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The Nfl Ratings thread

M

madinsomniac

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Reports are that yet another massive drop in ratings has hit the NFL.... now everyone is quick to point at the political controversy over Anthem Kneeling or Blackballing Kaperdumbshit, which has the right and left up in arms respectively, but while that plays a part, im sure, no one is talking about everything else thats really killing the game..

1. Neutered play styles... not just cutting the hitting... the wholesale removal of physical blocking for finess schemes, basically sending the run game to irrelevant status, making the QB an untouchable position..


2. Devaluation of the emotional investment... making passing so easy that highlight reel plays happen a dozen times a quarter, making comebacks commonplace, completely eliminating that feeling that you might see something truely amazing and once in a lifetime cause the next game is going to have the same or better plays and situations...

3. Social media exposure showing players as the jackass dumbfucks they are

4. The league office having no standard of punishment and letting relly scummy players and coaches to get away with slaps on the wrist

5. A myriad of other viewing/ entertainment choices making games no longer water cooler events for people

6. Lack of interest among the 18 and younger generation

7. The refs calling so much stuff that there is no flow to a game anymore.. and high def slow morion making sure we know many of their calls are bogus

8. Oversatiration of the product..

9. Overtraining and playing at innatural weights causing too many injuries to star players



I mean there is a lot to not like about tge product these days , and plenty of better options for those looking for them
 
I agree with these points.
 
For me I am too much of a diehard to stop watching the Steelers, just can't do it. But my two and a half cents:

! The physicality of the sport isn't what it once was, I am sure most fans outside of the fantasy football fans dislike the watered down version.
2 I have no desire to have politics thrust into my time and entertainment. Most fans would agree. Stop using the sport I love for your political agenda.
3. Goodell is the ultimate tool. How he handled Spygate was a blackeye for the NFL. And his unequal punishments regarding players is sickening.

These three points have driven fans away from watching the sport.
 
Something else I don't think people realize and you wouldn't think impacts ratings is the attendance. Not whether it's a sell-out, but the vested interest of people attending the games. It's a lot more social, casual and family friendly than it used to be. The crowds aren't nearly as loud as college games and it gives the games an exhibition type feel to those watching at home. "If the people there don't really care about the game, why should I?"
 
The protest thing is a big component. People don't like seeing millionaires complain about anything, and they sure don't want to watch them bitching about America, and the they don't want to feel like they are helping them make that money by watching. This makes all the other things worse. Like all the commercials.
 
I totally forgot Obvious Greed... its ok, id be reminded as soon as the next strike/ lockout happened...
 
CharlesDavenport said:
The protest thing is a big component. People don't like seeing millionaires complain about anything, and they sure don't want to watch them bitching about America, and the they don't want to feel like they are helping them make that money by watching. This makes all the other things worse. Like all the commercials.
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I don't know. I'm sure someone out there is doing it, but I haven't heard of, or personally know anyone who has stopped watching the NFL because of player prostest.
 
I don't buy the line about NFL ratings going downhill. Fans will follow their team and think the rest of the league is screwed up. Has anyone here stopped watching Steelers games? I think not. Its bull.
 
I'm with Slash! I can't break away from the black n gold ever but I just do not have the same interest in the league like I did. I don't watch other games and couldn't care less.


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Waiting after each play for a flag.

The affordability of attending a game, or if you live outside the market, deciding if you want the NFL ticket or paying the electric bill.

And I don't need the announcers telling me what to think, just call the damn game.
 
I think #6 is more of an effect than a cause. People are quick to blame millennials but ratings are down across the board for all age groups. All the points you bring up are a big reason why all generations are losing interest. If the product was good enough, you wouldn't see millennials turning away.

For me personally, the refs are the biggest big turn off. It seems like almost every drive there's a penalty that could go for or against either team that dictates the outcome of the drive based on how the ref is feeling in that particular moment. The inconsistency of the calls and interpretation of the rules from game to game and week to week is laughable. The Seahawks/Packers game yesterday was horribly officiated...there were at least 3 terrible calls just in the 1st half that even made the announcers scratch their heads. I tried to get into the game but I just couldn't and turned it off at halftime (the score was a whopping 3-0), it was that painful to watch. I watched a couple college games and didn't see nearly as many questionable calls as I did in 1 NFL half...you're the best sports league in the world, get the damn best refs money can buy and train them properly. I don't know why this is so difficult.

