a particular period of time, (week, month, year,) is something that happens OFF THE FIELD, then you DESERVE for your ratings to be down.

Commissioner, (Former NFL commissioners, perhaps knew how to market the teams to the city, the teams to the identity, the identity to the matchup, the matchup to the rivalry,

Current commissioner tries to "DICTATE" what we're supposed to see, or want to see?
Move the pro bowl out of Hawaii. Move the draft to Chicago ( <<< the only one that may be a good idea) Force a team into Los Angelas
Are you happy they finaly got into Los Angelas? I couldn't give a hoot, but see
Commissioner is a show of what the owners want, not what the viewing public wants.

How about the oversaturation of broadcasting Pre season games on local TV.
I can see the Browns almost more on the pre season broadcast than on the regular season broadcast.

Free agency, is ruining football, well, The Browns haven't been very successful since free agency, and even other teams, If I can't match a star player to the team they play for, then it takes away from the watch of the game.

There might be too many times that they fire coaches, (all throughout the NFL), the Dolphins have changed more than once a year recently, I think,
and this changeover may be diluting the overall readiness of teams to play good football.

I'm quite certain, that there are too many specialized games, Thursday night, Monday night, sunday night, and things might be better if more were done for the Sunday 1 pm games.

ONe thing, I'm tired of watching, is " automatic 1st down penalties, that give a team playing badly, too poorly to get a score, another 3 options from inside the 5 yard line,
(hey here's a thought, just once in a while, admit that the team blew it, blew the opportunity!) No we can't have that, we must force the scoreing of the points
THAT'S STUPID and when I see, it! I don't want to see any more of that game, either outcome.

NObody gets points for downing the ball on the 0ne yard line, or inside the 5 after they punt. But the broadcasters act like they do.

Can you name 6 players on the Cleveland Browns who I should root for that I can be assured will be on the team this time next year?
Maybe, but I bet they're rookies.
(careers are too short)

It's still close to 80 degrees in Ohio. Maybe I'll step outside, instead of watch Geico!! interrupted by football
starting 20 years ago, I almost always watch " football and something else"
Football, when it's on, and another show, during the commercial breaks" and I don't miss either show

because that's how many commercials there are.

Peyton Manning, is a great football player, but ANNOYING to listen too talk, or watch on television, and the fact that he spent about the last 5-7 years making papa johns commercials, Nationwide commercials, and especially overannunciating "Omaha" may have been just SO annoying, that it drove hundreds of thousands of viewers away altogether.

The Chief's and Vikings, are not a part of the east coast elite, and thus, if they have been a part of a good matchup I'd like to see, ... it probably ain't on , in favor of the Eagles, Patriots, Giants, Jets, or Redskins. which matchup might not be worth seeing anyways.

(how many qb's have the Jets had?) the fact that NO team, almost none of them can stick with a quarterback 4 years plus, means, not only

NOt only do I not know who my team is going to put up to try to beat the other guy,

But I don't even know who the "other guy" is that has to be beat down!

Which is a big part in the statement, " there is no matchup I want to see, feel I need to see."

By the time I do place a player with a team is about the time he moves on.

You emptied the chamber with that post, I must say.

I want to add one correction. I believe there were 19 accepted penalties in the game and that there were actually 23 called.

I gave mcdonaugh credit ... he might hear some flak, but he's correct

Dolphins, Jets, Chiefs, Chargers, Ravens, Bengals, Browns, Titans, Jaguars, Colts, Giants, Rams, Cardinals, 49ers, Lions, Bears, Buccaneers, Saints, and Panthers.

That's a lot of mediocre at best and garbage teams in the league.

I couldn't agree more. Over the last decade it seems the bar for what kind of play deserves a celebration spectacle has continually lowered. We LBs and D lineman tackle the RB for a 2yrd loss and now the guy is marching, strutting, and flexing.

Kinda like they are posing in the shower room mirror after their Planet Fitness workout.


