Health of the NFL

[pokerface40]

This is a broad topic and I hope this discussion doesn't turn into a flame war over politics. Is anyone concerned about the NFL as an entity? I know it is still a machine that prints money, but it seems like there is a new issue every week that pops up.

It has already been the 'ultimate soap opera' for a while, especially with the proliferation of the internet, social media, cable TV, fantasy, etc. This has created more exposure to players and their off the field lives, as well as analysis of every single facet of the NFL.

Now with the anthem protests, Goodell's rise to totalitarian power, CTE, teams moving cities, etc. etc. it seems like the casual fans are tuning out more and more. Like I said I know the NFL isn't going anywhere soon, but does anyone else feel a weird vibe about the game we all love?

Even quality of play seems to be down, as we in the dynasty community can attest to. What do you guys and gals think? To me it is getting irritating and I just want it to go back to x's and o's, without so much TMZ-like, reality show feel to the whole thing....

[rschroeder1]

I can't sleep so here goes:

1. Too many games. Football Sundays used to be such an event because of the limited quantity of games. The Thursday games have cheapened Sunday, and the ratings attest.

The Dolphins are featured in three straight primetime game...

2. The league has built an unsustainable model of competition. Gone are the days end a team could compete with an OK QB. As a result, there are only five or six teams that realistically have a shot. The rules on any contact (I don't mean targeting) by a defensive back have made it virtually impossible to build a winner with a defensive focus. Every rule is geared toward making games 49-45, which is apparently what the NFL thinks people want. There isn't enough talent to play every game like that. The NFL has ignorantly forgotten why we all became fans to start with, imo.

3. This unsustainable model has cheapened the postseason. What's the point when you know that certain teams have no chance because of their QB?

4. Tradition is being killed by all these team moves. As a football fan, a Broncos at San Diego late afternoon game had meaning. At LAC means nothing.

5. While the NBA and MLB have, in my opinion, really focused on improving the fan experience, the NFL remains at its core a propaganda organ. We will tell you what you like. No need to listen.

[StableOfRBs]

This is a broad topic and I hope this discussion doesn't turn into a flame war over politics. Is anyone concerned about the NFL as an entity? I know it is still a machine that prints money, but it seems like there is a new issue every week that pops up.

It has already been the 'ultimate soap opera' for a while, especially with the proliferation of the internet, social media, cable TV, fantasy, etc. This has created more exposure to players and their off the field lives, as well as analysis of every single facet of the NFL.

Now with the anthem protests, Goodell's rise to totalitarian power, CTE, teams moving cities, etc. etc. it seems like the casual fans are tuning out more and more. Like I said I know the NFL isn't going anywhere soon, but does anyone else feel a weird vibe about the game we all love?

Even quality of play seems to be down, as we in the dynasty community can attest to. What do you guys and gals think? To me it is getting irritating and I just want it to go back to x's and o's, without so much TMZ-like, reality show feel to the whole thing....

To be fair a lot of these "issues" aren't new, granted CTE is getting more coverage now but CTE and concussions have been getting press for several years now, teams have moved cities before and there's always drama involved because it's a huge thing both economically and for the fans.

As for Goodell I don't think it's really a rise to power, he's got just as much power now as he did in 2011 when the last collective bargaining agreement was negotiated. His powers/responsibilities/restrictions/etc were all negotiated and given to him by the players union and the owners, which is why I find it difficult to hate him for some of the decisions he's made. It's like giving someone a loaded gun and going "use this at your discretion" then getting mad when he pulls the trigger.

[DynastyDeepDive]

We shouldn't get too high or too low. Yes, the NFL is getting some bad press and going through a bad time. Next year all of this will be a distant memory if there are no suspensions and kneeling drama.

The lack of quality QB's to me is the primary reason for bad football. Not sure what can be done about that. I also think Goodell gets a bad rap. Don't understand where all the hate comes from. Dude has some tough decisions to make sometimes and everyone is a critic.