On the injuries front, I don't think it's so much players are overtraining and getting injured easier (although it's part of it), I think the players have just become more aware of either not wanting to or not being forced to play through pain like was common place 20 years ago. How many of the same injuries occurring today happened in the 80's/90's that just weren't reported and guys played through it? I saw the injury report for one game yesterday (can't remember which one) there were 3 guys that left the game with a concussion just from 1 team. It used to be rare to even see 1 concussion during a game let alone 3 guys on the same team. I'm not saying this is a bad thing from a safety standpoint, it's just the new reality.

Additionally, with the documented seriousness of repeated concussions, how many young players, that would eventually end up being stars in the league, end up turning away from football and into baseball or basketball or even soccer. Youth baseball and youth soccer participation is trending up while football is in a big decline. IMO, the decline of the NFL product is just beginning.
 
Steelerfan said:
I don't buy the line about NFL ratings going downhill. Fans will follow their team and think the rest of the league is screwed up. Has anyone here stopped watching Steelers games? I think not. Its bull.
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That's just it, people only follow their team now. Gone are the days of sitting down and watching every game slot available. There will always be the die hard NFL football fans, but I personally don't know anyone who sits down and watches every game they can anymore.
 
I agree with all these points.. I think they all contribute. Been saying a lot of the same things for a few years now. Sure there may be some people turned off by the politics, but the product itself has been very watered down, and at some points, just flat out bad.

Points 1, 4, 7, 8, and 9 definitely have an affect for me. It seems like college football does not have any of these issues, at least to the extent the NFL does. Every college football game feels like a brand new game. Different teams play different styles, have different identities, and you never know what to expect. The refs tend to err on the side of letting the players play rather than pulling a flag on every snap. A lot of times I'm watching cfb and thinking "welp here comes the flag.." but it never comes because I forget I'm not watching the NFL. The product isn't oversaturated, you just get the games when you get the games and don't feel like cfb is trying to take over the world. And the star players do not miss time NEARLY as often as they do in the NFL for injury. I mean sure there are injuries, it's a contact sport. But it doesn't seem like every team's most important players drop like flies either like they do in the league. The actual product in cfb is everything I wish the NFL could be
 
Steelerfan said:
I don't buy the line about NFL ratings going downhill. Fans will follow their team and think the rest of the league is screwed up. Has anyone here stopped watching Steelers games? I think not. Its bull.
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Not Steelers games, but other NFL games. Yes, I do watch less than I used to watch. I prefer to watch college football.
 
All the things listed I agree with. Not sure what is the biggest factor.

I will say this. They better do something soon.

I coached youth league football, 4-6th grade for about 6 years. This year the team (represented by an elementary) didn't have enough players to field a team. Kids are dropping the sport. Other schools have combined. Where once we had 5 teams, now we have 2.

I coached a championship team, those 6th graders from that team are now seniors. Only two kids from that championship team is on the High School football team.
 
Will watch the Steelers every week. No questions asked.

Thursday night football generally sucks. KC/NE was good, but I don't want to watch JAX and some other team I don't care to watch. Depending on what is on my schedule, I may watch the late games on Sunday and Monday, but it depends who is playing. It's not must see TV like it used to be for me. A lot does contribute to my lack of interest and it is due to too many flags, inconsistency and pretty much a boring product.

I am liking college football more and more. There have been some exciting games these past two weekends.
 
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I definitely struggle with all the games spread out. Thursday, all day Sunday and then Monday night. I always watch the Steelers but don't go out of my way to watch other games anymore. If there's a game on I want to watch I usually will watch it but I no longer allow myself to sit and watch all damn day anymore.
 
Black & Gold Bleeder said:
All the things listed I agree with. Not sure what is the biggest factor.

I will say this. They better do something soon.

I coached youth league football, 4-6th grade for about 6 years. This year the team (represented by an elementary) didn't have enough players to field a team. Kids are dropping the sport. Other schools have combined. Where once we had 5 teams, now we have 2.

I coached a championship team, those 6th graders from that team are now seniors. Only two kids from that championship team is on the High School football team.
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Parents are freaking out over concussions and not letting or dissuading their kids from playing football. I don't how much it has to do with kids watching football. My son loves to play football, but is a very casual viewer.
 
The Pats***** cheating and obvious continued cheating killed it for me. The ****** defensive rules of engagement helped them immensely. They'd have been busted in half long ago under the old rules cheating or not.The political nonsense. The crybaby millionaires always bitching for more money. A great many would be flipping hamburgers if not for football. Outside of the Steelers I have zero interest in the league other than seeing a few teams I detest lose.
 