Lurker- Now, I have to admit I'd like to see a little more WWE action on a TD celebration. Something along the lines of Macho Man Randy Savage off the top turn buckle dropping that elbow on the football.

More COWBELL.

As I read it, I pictured an old, paranoid blind man unloading 8 rounds of buckshot in a clumsy 360 degree spin at 4am because two raccoons were having relations under his porch.

Last decade?? This has been pretty much the norm since Marc Gastineau in the 80's. Nothing new here.

Enough personal attacks. Leave Arch out of this.

I remember, years ago, after a play there was this unpiling of humanity from a big pile as guys got up slowly.. Now it's a freakin' sprint. The second the play is over (and sometimes BEFORE its officially over) players are fighting to get up as fast as they can so they can do "their move" for the camera.

And what is this thing with making a tackle and then running 20 yards up field gesturing to the crowd? What is that about?


I've never done that... as far as you know.


LOL, that would be awesome. I would like to see fewer celebrations but when there is something to celebrate, give them some room

I'm not watching much NFL this year mostly because my Browns are, well shall we say they are not very competitive. That's the way it is for me. I'd rather play my guitars or be shooting something, or even washing the dishes this year.

As for the rest of the NFL? The games have become far too dependent on the officials for their outcome. I can recall a time when blown calls weren't the norm. Now we have all these ticky tacky rules being enforced on top of just plain bone headed calls. Some times I'd swear they're trying to make the games more "fair" by adjusting the officiating. If I want to watch that I'll just go to a high school game on Friday night. At least I get paid to go to those.

Add in the fact that I'm extremely tired of hearing about players and their drama. I don't care about their domestic violence case, their DUI, drug abuse, political convictions, contract negotiations, product endorsements, murder trials, or any of the rest of it. I just want them to shut up and play football the way Paul Brown intended.

Blown calls have always been the norm.. but the more strict you make the rules, the harder it is to enforce them correctly.

The advent of the HD cameras and TVs, the fact that there are now 4 times more cameras on a game than their used to be and you can see every play from 10 angles with close ups and super HD slo-mo.. there is no way officials are going to look good. Just not going to happen.


Back in the day, you went up for a pass, you came down juggling the ball, you finally got control of it as you hit the ground and the ref made the signal, either "catch" or "no catch".. and you moved on... boo if you want to, cheer if you want to, the coach would come out in a rage and scream at the ref for a minute.... whatever, but the game moved on. Now the coach doesn't come out screaming, he listens into his headset and turns to watch the jumbotron.. BORING!!!! This whole notion of "fairness" that just because we have the technology to microdisect things to the gnats ass to try to get it right because that is more "fair" is a big part of the problem.. Football, sports in general, was more fun to watch when it was more about the human element than the technology.

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".

I don't watch much of the night games at all... I understand they want the West Coast Fans to get a chance to see the game.

But us East folk Fans have to work in the mornings.. (most) so we don't always get to see the important part of the game which is the ending..depending on the score of course.

I'm losing interest mostly due to what the players are getting paid.. the fans having to pay, and seeing pro's who don't know how to play the basics of the game.

I think there are quite a few people who feel the same way you do. Thanks for staying on topic and actually contributing to the discussion, rather than trying to derail it.

they cracked down on Kicking balls... they don't get the same type of love that a normal football gets. they are basically clean out of the package

I was going to start a thread on it's own on this..then remembered this thread and this is another reason why the Ratings are down in the NFL imo.


Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews may have knocked Chicago Bears quarterback Brian Hoyer out of the teams’ Thursday night game on Oct. 20, impacting one of the Packers’ biggest rivals, but it also cost him.

Matthews has been fined $18,231 for the hit that broke Hoyer’s left arm, after the NFL determined Matthews led with the crown of his helmet on the play. He was not flagged for the hit during the game. link

Clay wasn't even flagged... What the hell is Godawful thinking ? smh !

He probably got fined because he led w/his helmet.

looking at the pic..Clays feet are on the ground..his body is pretty much in an upright position.

Maybe he could have lowered his shoulders and hit Hoyer in the ribs breaking those.. That would be acceptable correct ?

