Interesting...

The Wall St Journal
Is It Time to Sell Your NFL Team?
Football is the biggest sport in the country, by far. But there are worries the party is beginning to wind down.

Quote:Has the NFL peaked? The TV ratings aren’t climbing like they used to. The NFL still dominates baseball and hockey and those know-it-alls at the NBA, but the inertia is concerning.

Quote:You’re even having issues with attendance. You see empty seats on Sunday—you never used to see empty seats.

in before someone says this has nothing to do with the kneeling dipshits...

Have y'all seen some of the ridiculous calls this preseason? Not only are they dealing with the kneeling BS, but they are destroying the on-field product as well.

(08-19-2018 12:42 PM)UofMstateU Wrote:  in before someone says this has nothing to do with the kneeling dipshits...

I watch less than i used to primarily because of the kneeling.

I'm an ex-Rams fan and St. Louis already made that choice - hell no. Imo the ratings decline primarily has to do with the following:

(1) General oversaturation of football in general. People are getting burnt out on the nonstop NFL talk in sports media, Thursday night football, and the expansion of non-Saturday college games.
(2) Natural changes in media consumption. TV ratings are down across the board, not just the NFL; the availability of streaming options and the proliferation of condensed highlights are shifting viewing habits from sitting down for four hours in favor of four-minute snippets.
(3) Decline in quality of play. The game just isn't fun to watch, you're seeing blowouts left and right with shrinking parity as well.
(4) Bad PR. The NFL has consistently made bad decisions in search of profit, has failed to address player discipline problems, lets bad owners F over cities in search of new stadiums or markets, and does little to nothing about player safety. After a while it just pushes people away.
(5) Pricing. Games are too expensive for the common fan, the game has been getting corporatized for some time now.

I don't like the kneeling either, but honestly I think the controversy is mostly the extra fuel on the fire instead of the root cause. Even if the stupidity surrounding that never started you'd still see the factors listed above causing lower ratings.

What goes up must come down. I live in the D.C. area and this year one of the big stories has been the NFL team there is no longer a waiting list for season tickets. While I can’t say kneeling or pressure to change the team name has not driven away some fans, a bad On the field product for a decade plus and expensive but bad gameday experiences is what turns the fans off. The Redskins owner and management is what is hated.

(08-19-2018 01:13 PM)Mr_XcentricK Wrote:  What goes up must come down. I live in the D.C. area and this year one of the big stories has been the NFL team there is no longer a waiting list for season tickets. While I can’t say kneeling or pressure to change the team name has not driven away some fans, a bad On the field product for a decade plus and expensive but bad gameday experiences is what turns the fans off. The Redskins owner and management is what is hated.

you should've watched the Bristol race last night......

NASCAR is the poster child how to screw a fan base....

btw, whatever happened to that redskin thingy that was soooooooooooooo impotent.....

I'm pretty sure it's been said before: the most serious decline is with the casual fans. I'm one.

Previously I would watch maybe a quarter or a half of any random game on a Sunday while I digested my lunch. Occasionally I might watch a full game.

With the introduction of the kneeling crap, it was very easy to turn those numbers down to zero. I don't miss it a bit.

(08-19-2018 01:40 PM)AdoptedMonarch Wrote:  I'm pretty sure it's been said before: the most serious decline is with the casual fans. I'm one.

Previously I would watch maybe a quarter or a half of any random game on a Sunday while I digested my lunch. Occasionally I might watch a full game.

With the introduction of the kneeling crap, it was very easy to turn those numbers down to zero. I don't miss it a bit.

the NoFunLeague can kiss my lily white one......they lost me long ago with all their bs rhetoric....

I can't remember the last SB I watched.....I think Montana was still playing....

they're right there with the NBA.....

MLB figured it out.....

#idiots

(08-19-2018 01:40 PM)AdoptedMonarch Wrote:  I'm pretty sure it's been said before: the most serious decline is with the casual fans. I'm one.