Troglodyte said:
I don't know. I'm sure someone out there is doing it, but I haven't heard of, or personally know anyone who has stopped watching the NFL because of player prostest.
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I think it's real.

Football to me used to be a routine. I used to love watching the games on a Sunday or attending. Then that one hour at night with Berman and Jackson on ESPN going through the highlights was a never-miss. I even still enjoy watching Stephen A and Skip (now Max) debating games on Monday on First Take.

Football's not just the games. It's the preamble and the follow-up. It's the water cooler talk,. It's the debate - "Will AP break 2000 yards?" blah blah.

Now? It's so much politics that I do tune out. Happened to me last week. I was starting to get amped up for the season. And I had seen Around the Horn and The 6 and every other show talk about Krap being blackballed to the point I began switching channels. Everyone of them had a common theme...he's being blackballed, poor Colin, etc etc and my take is exactly the opposite. He deserves what he's getting. So eventually it wore on me.

Then Wed or Thursday evening (I have a TV in my home office that's on all day)The 6 comes on, and uber Liberal Jemele and Michael Smith start this discussion about Michael Bennett and the excessive force incident. And they began preaching (they often preach - literal flat out preaching on SJW issues). He went into full-preach mode. Michael saying things such as "For anyone to deny there is a problem with police brutality in this country is absurd, we all know it's fact, etc etc." No Michael, I've got my own research and there's plenty of other research out there that shows your perceived problem isn't the problem you believe it to be.

So I turned the channel. I'm tired of hearing manufactured bullshit. Of hearing politics - when I tune in to watch a game or to watch sports news. Over the years, people like Costas have gone on rants and when he comes on now, I go to radio or tune out. I'm here to watch a football game. I tune into ESPN to see sports, not hear a bunch of ill-informed SJWs go off.

The politics in football and on sports channels absolutely has changed my viewing habits and it has tempered my interest in the NFL.

Think about it like this. If, every time you went to the grocery store and you went to check out, the cashier spent 5 minutes preaching to you about his or her political views - I'm damn sure you'd a) find another grocery, or at a minimum b) make sure to go to another aisle and avoid said cashier because you're there to shop, not to be lectured. I tune in to watch a game, not hear Bob Costas' biased opinions on gun control, or have Jemele Hill lecture me from her gay/lesbian viewpoint on how the world should be run. I have my views, you have yours. Meet me over a beer to discuss. Don't ruin my football or sports.

The NFL and ESPN and so many channels have turned to the point of lecturing Americans. News flash - Americans don't want to be lectured. We want to be entertained. Stick to that.

I'm like Slash, too much of a die-hard not to not watch the Steelers. But I'm not nearly as rabid about other games now. It's lost its luster.

There is a reason ESPN and NFL ratings are both down and this is it. It's that simple.
 
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Steelerfan said:
I don't buy the line about NFL ratings going downhill. Fans will follow their team and think the rest of the league is screwed up. Has anyone here stopped watching Steelers games? I think not. Its bull.
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It's a fact. NFL ratings were down last season. They were terrible for the NFL opener. And they were down again this past weekend. ESPN did a survey (whatever that is worth) through J.D. Power and their survey indicated many fans have tuned out because of the protests and other political/image-related issues.

The ****'s real regarding the ratings drops. I guess you can choose not to believe those facts

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...-protests-no-1-reason-viewers-tuned-nfl-games
 
Did anyone see the crowd shots from SF and LA(Rams)? If the stadiums were at half capacity, I'd be shocked. Total embarrassment for the NFL. Looked like the 4th quarter of a pre-season game.
 
nitsuj1225 said:
That's just it, people only follow their team now. Gone are the days of sitting down and watching every game slot available. There will always be the die hard NFL football fans, but I personally don't know anyone who sits down and watches every game they can anymore.
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I watched the Steelers game, Then GB/Seattle, then Sunday Night game. The internet and social media give people the option to not watch the games though, if you want to know a score or see highlights you can get them instantly pretty much no matter where you are

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Coryea said:
I watched the Steelers game, Then GB/Seattle, then Sunday Night game. The internet and social media give people the option to not watch the games though, if you want to know a score or see highlights you can get them instantly pretty much no matter where you are

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I watched all those games, as well. Fell asleep during the GB/SEA game and the Sunday night game was something on in the background. Hard to get into either one. Should have been really good games, but were just Eh.
 
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