Yeah. You just can't lead w/your helmet.

j/c...
I think the lower ratings for the NFL of course probably not on thing alone. But I think a big portion of it is the Big Time hit the NFL took with the concussion stuff. The liberal media who wants all to watch Soccer not Football came down hard on Football of all levels after the movie came out. The casual fan decided to pay attention elsewhere.

But football is now in the ranks of the POLITICAL CORRECT police as something EVIL and bad.

jmho

I was reading a report that they did a poll, and the biggest reason was guys like Kaepernick disrespecting the National Anthem. Other things were too many commercials and the length of the game.

How do you not lead with your helmet.. when I tackled i lowered my head and hit the guy with my shoulder pads. But my head was out in front of my shoulders...

Is that not leading with your helmet... or should it be no helmet contact first. It also appears Hoyer got pushed into Clay...By his own team mate.

I agree with those who say that they've alienated the base core of fans by trying to attract more viewers who weren't interested in the product in the first place. The feel good and political side stories are a complete turnoff to the loyal fan. The cheating, favoritism and dirty play by the popular players/teams getting slaps on the wrist is a real turnoff also. I'm sick of the biased calls, watching qb after qb of ours get blasted in the head and nothing done about it because it was James Harrison, Ndomakong Suh or Vontaze Burfict and the qb played for Cleveland. The bs defensive holding calls on our db's (not quite so bad this year...probably because they're not close enough to hold). This happens to other teams also when they're playing the Pats, Steelers, Seahawks, etc.

The killer call that convinced me that things are askew was that game a few years ago where Pittsburgh was awarded a first down when there was clearly a few inches of chain between the nose of the ball and the flag.

The NFL is clearly biased toward the popular teams, pandering to the bandwagon type folks vs. the hardcore fans. It seems that they're willing to accept the ebbs and flows of this type of customer base vs. the steady, linear income that appealing to the core would provide.

JC

I'm actually paying way more attention to the NBA than the NFL now.

it's just way more entertaining, and i actually like football more than basketball.

this is just my opinion, but Richard Sherman is right: the NFL wants these players to be robots. they are trying to take the emotion out of the game. they are making rules that take the big hits out of the game, one of the many reasons it attracted such a huge fan base in the first place.

the NBA season just started, and it's already way more fun to watch.

The players are allowed to celebrate. the bench antics every time a nasty dunk or crossover happens is absolutely hilarious to watch. the players just have so much crazy fun while playing, more fan interactions.

and the biggest thing of all: the players and coaches control the tempo. not the refs. the only way to stop a run is to call a TO. the refs aren't holding up the play on the field allowing teams to set up their defense.

and the way the NBA markets their players is simply way better than the NFL. the Curry and Lebron commercials are absolutely inspiring.

the NBA focuses on the players. the NFL is trying to focus on the team from a marketing standpoint. the NBA is way easier to have the drama.

GS Warriors are the villain. the Cavs are the hero's. people tune in just to see Durant and Curry. they tune in just to see what nasty crossover Kyrie is gonna do on some poor defender.

so for me, the drama, the characters, the pace of the game is just so much better in the NBA than the NFL.

and it didn't use to be like that. the NFL had all the action, drama, villains and hero's. now....they just seem like robots. it's just kind of boring.

It's a lot of reasons, but it's the over-saturation of the game. The NFL has games on 3 days a week, every week. I just don't understand.

Nobody likes Thursday games. Nobody wants to play to them, people don't want to go to them, but it's an inflow of money that they probably don't want to see go away.

I also don't understand the matchups. I get that they want everyone to play on a Thursday night, but Tennessee/Jacksonville? Really?

Monday night football hardly gets good matchups any more.

I think the NFL's biggest problem is that it's the league of the haves and the have nots. If you don't have a good quarterback, your team is probably not even worth watching. I get that Denver is doing their thing this year without great QB play but that is the exception.

I think the constant injuries to players is also a turn off.

i/c:

Some pretty good takes.