The NFL is becoming more disturbing than appealing, and TV viewers are tuning out

[tk13]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...b06_story.html

Excerpts:

The NFL is becoming more disturbing than appealing, and TV viewers are tuning out

By Sally Jenkins Columnist October 31

The NFL’s firm grip on the psyche is based in the fact that it’s the most real, live event on live television. Every game is a character-driven story and a high-speed chase in which the action and the stakes of a collision are genuine. But lately the NFL has seemed formulaic and lacking in a certain kind of authenticity. It’s no great mystery as to why the NFL’s ratings have been dropping: Viewers don’t especially like the stories they’re watching.

The numbers are striking. Through seven weeks, ratings were off for every prime-time incarnation of the NFL: “Sunday Night Football” by 19 percent, “Monday Night Football” by 24 percent and the dreaded Thursday night game by 18 percent. A variety of factors may be contributing to this dive, from the election to so-called “fragmentation” of mass media. But none of the explanations make as much sense as the simplest one: The NFL has put less appealing and more disturbing action on the screen, and viewers are turning it off.

Historian Michael Oriard has observed that the great attraction of the league is that it’s “the true reality TV,” in its most vital form. But the NFL is beginning to seem over-managed and over-staged. Constant commercials and interruptions by refs waving their arms do not produce “appointment viewing;” rather, they produce punts, ties and stasis. Look at the standings: A cluster of 18 teams, indistinguishable save for the colors of their shirts, are at .500 or worse and five more at 4-3. In other words, 23 teams are not must-see-TV to anyone but their most fervent fans. The constant advertisements and hail of yellow flags from overly officious officials make a PBS series seem fast-moving, with a clearer story line.

When rookie quarterback Dak Prescott led the Dallas Cowboys over the Philadelphia Eagles with his touchdown pass to Jason Witten in overtime late Sunday night, it was clear how much animation the league has been missing. But even that terrific game, which had high divisional stakes and featured a bright new star, was crushed in the ratings by Game 5 of the World Series between the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians. It’s the first time since 2011 that a World Series game beat “Sunday Night Football.”

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Obviously, viewers are not finding the NFL as meaningful and important as they have in other seasons. Games on Sunday, Monday and Thursday, plus a handful of overseas trips for novelty games in London, have numbed the viewer. Only a handful of contests this past weekend felt like difference-makers, and those were disrupted by flags. One was between the New England Patriots and the Buffalo Bills, which was marred by five penalties in the first 10 minutes. When the Pats led 38-17 in the third quarter, where was the viewer to go? To Jets-Browns? Lions-Texans? Raiders-Buccaneers was close, but that meant suffering through a league-record 23 penalties against the Raiders for 200 yards.

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The NFL ratings malaise is being puzzled over by everyone from media executives to stock analysts, who offer a variety of speculative causes. Everything from fantasy football to Twitter live-streaming to the shorter attention spans and habits of millennials has been cited. But none of these entirely add up. Other sports aren’t suffering precipitous drops; NBA and Major League Baseball ratings have strengthened over the past year.

In looking for a difference, it’s hard to dismiss the coexisting facts that the NFL has ruined the flow of its on-field stories while experiencing a spate of deeply negative stories off the field — most of them self-inflicted and perpetuated, from the Deflategate four-game suspension of Tom Brady, to the spousal abuse case of place kicker Josh Brown. Donald Trump has blamed Colin Kaepernick for dissing the national anthem for the fall in ratings. If that’s a factor, then undoubtedly so are narratives involving concussions and domestic violence.

[WhiteWhale]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Ali was convicted and sentenced to 5 years in prison but never spent a day inside while his conviction was in the appeal process.

I stand corrected.

I do not think it changes the essence of what I'm saying, but I appreciate the correction.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by Mr. Laz

You're a ****ing moron

Goodell isn't running anything

He does what he told, the most you can get pissed at him about is the inconsistency of the handling of the rules. Even that is influenced by outside forces.

You have the NFLPA ****ing with everything they can and you have the owners who are looking at everything from a money perspective.

fyi they have paid out on players safety SEVERAL times and the NFLPA wants to triple,quadruple dip. They will never stop asking for more even as they try to block safety rules and implementation.

The inconsistent handling of the rules is the majority of the problem. And that's mostly Goodell. He has WAY more power than any commissioner dictating punishments. And he's the one who led the charge on "protecting the shield." His botched handling of Ray Rice/AP created the domestic violence PR crisis. His insistence on making it the "no fun league" leads to overflagging in games. His ridiculously unfair and inconsistent enforcement of rules has led to pissed off fans, like in New England, who are rightfully pissed about the handling of Deflategate.

