The Nfl Ratings thread

[miiike]

I think the NFL is just facing a “market correction.” The NFL hit wild levels of popularity and that was not likely to sustain itself. There are a myriad of reasons why rating may be declining (see below – some of which are taken from posts here and some from a post I made last year). I suspect for any particular person who is watching less football or who has stopped watching, the exact reason varies, but likely includes some combination of those listed below (among others as I am sure I did not get them all).

1. Oversaturation of games;
2. Oversaturation of coverage generally;
3. The NFL spent 10 years gearing the game to fantasy football alienating older fans;
4. The fantasy football people now have easier ways to follow than actually watching games;
5. Botched punishment of serious and silly offenses;
6. The No Fun League;
7. Politics in the game;
8. Madinsomniac’s item 3 (which I had not thought of but rings very true to me and also ties with CharlesDavenport’s later post), item 5, item 7 and item 9;
9. As alluded to by ZonaBurgh, the announcers are not very good and often take away from rather than enhance the product;
10. Other sports and entertainment options gaining popularity;
11. An uneasy feeling of watching a dangerous sport in light of growing evidence re concussions and lasting effects on players’ knees, etc.;
12. Less fun and more animosity between fans of different teams (and sometimes the same team);
13. Too much of an emphasis the Super Bowl – making the regular season journey seem less important.

 

[Stryker]

I thought it started with the Thursday night nonsense. Prime time game for Sunday and MNF used to be the biggest matchups of the week. They were usually good to great teams with great players. The league is starting to dilute in talent. Players are retiring before their rookie contracts expire. The old great players are retiring, and the young talent base is not as good.

So instead of getting ready for football the same time every week, Wed we now have to set our pickems and fantasy rosters, only to watch 2 sub average teams go at it in monochromatic footie pajamas for 3 hours. The talent is no longer there, and it is now exposed on the dwindling thu night matchup. I love Thanksgiving football, though being forced to watch Detroit and Dallas every year isn't right. Rotate the matchups.

Also the London matchups are fine for one game a year, but if they put a team there full time, it will **** the system permanently. 5-8 time zones to play in London is not ideal for athletes.

 

[ark steel]

Pre game and post game or game discussions on TV are no longer watchable to me.

I don't want to hear the players politic's and I damn sure don't want to hear who people should start/sit in their ******* fantasy leagues. The instant they mention fantask football, instant change the channel

 

[miiike]

I thought it started with the Thursday night nonsense. Prime time game for Sunday and MNF used to be the biggest matchups of the week. They were usually good to great teams with great players. The league is starting to dilute in talent. Players are retiring before their rookie contracts expire. The old great players are retiring, and the young talent base is not as good.

So instead of getting ready for football the same time every week, Wed we now have to set our pickems and fantasy rosters, only to watch 2 sub average teams go at it in monochromatic footie pajamas for 3 hours. The talent is no longer there, and it is now exposed on the dwindling thu night matchup. I love Thanksgiving football, though being forced to watch Detroit and Dallas every year isn't right. Rotate the matchups.

Also the London matchups are fine for one game a year, but if they put a team there full time, it will **** the system permanently. 5-8 time zones to play in London is not ideal for athletes.

I think I have found my new Board name.

 

[Stryker]

Here is what I can say, that is non-political about these anthem protests. Regular season games, the anthem is rarely televised. Don't talk about who was sitting, since it was going on off camera. Instead, at the Browns game, they had to mention who did protest. If they don't want the protest to be an issue, don't announce it!

 

[Coryea]

Pre game and post game or game discussions on TV are no longer watchable to me.

I don't want to hear the players politic's and I damn sure don't want to hear who people should start/sit in their ******* fantasy leagues. The instant they mention fantask football, instant change the channel

Haha spot on, I ******* hate when they do an entire segment on Fantasy Football, I hate Fantasy Football, the redzone probably isn't helping with viewers either, people no longer have to watch games, just the redzone

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[slashsteel]

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

You turn the pregame on you want to hear them breaking down both teams. FOOTBALL talk. Outside of people who enjoy politics ( I don't) who wants to hear anything but the topic of the two teams playing? Sure maybe talk about another match-up if it is a long pregame show. But that is ******* it.

I could give a **** less who is sitting for the Anthem, I think they are jagoffs and don't need to repeat these feelings every time. Or be force fed agenda's outside of what I tuned in to watch. You want to talk politics go to a political TV channel. For the love of got damn it man.

And yeah the refs ignorance is painful. So many flags it is a wonder one isn't growing out of their ***. Slowing down the game. ************* are doing the same **** the US has done. Create too many ******* rules. Too many laws.

Soft shoulder society always has to overthink water **** down.

Between the two subjects, no wonder the viewers are less. You **** with the viewers before the game, and during the game.

