Could declining ratings be a good thing?

[Coach]

Short answer yes. Bring back football the way it was.

Move Kickoffs back 5 yards. Fans get jacked up, or they used to at the start of the game. Now we see touchbacks.

Allow a flag challenge on personal fouls and any play that happened before it was blown dead.

Injuries happen, so why not let all 53 men dress and play?

 

[madinsomniac]

Because they got sued for a couple billion dollars abd dont want to again...

 

[MTC]

The trend is that nobody really cares about sports anymore. My generation does a lot more gaming and micro breweries now

 

[Coach]

The trend is that nobody really cares about sports anymore. My generation does a lot more gaming and micro breweries now

Please tell me you are over 25 and not living with your parents with assets and a driving license. Some of your generation...I just don't get how they view the world, but heck yes for micro breweries!

I think the young girls do gaming these days...or don't they?

To the others see what happens when you take away dodgeball?

 

[xjx]

Mo ve kickoffs back. No 2 minute warning. Fewer commercials. Bring back maxim violence football from the 70's..

 

[Omar10213245]

lets make it to where when a ref screws up a call, a fan is hand-picked to come out of the crowd and kick him in the nuts.

 

[Coryea]

Over saturation.

 

[MTC]

Please tell me you are over 25 and not living with your parents with assets and a driving license. Some of your generation...I just don't get how they view the world, but heck yes for micro breweries!

I think the young girls do gaming these days...or don't they?

To the others see what happens when you take away dodgeball?

I haven't lived with my parents in 4 years. Video gaming is the craze with the youngsters today. I have two younger brothers. One is senior in high school and the other is in 8th grade. We often have them over in the evening. I get first hand experience what the young ones are into these days. And yes girls do game. Look up SS sniper wolf. She's hit material

 

[Steelr4evr]

Bring back the core of the game ! Get the refs out of every other ******* play throwing flags. Cut the commercials. Cut the bullshit. It's a high contact sport don't play if that bothers you. You can and will get hurt. Boxers and mma fighters know the risks and yet they still fight. They really need to get past this in the NFL or just take out all contact.

 

[MTC]

Bring back the core of the game ! Get the refs out of every other ******* play throwing flags. Cut the commercials. Cut the bullshit. It's a high contact sport don't play if that bothers you. You can and will get hurt. Boxers and mma fighters know the risks and yet they still fight. They really need to get past this in the NFL or just take out all contact.

I wish so. I think the loss in viewership is from the hardcore fans tbh

 

[Ghost of Frenchy Fuqua]

For now they're the Steelers' newest fans...but will they still be aboard in 15 years?:

 

[MTC]

My opinion:

Football is a high contact sport. The media pushes all these studies of brain damage etc. which is worrisome to the casual fan. As a result, the league has pushed all these rules to draw in more fans. All the while changing the game for those of us who followed through out life. A lot of hardcore fans are unhappy with the new rules etc. Thats my opinion

The fans the league is trying to draw in just do not buy in at all. So personally I don't like the trend the league is going

 

[Steeler Pride]

I think the 3 biggest issues leading to decreased ratings are as follows:

1. Over saturation of the product, when it is on 3 days a week no longer is game day special.
2. Ambiguous and undefinable rules, does ANYBODY really know what a catch, fumble, or legal hit is. When former heads of officiating get it wrong half the time is it any surprise that the officials on the field get it wrong? How sad is it that a group of 12 year old kids playing back yard football know and can agree to what a catch is when they are playing but the NFL has no freaking clue.
3. Player protection has watered down the game, yet the protection is inconsistent at best. I understand after the concussion lawsuit and award that there is more of an emphasis on protecting players, but why is it only certain players. Avoiding head contact should apply to EVERY position. If a RB drops his head at the point of contact that should be just as bad as a DB head hunting a "defenseless receiver." Once again, if the goal is to minimize head trauma then 2/3 of players are not getting any benefit. Why does Brady, Brees, Manning...etc get protected more than Roethlisberger, Newton, RG3...etc. There is no rhyme or reason so it comes off as favoritism and playing against a stacked deck.

 

[Coach]

I haven't lived with my parents in 4 years. Video gaming is the craze with the youngsters today. I have two younger brothers. One is senior in high school and the other is in 8th grade. We often have them over in the evening. I get first hand experience what the young ones are into these days. And yes girls do game. Look up SS sniper wolf. She's hit material

So girls game these days! Back in my day, they laughed their @sses off for those throwing dice and looking at charts. I guess it's a great time to be a gamer. Back in my day, they were labeled nerds, but the nerds got the last laugh, at least the ones I saw at my 20-year high school reunion!

Most of them have nice jobs and a surprisingly good looking of their luggage wife.

The bully types and jocks did not do so well.

 

[wig]

My generation does a lot more gaming and micro breweries now

Support your local Micro Brewery!

 

[Ironcitysteelers]

I think the 3 biggest issues leading to decreased ratings are as follows:

1. Over saturation of the product, when it is on 3 days a week no longer is game day special.
2. Ambiguous and undefinable rules, does ANYBODY really know what a catch, fumble, or legal hit is. When former heads of officiating get it wrong half the time is it any surprise that the officials on the field get it wrong? How sad is it that a group of 12 year old kids playing back yard football know and can agree to what a catch is when they are playing but the NFL has no freaking clue.
3. Player protection has watered down the game, yet the protection is inconsistent at best. I understand after the concussion lawsuit and award that there is more of an emphasis on protecting players, but why is it only certain players. Avoiding head contact should apply to EVERY position. If a RB drops his head at the point of contact that should be just as bad as a DB head hunting a "defenseless receiver." Once again, if the goal is to minimize head trauma then 2/3 of players are not getting any benefit. Why does Brady, Brees, Manning...etc get protected more than Roethlisberger, Newton, RG3...etc. There is no rhyme or reason so it comes off as favoritism and playing against a stacked deck.

Also, and what I think is the biggest reason. Media has changed. There are so many ways to watch games now such as tablets that do not get counted in the ratings.

 

[SteelerFan448]

Decline ratings should help because the NFL will look to fix that. Get rid of gimmicks, get rid of Thursday night games, reduce commercials, clearly define the most basic rules of the game. Those four things alone would regain the interest of the big NFL fans.

 

[mightyguru]

My 14 year-old daughter watches with me a little but never watches actual tv.

 

[bornafan]

On top of all that has already been stated, a lot of today's NFL fans are fantasy-obsessed and content with checking in on activity and results of multiple games via phones/pc's, not necessarily camping out in front of the tube to watch the game. At the end of the day, these fans can roll into work to talk football with all the headlines and highlights as if they actually invested the time and watched the game.

 

[slashsteel]

1 ****** refs which seem to tilt towards keeping games close
2 Godell the tool that he is. With his uneven decisions toward the players, cheaters, and tweaking the game with dumb *** rules.
3 spreading out the product, games here there everywhere /over saturation of the game
4 fantasy football - some of the younger generation is changing the channel to the red zone, or online monitoring for the game...
5 game prices increased, and America is more cash strapped than perhaps 10 years ago.......