I'm still glued to every game and just don't listen to the noise. Enjoy it people. In a couple of months it will be over and we will be discussing rookie drafts.

[ericanadian]

The NFL is likely headed for decline, but it will be slow. I think the quality of play is the main reason for this and as more parents remove their kids from playing football due to CTE concerns, they're going to draw from a smaller and smaller talent pool. The main issue is, everything they do to counter this (reducing contact at the youth level, reduce practice time, etc) results in lower quality football as well. Worse yet, the league is still being heavily impacted by injuries and they seemingly have no solution.

[Pac_Eddy]

I agree that there are too many different game times per week. They've saturated our appetite, so I'm not as excited about any one game.

All the issues mentions is normal - there's always something keeping the NFL in the news & the attention is not necessarily bad for the league.

I used to be big on scrapping two preseason games per team, but with the quality of play down, I'd leave that alone or remove one game. I really hope they don't go to 17 regular season games (see: saturation), but if they do, then for sure less preseason.

I also think that less offseason practice is hurting o-lines quite a bit. Maybe teams just need time to adapt though and we'll see a return to quality play.

[onetwothree]

The NBA has only 1-2 teams with any chance of winning a title and half the league is tanking for multiple seasons at a time to try and build a team but the NBA is doing great. A commissioner the media likes goes a long way. The narratives about the NFL dying were applicable to the NBA when that league was trying to enforce dress codes and teams were relocating or holding their cities hostage for new arenas. Quality of the product was questioned as one and done guys weren't ready. Refs were influencing games. Sound kinda familiar?

It's all cyclical and it's all marketing and PR. NFL is just shooting itself in foot with out of touch owners while for all the NBA's faults, they've had an influx of new owners who have leveraged their backgrounds to create a fan friendlier experience even as their teams purposely lose games.

I think the sport is doing fine. Ratings are a terrible way to measure anything especially since the NFL has the Red Zone channel. The league just needs to take a step back and not try to squeeze every little bit out of consumers in terms of money but even more importantly, time, as games are too expensive and take too much time to watch over 3 days and 3+ hours each.

Just in the last couple Super Bowls there's been the biggest comeback ever and one of the most dominant defenses. Something amazing happens every week. It's all there if you look for it instead of letting the media tell you everything that's wrong with it.

[pokerface40]

The NBA has only 1-2 teams with any chance of winning a title and half the league is tanking for multiple seasons at a time to try and build a team but the NBA is doing great. A commissioner the media likes goes a long way. The narratives about the NFL dying were applicable to the NBA when that league was trying to enforce dress codes and teams were relocating or holding their cities hostage for new arenas. Quality of the product was questioned as one and done guys weren't ready. Refs were influencing games. Sound kinda familiar?

It's all cyclical and it's all marketing and PR. NFL is just shooting itself in foot with out of touch owners while for all the NBA's faults, they've had an influx of new owners who have leveraged their backgrounds to create a fan friendlier experience even as their teams purposely lose games.

I think the sport is doing fine. Ratings are a terrible way to measure anything especially since the NFL has the Red Zone channel. The league just needs to take a step back and not try to squeeze every little bit out of consumers in terms of money but even more importantly, time, as games are too expensive and take too much time to watch over 3 days and 3+ hours each.

Just in the last couple Super Bowls there's been the biggest comeback ever and one of the most dominant defenses. Something amazing happens every week. It's all there if you look for it instead of letting the media tell you everything that's wrong with it.

Wow great post!

[dynastyninja]

The interest just isn't there like it used to be. We're looking for all these specific reasons, but I don't think there's any one factor. People just aren't as interested.

[Oddball456]

I do wish they would get rid of Thursday Night Football, and to a lesser degree the London games. Keep it to Sunday and one MNF game.

[Ray Finkle]

Global warming, lingering Obamacare, the NRA and Opra Winfrey share in the blame as well.