******* tweedledum trifling ****-waffles.

 

[Tim Steelersfan]

You turn the pregame on you want to hear them breaking down both teams. FOOTBALL talk. Outside of people who enjoy politics ( I don't) who wants to hear anything but the topic of the two teams playing? Sure maybe talk about another match-up if it is a long pregame show. But that is ******* it.

I could give a **** less who is sitting for the Anthem, I think they are jagoffs and don't need to repeat these feelings every time. Or be force fed agenda's outside of what I tuned in to watch. You want to talk politics go to a political TV channel. For the love of got damn it man.

And yeah the refs ignorance is painful. So many flags it is a wonder one isn't growing out of their ***. Slowing down the game. ************* are doing the same **** the US has done. Create too many ******* rules. Too many laws.

Soft shoulder society always has to overthink water **** down.

Between the two subjects, no wonder the viewers are less. You **** with the viewers before the game, and during the game.

******* tweedledum trifling ****-waffles.

And I think I found MY new user name.

 

[Troglodyte]

The no need for pre-game thing is interesting. I remember decades ago, the pre-game shows were must-see, informative and entertaining. (Didn't Jimmy the Greek get fired for punching Brent Mussenberger?) They had stuff that wasn't available elsewhere. Now they are fluff-filled, repetitive and way over-saturated.

The hosts are also nauseating. Deion Sanders, Michael Irvin, etc. I wouldn't want to listen to those guys even if they had something informative to say.

 

[AggieSteel]

I'm not saying this will fix everything, but I definitely think one good fix will be to adopt how college football enforces defensive secondary penalties and personal fouls.

Pass interference is not a spot foul, just 15. Defensive holding and PI only called when egregious. If it didn't make the difference between a catch and an incompletion, the refs will keep it in their pocket more often than not.

And I think their "targeting" is far better than the NFL personal foul enforcement. NFL refs flag every hard hit and worry about whether it was actually a penalty later. College refs are much less flag happy, more lenient toward hard hits, but definitely throw flags for head contact. And then they review it and throw the player out of the game if he was targeting the head/neck. You want that **** out of the game? Throw a player out of the damn game and find him later IF he deserves it, instead of flagging every damn collision and worrying about legitimacy later


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[mightyguru]

For me it seems the league is a joke because of Goodell repeatedly mishandling just about everything since he got the job.

I still love the Steelers but I never buy gear and haven't paid for the ticket in years. I don't watch games that the Steelers aren't participating in.

Also, kids don't watch sports anymore.

 

[Coryea]

The no need for pre-game thing is interesting. I remember decades ago, the pre-game shows were must-see, informative and entertaining. (Didn't Jimmy the Greek get fired for punching Brent Mussenberger?) They had stuff that wasn't available elsewhere. Now they are fluff-filled, repetitive and way over-saturated.

The hosts are also nauseating. Deion Sanders, Michael Irvin, etc. I wouldn't want to listen to those guys even if they had something informative to say.

Part of that is all the info on the pre game you hear now, you've already heard from NFL Network, NFL matchup on ESPN, inside the NFL, etc, etc. In the early mid 90's I used to get so excited to watch Steelers 94(that would change each season, Steelers 95 etc). Not sure if anyone remembers that, but the info was new same with CBS pre game, now they have nothing to talk about that 8 other shows have talked about in the week leading to the game. That's not even taking into account social media

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[Tim Steelersfan]

(Didn't Jimmy the Greek get fired for punching Brent Mussenberger?

No, LOL

Jimmy (the Greek) Snyder, CBS Sports commentator, analyst and oddsmaker, was fired by the network yesterday after a controversial television interview Friday in which he said many blacks were superior athletes because of breeding from the time of slavery and that the only area in sports left for whites was coaching.

It's also Musberger. I know, I know, typos...that N key is right next door to the R

 

[tapeANaspirin2it]

Here is what I can say, that is non-political about these anthem protests. Regular season games, the anthem is rarely televised. Don't talk about who was sitting, since it was going on off camera. Instead, at the Browns game, they had to mention who did protest. If they don't want the protest to be an issue, don't announce it!

But the media does want the protest to be the issue. They love it.

part of the issue is also who is in the sports media now. The overall media has been blatantly political for over 20 years. It had not been part of sports media because sports media was filled with sports fans who got journalism degrees.

now the sports media is no longer filled with sports fans. It's filled with "voices". Years ago, people working at ESPN, not just on air, but the workers bees as well, were living their dream to get paid to work on sports. Now I'd bet 90% of the on air talent and probably 70% of the workers would rather be working a show on MSNBC or even have their own blog where they could spout all their personal views (which are really just the accepted PC views).

 

[MTC]

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.

I only watch the Steelers.

I think the original posters points. 5 & 8 is the reason.
5: other forms of entertainment, etc. I accept not everyone is into football/hockey as I am which is I why I come here to discuss. Most people I interract with around work and in person don't give a **** about football. But they love walking dead, game of thrones, outlander etc.


