Why is viewership down so much for NFL games so far this year?

I would say that the NFL just doesn't "get" the modern era

I can watch college games anywhere today, I have roku's and chromecasts, tablets and phones all have watchespn, foxsports, the really crappy CBS sports app and Dish Anywhere so I can tune in wherever I am to whatever I want. NFL only allows Verizon Mobile on a monthly cost model, ummm no thanks, its boradcast TV for crying out loud why can't I stream it legally? What is the difference (well the difference is the billions they got from Verizon, but how many eyes did that cost?)

same with replays where only nfl network has them

then there is this, not letting the teams interact with the fans due to content rights garbage

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ight-of-kirk-cousinss-interception/?tid=a_inl

it's my opinion that the NFL is killing itself to try to desperately hold onto content during a time when we all expect to get content in much easier ways

that and their games are boring and the Falcons got screwed by the refs yesterday

I have spoken to some folks that are NFL die-hards in the northern cities where NFL ball is king. They have all told me in some similar fashion that they choose America over NFL. Some even told me they have sold their season tickets. Boycotting is gaining steam as the NFL chooses to kowtow to the PC nonsense and the Anti-PC backlash is growing exponentially everywhere. Most know it's true, whether they agree with it or not.

Bamabuzzard said:

For me it's the politics. I've voiced it on here maybe once or twice but I've grown aggravatingly tired of politics being mixed together with my sports entertainment. So I cut it off. And I'll be quite honest. If college football begins to do the same I'll cut it off as well. I have no problem pulling the plug on both.

The popularity and demand for the NFL as a product is reaching or maybe has reached its peak, IMO. Many of the things mentioned are contributing factors to it's plateau and beginning decline. I know many of the people in my "football circle" have stopped watching because of many of the things mentioned in this thread. The average viewer doesn't want politics mixed with their sports. Sure, they'll tolerate a little dose of it. But when it gets to be apart of the primary broadcast, people start to turn off tv's or switch channels.

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Here is comedian Bill Burr on the Conan O'Brien show voicing exactly what you are talking about. Stick around in the video to see him mock FSU's chant.

Funny stuff.


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The regular season doesn't mean as much anymore. Almost half the league makes the playoffs. Same with MLB and the NBA. I miss the days of East, West, Central and ONE Wild Card team in the playoffs. There is no sense of urgency in pro sports like there is in College Football.

GrayTide said:

I quit watching pro football, along with the NBA and MLB years ago. I don't know what is hurting viewership now and quite frankly don't care. College football is moving toward the pro model and when it gets there I'll quit college football too.

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That day is not far off imo. I remember reading a (comic) piece about the NCAA getting tired of Bama winning the NC title year after year and proposing a college/NFL league.

Local radio show this morning was talking about this and they mentioned that Gruden on MNF made a comment about the number of penalties and how hard it was to watch the game.

The penalties is just one problem with the NFL IMHO.

None of this is to excuse the poor quality of football we saw, a level so low that ESPN announcer Sean McDonough felt compelled to acknowledge the obvious.

"The way this game has been officiated," McDonough said, "is not something that anyone wants to watch."


Later, analyst Jon Gruden chimed in: "Tough game to watch, with all the penalties."

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LINK

Must say that I (my opinion) think Roger Goodell has become a big negative for the NFL (has for me anyway). When off field issues dominate the headlines I get disinterested in a hurry. Whether the football has a half a pound of air less than it should have doesn't interest me. What Brady knew and when he knew it is not important to me. I do not have a need to hear about everybody's dirty laundry, salary cap issues, union vs owner struggles, etc. Football on the field is what it is all about. When an avg fan gets priced out of the market (avg cost of ticket appx $125) I have a hard time supporting the game. Same thing happened to Nascar . Greed and the politics that surrounds and the fore mentioned issues is mostly what drives me away from the NFL.

The energy and passion that surrounds college football can't be beat. RTR

Edit (spending more time with my grandkids might have something to do with it also.

BamaBrass said:

The regular season doesn't mean as much anymore.

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Tell that to the Patriots and steelers last year. They were both probably the best two teams last year, but they took 1 or 2 games off and let the Broncos and Cincinatti earn a home game. Had the pats clinched home field instead of throwing a game with the jets then we are probably talking about possibly a 3 peat right now.

Also the argument can be flipped back onto college football as well in that you can say the 1st 6 games mean very little compared to the last 7. Losing to Vt at home gets you in but losing to a top 5 team later in the season doesn't. Or getting blown out against Texas but losing on a last second fg against a top 5 team doesn't.

81usaf92 said:

Tell that to the Patriots and steelers last year. They were both probably the best two teams last year, but they took 1 or 2 games off ...

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Taking one or two games off in the SEC will land you in the Music City Bowl.

Bamabuzzard said:

But if they would have taken those same two games off when there weren't as many playoff spots they may have not made the playoffs at all. Where as they were able to take one or two games off and still make the playoffs. It's all relative to what you're comparing it to.

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The pats still would.

Politics PERIOD!

Sports was my great escape and now it is in the DNA. It is why I will not watch ESPN unless I have to and I've been done with the NFL with the spectacle this year. Enough.


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Bamabuzzard said:

The point still stands. You are allowed to lose more games in today's NFL model and still make the playoffs than before the playoff expansion.

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That's the nature of the playoffs, but it doesn't make the regular season meaningless amongst the better teams. If you add even 2 spots in the current CFP then you are asking a 2 loss Stanford team last year to join the party. Its an inevitable trade off, but its going to happen in CFP and everyone knows it. Honestly the NFL should go 6 best teams in a conference and ditch the divisional champ AQ thing, and people would be ok with it.

But the regular season is still very important for teams wanting to make the super bowl. Positioning and being hot at the end of the season are the main two things to get to the superbowl. This is the list of the last 10 years of both the AFC and NFC championship games determined off of regular season records and tie breakers


the 2015 game was Denver over New England at Denver bringing the last ten AFCCG home team's record to 9-1 or 90% victory for having a better record in the regular season

The NFC is a little more even, but still in favor of the home team

The 2015 NFCCG was Carolina over Arizona in Carolina bringing the home team win total in the CCG to 6-4 (60%)

So the better regular season team wins 15 out 20 matchups 75% of the time. This makes doing good in the regular season a priority for teams that are seriously vying for a SB

Bamabuzzard said:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/amy-schumer-donald-trump-joke-prompts-200-people-151524058.html


I applaud these people who walked out. Amy Schumer uses her comedy show to trash Donald Trump. 200 people up and leave. Good for them. This is what I'm talking about and I hope this trend continues. I'm sure these people did not pay to go to a comedy show to hear a political rant.

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im guessing that they didn't get a refund, so on some level, they did.