Why do you think the NFL viewership is down this year

Tiredtraveler
Solo PL
I stopped seriously watching NFL game a couple years ago. The overpaid egos and felons on the field drove me away. That coupled with the same teams always seeming to get an edge in the rulings both on and off the field to be able to win had be reaching for the remote.
Why do you think the NFL tv market is so far off?
Is it the Kaperneck antics of disrespecting the flag and turning the games political etc.? If I wanted to watch political debate I would turn on ANY news station!
Overall spoiled child attitude that is pervasive throughout the NFL players when the average player minimum more than most people make in 5 years and "star" players make more in a year than most will make in a lifetime?
The favoritism that allows star players like Ben Rothenburger to get away with rape and Brady whining about a wrist slap for cheating his way to the super game?
The Saints being severely punished (bounty hunting on the field) for doing what the Steelers had been doing for decades that gained accolades for their "tough" defense?(only difference was the Steelers are and old ownership big market team that could influence the commissioner versus the young upstart)
Is it that the outcome of the season seems to be predetermined and the officials always make sure the favored team has the edge.
Is it market saturation: The constant barrage of NFL this or NFL that.
Is it the extra taxes you have to pay to fund the stadiums and subsidize the players' and owners' lifestyles while not being able to afford to go to a game?

23 comments

Latest

gammanu95
8 years ago
^Hit the nail on the head. Nothing to add or argue.
etsutwigg222
8 years ago
I would only add that it should be changed to "Flag Football " and all the review delays make for a watered down product.
shailynn
8 years ago
I still like the NFL but with a busy life I watch less TV which means less NFL. I usually have Sunday, Monday or Thursday nights game on as background noise when I'm doing something else, and I'm usually doing something during the day Sunday not watching any game.

You would think with the explosion of Fantasy Football it would have helped attract viewership but it hasn't. They're lucky, fantasy sports hasn't caught on with any over sport. I mean, how many people do fantasy basketball? It's out there, and I only know one person that does it.

Maybe most people are watching something else? After all most people have over 200 TV channels or they're busy watching Netflix.

Another theory is millennials are pussies and just don't like football.
flagooner
8 years ago
For me 3 reasons:

It has become boring with so many commercials

There are so many games on, most aren't interesting matchups.

The rule changes have changed the game a lot and has affected the entertainment factor
warhawks
8 years ago
Millennials are too busy playing video games and dressing up and going to the local Comic-con convention. Many don't care about sports.
shadowcat
8 years ago
The NFL is just like strippers. It's all about the money. They aren't loyal to their fans. They go where they think they can make the most money.
Corvus
8 years ago
A couple of things come to mind. The NFL is just entertainment to me and on a daily basis it's just not entertaining to me. On a weekly basis during the season I have many more things to interest me.

Although I do have to say while watching a game it's always so exciting to wait through the seemingly endless commercials. It's bad enough every time there is a score or change of possession you get to see multiple commercials, but the stoppages to review a play or pull some overpaid stud off the field, after he's laid there for way too long. It's fucking ridiculous the amount of time a game takes.

And the Super Bowl is even more crazy. Other than for the players the game is secondary to the commercials and entertainment. It must drive the players and coaches crazy to have to deal with all the extraneous crap during the week of, not to mention the actual game day surrounding this "championship game".

And while ESPN was a good idea, it is simply amazing to me how long so many people can talk about the same thing. And how long so many people can listen to people talk about the same thing.
Dominic77
8 years ago
The officiating kills it. I agree with pretty much everything in the OP. Everything you wrote + 1 !!

I have other options than NFL football. F1 and NHL/AHL come to mind. And the wife and I can actually *go* to an AHL game, all costs included, for less than $75. (Two $20 tickets, $10 for mass transit, 1-2 beers for me, and a concession of something for her). Go Cleveland Monsters hockey! Or the art museum or the orchestra or the park.

We vote with our feet.
Dougster
8 years ago
People too busy attending anti-Trump protests.
GoVikings
8 years ago
TiredTraveler......I think you need to stop whining about the NFL over and over again
vincemichaels
8 years ago
Football is meant to be played, not officiated to death as it is now. I watch my Lions cuz they are our homies.
Dominic77
8 years ago
True Dougster. Debates and protests this year probably stole viewers. Cubs World Series run. Less people with cable, more cord cutting.
jackslash
8 years ago
I miss a lot of NFL games because strippers keep texting me and asking for sex.
twentyfive
8 years ago
Commercials, and the politicization of sports in general. Kaepernicks protest wasn't helpful neither is all of the arrests and criminal charges these guys have, like a cloud over their heads it, turns people off.
pensionking
8 years ago
For me, it is the cumulative impact of all of the above.

1. Frankly, with all the "safety" rules, it is not as exciting.
2 It is too expensive for the average fan to see a live game -- ever -- even preseason and especially post-season.
3. I don't know the players -- they move around too much.
4. Hey NFL, stop thinking that your celebrity and wealth entitles you to lecture me on politics or anything else (that goes for all sports and all entertainers from Hollywood to Broadway and everywhere in between).

I greatly prefer college!!
Dominic77
8 years ago
^ The problem with college is all of the bowl games, except like one, were on cable. I think Disney / ESPN / ABC controls it. So I couldn't watch them. I lost interest after that ....

I like hockey. The seem to understand as a league / officials / players how to take a clean hit. :)
Subraman
8 years ago
As someone who is VERY in touch with my inner neanderthal, I've always looked at football as the best refuge of testosterone: all my buddies, and a few hardcore women, drinking, grunting, leaving the toilet seat up, etc.

These days, football pitches to the mainstream, including a douche chill inducing politically correct and completely family safe Superbowl. NFL is now mild safe fun, though with some fun hits here and there. My buddies and I now get together to watch MMA when we need a testosterone boost.
skibum609
8 years ago
Younger people stream the games and don't watch much on television. Cable subscriptions are also down.
san_jose_guy
8 years ago
Who would want to watch a stupid football game once they've seen my Christian Eating Lions in action?

SJG
grand1511
8 years ago
Your conspiracy theory of favorite teams getting to the big game really bites it this year with the Falcons being in the Super Bowl.
Cowboy12
8 years ago
For me, I watch very little of the NFL these days, all these things add up...Bad officiating, no team loyalty due to free agency, letting some players off easy for criminal offense (Ben Rothenburger), while severely punishing others, players with drug arrests voted into hall of fame(Michael Irvin).

They also need to do more to protect the star quarterbacks....who wants to watch third-rate QB's poor play?
Overall, I think the reduction in viewership is due to the new generation not being that into it.
larryfisherman
8 years ago
The product on the field is why the viewership is down. The AFC has never been as bad as it was this year, basically a cakewalk to the Super Bowl for the Patriots. Powerhouses in past years like Packers, Seahawks, Ravens, Broncos, Saints, Colts, Panthers had down years. There were no Peyton Manning this year, Brady was suspended the first four games. 95% of the regular season games they put on national TV were shitty. Oakland was a feel good story, but their QB got hurt at the end of the year. A lot of variables.
snowtime
8 years ago
For me it is two things.
First, the reduction in football as a contact sport. The product on the field today is similar to flag football I played in college. And all the BS about concussions makes me sick. If you want to pay me that kind of money to play 15 football games a year I will gladly accept the risk of brain damage from a concussion later in my life. I suspect if players were asked to sign a total release in exchange for their exorbitant salaries, all would immediately sign.
Second, I am not interested in Colin Kapernick's anntics on the field. If he wants to carry a protest sign on his off day that is fine. I am not interested in his (or any other player's) political agenda. I am trying to watch a football game, not a political debate.
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