Previously I would watch maybe a quarter or a half of any random game on a Sunday while I digested my lunch. Occasionally I might watch a full game.

With the introduction of the kneeling crap, it was very easy to turn those numbers down to zero. I don't miss it a bit.

Same here. There's a lot of us.

The NFL has a plan to woo back those viewers and fans who feel alienated.

NFL's first male dancers will hit the sidelines this season


Thanks, NFL! This Bud's for you!

(08-19-2018 02:00 PM)umbluegray Wrote:  The NFL has a plan to woo back those viewers and fans who feel alienated.
NFL's first male dancers will hit the sidelines this season
Thanks, NFL! This Bud's for you!

Somehow I don't think that's the right target audience.

(08-19-2018 02:02 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(08-19-2018 02:00 PM)umbluegray Wrote:  The NFL has a plan to woo back those viewers and fans who feel alienated.
NFL's first male dancers will hit the sidelines this season
Thanks, NFL! This Bud's for you!

Somehow I don't think that's the right target audience.

Yeah, it makes me wonder if they've given up and are now going after a different demographic.

(08-19-2018 01:35 PM)stinkfist Wrote:  

(08-19-2018 01:13 PM)Mr_XcentricK Wrote:  What goes up must come down. I live in the D.C. area and this year one of the big stories has been the NFL team there is no longer a waiting list for season tickets. While I can’t say kneeling or pressure to change the team name has not driven away some fans, a bad On the field product for a decade plus and expensive but bad gameday experiences is what turns the fans off. The Redskins owner and management is what is hated.

you should've watched the Bristol race last night......

NASCAR is the poster child how to screw a fan base....

btw, whatever happened to that redskin thingy that was soooooooooooooo impotent.....

Not to change the subject but who could believe that the NASCAR wizards had no clue why the sport was popular. Amazing!

But to the NFL, I gave them up over 10 years ago. Still watch Redskins games despite all of the pain involved with that. Too many stupid rules; endless adjudications of play outcomes; endless analysis by TV "experts". It's just a game. It's supposed to be fun. Unfortunately fun and common sense died some time ago in a double suicide.

I didn't leave the NFL. The NFL left me.

(08-19-2018 02:04 PM)umbluegray Wrote:  

(08-19-2018 02:02 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(08-19-2018 02:00 PM)umbluegray Wrote:  The NFL has a plan to woo back those viewers and fans who feel alienated.
NFL's first male dancers will hit the sidelines this season
Thanks, NFL! This Bud's for you!

Somehow I don't think that's the right target audience.

Yeah, it makes me wonder if they've given up and are now going after a different demographic.

Yep, but I'll bet none of you knew that the SF 69s were changing their colors to the Rainbow colors. Yep, next year. I heard it on CNN from an anonymous source.

They quit kneeling, I'll start watching.

(08-19-2018 04:13 PM)Claw Wrote:  They quit kneeling, I'll start watching.

Not good enough for me.

The take-a-knee BS wasn’t the reason I stopped watching. It was just a reminder to keep on not-watching.

(08-19-2018 04:04 PM)olliebaba Wrote:  

(08-19-2018 02:04 PM)umbluegray Wrote:  

(08-19-2018 02:02 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(08-19-2018 02:00 PM)umbluegray Wrote:  The NFL has a plan to woo back those viewers and fans who feel alienated.
NFL's first male dancers will hit the sidelines this season
Thanks, NFL! This Bud's for you!

Somehow I don't think that's the right target audience.

Yeah, it makes me wonder if they've given up and are now going after a different demographic.

Yep, but I'll bet none of you knew that the SF 69s were changing their colors to the Rainbow colors. Yep, next year. I heard it on CNN from an anonymous source.

They've got the products.

I wonder if "Out of Stock" and "This product is currently unavailable" means they're flying off the shelf or they can't move them.

(08-19-2018 04:00 PM)usmbacker Wrote:  I didn't leave the NFL. The NFL left me.

The only male "dancers" that would be acceptable are a bunch of fat guys doing barrel rolls.