Poll says protests are biggest reason for rating decline

[Coach]

Kapernick simply isn't good enough to offset the negative publicity he brings. If he was, the Bengals would sign him in a heartbeat.

True, but he's better than Landry Jones.

The guy is radio active now.

I'm glad he's out of football. If he comes back, someone tell him the USA flag is on the helmet. He can play without it. Then maybe someone can knock some sense into him,

 

[MTC]

This why I am so thankful for hockey and the NHL. Sad, but they too will suffer the effects that come from gross income and advertising influence as their popularity grows. Last true vestige of professional sports.


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Even the NHL is slowly catering towards the casual fan. That's the territory of becoming popular I suppose

 

[Steelr4evr]

Hard core fans will watch, but I do know some casual level fans who didn't watch because of the protesting. The main reason a player like Kapernick was blackballed. And those causal fans are happy he's out of the game.

Us hardcore fans are damn near fed up with all of the b.s.. you add in all of the cupcake rule changes against defenses,guys flopping on the field every other play,endless commercial breaks,guys holding out from camp who are getting paid serious $$$,cheating thats left to go on and on and it's just damn unwatchable.

I watch the Steelers mainly because of what used to be. The rest of the league I could give two ***** about.


The nhl is a much better product. They've past the NFL for me personally.

 

[MTC]

As stated earlier. Leave the politics out of sports.

The NFL can rebound by not caving into any current social justice/political stuff.
The cancer awareness, military appreciation stuff doesn't bother me anymore.

Traditionally the Steelers organization has always been solid when the league is a bunch of circus acts. Something us fans can hold our heads up proudly

 

[DBS1970]

Just running with this story in hopes people will start to believe that instead of the real reason ....................................... Goodell has ruined the game by chasing after all the fantasy fans.

It is both issues actually.

 

[Drink IRON City]

The true ruin of football started 14+ years ago. It was the popularity (NFL making of) fantasy football. It put Joe schmuckk in charge of an NFL team. In his eyes he was making all the decisions and his arm chair seemed to put him right into directly competing in the NFL, in his eyes, similare to NFL madden players. This cumulated to more revenue and to keep the fire alive, rules changes to favor the fantasty stats driven league. Keep in mind that the "side views" of cheating / commissioner singling out individuals/ CBA deal / MONEY $$ / SCIENCE / all contributed to where we are today. This product has priced itself nearly out of the "hard" fan's budget. By "hard" fans I'm indicating the one's that spent money in a loyal way and for entertainment, bought the NFL product weather merchandise or game tickets..... That type of fan. NOW this "NFL" product is a cummilation of EXPENSIVE for what you get, political bull **** crammed down your throat, non-loyal players who get paid wether win or lose, NO loyalty / integrity / honesty / of any kind and there is a huge feeling of "FIXED" thrown into the game. Allowing personal agendas into the game doesn't help. It all adds up to viewership fading.

Tell me why would the money paying fan even want a part of this is beyond me. I watch STEELERS football due to past loyalty, currently the ONLY true football team left in respects of both on and off the field (CBA vote attests to that). GREED knows no boundaries and this is the TOTAL downfall of the NFL currently. Can they ever recover................... Time will tell but my viewership is fading and I'm one of those "HARD" totally true lifetime football fans. 19-0 every year with the GREATEST TEAM in all pro sports, just unfortunate the sport it's in is fading fast.





Salute the nation



PS. **** the NFL, Goodell, the cheaters, ESPN, officiating bull ****, fixed, networks political agenda, politics in sports, and everything else not mentioned that needs ******* !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Supersteeler]

Good synopsis IC, I think all of that plays a big part.

 

[Lloyds legend]

ESPN has sucked *** for years.

I haven't watched in at least a decade so I'm not even aware of the political influence you guys speak of.

I felt like they only covered large market teams none of which I cared for so I quit watching.

 

[MTC]

ESPN has sucked *** for years.

I haven't watched in at least a decade so I'm not even aware of the political influence you guys speak of.

I felt like they only covered large market teams none of which I cared for so I quit watching.

Espn and NFL network cover the same topics pretty much. Whatever the drama headlines to attract the casual fan, it's constantly pushed.
All last season was Kaepernick protesting. Then they delve into some Tom Brady and company eating at local bakery --- they ate there last SB win --- repeat. Just stupid bullshit.

Then with the fantasy football and constant rule changes and flags thrown at questionable times, etc.
The league has lost it's mystique.

As many stated. It was about the game two decades ago. Having all this access has really watered down the product of the NFL.
As a former die hard I'm pretty pissed to see the game stripped of any decency.
But it's fitting to the current social construct. Maybe time is just passing us by and the NFL is catering to a new generation.

 

[Badcat]

If it wasn't for Tom Brady and Lebron James ESPN wouldn't know what to report on. All of the other features and stories are fill in's for their two darlings. I can't watch that **** without having an aneurism.

 

[AggieSteel]

While I agree that I usually prefer sports to stay as close to the actual competition as possible, I also think some of this "politics" stuff is overblown. I have a hunch that most people who say Kaep's protests make them not watch wouldn't be saying that (and would still be watching) if Kaep protested something they agreed with.


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[Stryker]

CTE is destroying football. New players elect to retire before getting paid after their rookie contracts expire. And that is even when they are playing at pro bowl levels. Hell even Ben is seriously considering hanging it up. And he may.

It has changed the way the athletes view playing the sport. It's a risk/reward which is starting to tilt more toward the risk. The new report of 99% of brains studied for CTE in football players, have it:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/25/health/cte-nfl-players-brains-study/index.html

This is why the NFL just stopped funding brain research. This is the death knoll to the golden goose. Kids are growing up in a world where their parents now know football is dangerous, and won't allow their children to play.

Talent is diluting as talented young athletes go to other sports. It will be good for our future National soccer program, but it will kill football.

 

[Badcat]

I hear you Cope. I played ball from 3rd grade to my Senior year and I was knocked out cold 5 times (I was QB most of the years) and had my bell rung so many times I couldn't begin to count them. My son has been playing since he was 6 years old and to honest, I hate that he does. Knowing what I know now, suffering with migraines that only seem to get worse with age, the fear that I'll have some form of dementia scares the **** out of me and I don't want that life for my son. I would rather that he stick to wrestling, but it's his choice.