8: oversaturation - definitely too much of a good thing. Football 24/7 is too much. The once a week sunday/monday night makes the anticipation better imo. I can say the same for the Pens during the playoffs. I was done after the stanley cup final. Too much games in so little. Try to limit the constant exposure makes the games more meaningful imo as well

 

[mightyguru]

I tried to watch pregame...lol. Bunch of ******** I can't stand. So I turned to Cower and put the sound off.

 

[Troglodyte]

No, LOL

I just googled it. He did throw a punch at him but missed. Didn't get fired for it.

 

[Tim Steelersfan]

I just googled it. He did throw a punch at him but missed. Didn't get fired for it.

Correct

I'm sure lots of people have thrown punches at Brent.

 

[tapeANaspirin2it]

One thing that i noticed this weeked. When i watch the NFL, i now expect a flag on nearly every play. I don't even get excited for a big play. My eyes immediately go to the score graphic to see if the yellow flag is lit. Then if it's not lit within a few seconds, only then did that play happen. That sucks out all the joy.

watching college football, i get more excited. There are fewer penalties so when Penn State got a safety vs Pitt i was excited. If that same play happened in the NFL, it would have been 5 minutes of reviews.

 

[JMM]

I've gotten tired of seeing the players carry on after they make a routine play. Also can't stand seeing receivers jump up looking for a flag after every stinking time the ball is thrown near them. That should be a penalty in itself.

 

[Stryker]

But the media does want the protest to be the issue. They love it.

part of the issue is also who is in the sports media now. The overall media has been blatantly political for over 20 years. It had not been part of sports media because sports media was filled with sports fans who got journalism degrees.

now the sports media is no longer filled with sports fans. It's filled with "voices". Years ago, people working at ESPN, not just on air, but the workers bees as well, were living their dream to get paid to work on sports. Now I'd bet 90% of the on air talent and probably 70% of the workers would rather be working a show on MSNBC or even have their own blog where they could spout all their personal views (which are really just the accepted PC views).

I hear that the media likes it, but the announcers for games are getting paid by the NFL. The NFL can tell them not to talk about it, the same way they told their announcers not to talk about Brady's suspension for cheating, when he returned.

 

[Troglodyte]

One thing that i noticed this weeked. When i watch the NFL, i now expect a flag on nearly every play. I don't even get excited for a big play. My eyes immediately go to the score graphic to see if the yellow flag is lit. Then if it's not lit within a few seconds, only then did that play happen. That sucks out all the joy.

watching college football, i get more excited. There are fewer penalties so when Penn State got a safety vs Pitt i was excited. If that same play happened in the NFL, it would have been 5 minutes of reviews.

And you can't celebrate big hits anymore. You have to wait and make sure they aren't going to call a personal foul.

And after a sideline catch or diving catch you have to figure out if there's any possible way it might get ruled incomplete.

 

[SteelerInLebanon]

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.

Not the same here. We have 4 full teams per grade Kindergarten up. That is just in our school district. That is about 30 kids per team. It drops some when they get to jr high and high school but this year our freshman team has 56 players. That is close to a quarter of all the freshman boys.


Trog I know many people personally who partially or completely tuned out only because of the protests. My wife won't watch any team with protestors unless they are playing the Steelers. Not sure what she would do if any of our players did it. I would be calling and writing the team if they did. Particularly poignant today. I still cry watching the coverage of 9/11.


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[AggieSteel]

One thing that i noticed this weeked. When i watch the NFL, i now expect a flag on nearly every play. I don't even get excited for a big play. My eyes immediately go to the score graphic to see if the yellow flag is lit. Then if it's not lit within a few seconds, only then did that play happen. That sucks out all the joy.

watching college football, i get more excited. There are fewer penalties so when Penn State got a safety vs Pitt i was excited. If that same play happened in the NFL, it would have been 5 minutes of reviews.

Exactly! Big plays you expect to be called back for holding. Every incompletion you expect PI/def holding/illegal contact. Every big hit you expect a personal foul. And not only do we expect it as fans, but the players get up and rant and rave for the flag themselves. It absolutely sucks the fun out of it, you are 100% right. You can't just enjoy the excitement of the game, because you're just waiting for the flag. If the NFL can make the product on the field look like major college football except with NFL caliber players and coaches, it will be the absolute best thing going. But as it is now? Absolutely horrific. Goodell might have made the game astronomically more popular than before so he's popular with owners. But he's ruined the actual game.

 

[JMM]

I tried to watch pregame...lol. Bunch of ******** I can't stand. So I turned to Cower and put the sound off.

I can't watch pregame or postgame any longer. I no longer care enough to watch it. Just a bunch of talking heads rehashing what I just watched.