[slaughterrt]

I do tire of the increasing reality-tv-type drama that has been invading the sport (not specific to the NFL, but I see it more here because I mostly pay attention to football). With the constant breaking news of so-and-so getting a DUI or what’s-his-face getting charged with domestic assault, to the transparency of everyones’ day to day, second to second updates of a player’s personal life via social media...it’s impossible to navigate the muddled NFL newsfeed to find information that actually important (to me anyway). Now all of this off-the-field stuff is spilling over into the field in the way of social activism and protesting. I don’t even bother turning the games on anymore until the game has started. I don’t care to hear who is standing, who is sitting, who is kneeling. What I care about is who is playing and how they are playing.

Side note: I do believe that every person has the right to protest a cause. I respect that and I know that this is one of the fundamental rights of the Constitution of the United States. However, I do not believe that a player has the right to use their NFL employment to protest a cause, in the official capacity of being an NFL player...in uniform, pre-game, during the game, or post-game. If a player wants to protest as a citizen, I 110% support that. But if a player wants to protest as an NFL player, I do not support this at all.

Apologies if I took the political route with this side note, was not my direct intention. I simply could not explain without some sort of disclaimer.

As far as the NFL being in trouble...I don’t think the league is going down the toilet. Not completely anyway. The owners are out of touch with reality / the common folk. Goodell is the whipping boy / sacrificial lamb of the owners. Players’ personal lives are put on display constantly (whether by themselves or by other means). Poor officiating / rule enforcement inconsistencies. What the hell constitutes a catch anymore?

I miss football. Pure football. But it looks like we are stuck with what we have for now...unless of course we protest.

[onetwothree]

I do wish they would get rid of Thursday Night Football, and to a lesser degree the London games. Keep it to Sunday and one MNF game.

Thursday night games should be limited to season opener, Thanksgiving and maybe a couple of select dates that they can really hype the game up. Limit it only to teams coming off a bye. Setting some parameters around the dates can give it a premium feel while presumably improving quality with teams getting adequate rest.

[Balzac]

The NBA has only 1-2 teams with any chance of winning a title and half the league is tanking for multiple seasons at a time to try and build a team but the NBA is doing great. A commissioner the media likes goes a long way. The narratives about the NFL dying were applicable to the NBA when that league was trying to enforce dress codes and teams were relocating or holding their cities hostage for new arenas. Quality of the product was questioned as one and done guys weren't ready. Refs were influencing games. Sound kinda familiar?

It's all cyclical and it's all marketing and PR. NFL is just shooting itself in foot with out of touch owners while for all the NBA's faults, they've had an influx of new owners who have leveraged their backgrounds to create a fan friendlier experience even as their teams purposely lose games.

I think the sport is doing fine. Ratings are a terrible way to measure anything especially since the NFL has the Red Zone channel. The league just needs to take a step back and not try to squeeze every little bit out of consumers in terms of money but even more importantly, time, as games are too expensive and take too much time to watch over 3 days and 3+ hours each.

Just in the last couple Super Bowls there's been the biggest comeback ever and one of the most dominant defenses. Something amazing happens every week. It's all there if you look for it instead of letting the media tell you everything that's wrong with it.

=best post

[Friction]

My interest has definitely decreased, though doing things like turning on after kickoff, paying less attention to the media, and completely cutting out ESPTMZ has helped. I do wish they would move some of the rules back into the defense's favor, as many game become almost unwatchable at times. Rating are down almost 15% over the last two years combined, that's a really big number. We can point to some of the streaming, etc., but they are still down. Luckily there are enough exciting games and the playoffs look to be very wide open this year, which will help. I find myself enjoying life more on Sundays as opposed to parking on the couch the entire day, so it is probably a good thing. Entertainers will always be there to entertain in one way, shape, or form, so I surely do not feel like I am missing out at all. The over -saturation of games needs to be addressed, but again probably will not. I tend to forget there is even a game on Thursdays most weeks, and have to double check the matchup. I think they will get a better hold of it once the political stuff blows over.