Goodell is supposed to represent all owners. His decision to let Robert Kraft run the NFL, when there are 31 other owners out there, is terrible and ties in big time to the ridiculous focus on "the shield." Also, Goodell is a marketing guy. The owners have to agree to dumb ideas, but don't discount that many of those dumb ideas were Goodell's brain child.

On the player safety issue, the NFL has band-aided the settlement for years. It's well known the NFL covered this up for years and the NFLPA knows it. That's not just on Goodell. That started with Tagliabue. Until they put this to rest, they negotiate player safety from a position of weakness, not of strength.

[chiefzilla1501]

-Fire Goodell
-New commissioner follows consistent punishment system "by the book"
-New commissioner leads charge to reduce disruptive flags especially subjective ones like taunting, celebration, etc...
-New commissioner competently handles off the field distractions PR wise

What a commissioner can lead but must get owner cooperation:
-Limit Thursday Night Football. It's terrible for player safety and it's media overload for fans
-Get creative with media agreements to offer more fans more streaming options

NFLPA must also get serious about player safety especially allowing more offseason conditioning. Too many injuries is a big reason for shitty ratings.

Implementing some of these changes would go a long way in earning fans back.

[seamonster]

I'll say it: The black lives matter agenda's getting thrown all around the league right now are annoying and it's bullsht. I don't watch football to get political. And it's a cumulative effect. Overly complicated rules, hours of commercials, flagging the defense for playing defense and what really feels like biased (I'm a redskins fan) officiating + bullshit identity politics = no more for me.

[Pasta Little Brioni]

Zilla...the Pats got off with a slap in the wrist for what cheating accomplished for that fraud franchise. The League Destroying evidence and trying to sweep it under the rug didn't work, so they had to do act tough suspending Golden Boy. (Que the summoming of Asterix whining) That fanbase can piss the **** off as they are one of the privleged special teams thar gets every call their way.

[Nzoner]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

I'd rather put the game in the hands of the refs, especially when they call a catch, a catch, than turning over the calls to a New York "Czar" that's more concerned with the Point Spread than the game itself.

Originally Posted by headsnap

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Yeah, now that it's "there", it isn't likely going to change

And I'm not so sure it ends at Vegas anymore i.e. Fanduel and DK,sure I've won a few bucks playing but of all the people I know who play no one has ever won the thousands or millions that they like to advertise.

While we're on this subject I'd like to also point out the concussion protocol as IMO what a way to steer a game to a desired outcome.KC's play-off game against Indy is a perfect example and that NFL doctor can be every bit as menacing as that New York "Czar" when making a decision.

[Pasta Little Brioni]

Originally Posted by Nzoner

And I'm not so sure it ends at Vegas anymore i.e. Fanduel and DK,sure I've won a few bucks playing but of all the people I know who play no one has ever won the thousands or millions that they like to advertise.

While we're on this subject I'd like to also point out the concussion protocol as IMO what a way to steer a game to a desired outcome.KC's play-off game against Indy is a perfect example and that NFL doctor can be every bit as menacing as that New York "Czar" when making a decision.

I quit fanduel once i saw the guy win the million with Big Ben at QB who turned in the highest pt total....he was hurt and wasn't supposed to play that week until Jones got injured mid game. Wasn't the first time something similar to that happened. Joke of a site.

[Nzoner]

Originally Posted by Pasta Giant Meatball

I quit fanduel once i saw the guy win the million with Big Ben at QB who turned in the highest pt total....he was hurt and wasn't supposed to play that week until Jones got injured mid game. Wasn't the first time something similar to that happened. Joke of a site.

That happened when we were doing the CP experiment,very shady to say the least.

[GoChargers]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

His ridiculously unfair and inconsistent enforcement of rules has led to pissed off fans, like in New England, who are rightfully pissed about the handling of Deflategate.

Cheatriots "fans" are only mad because they're delusional. And because even though all their teams have been winning consistently for the past 15 years, they don't want to let go of the "woe-is-us," "us against the world" mentality they had when all their teams sucked.

The Patsies got caught cheating again. They got slapped on the wrist again. So they got fined, had to give up a draft pick and Brady got to take four games off to rest. Big freaking whoop! That's seen as the cost of doing business in Foxboro. Bob Kraft's still the owner, Belicheat's still the coach, the fraudulent banners are still hanging at Gillette. The league has never hit them where it hurts and given them an incentive to stop cheating.

Pats fans are the last people who should ever whine about the league that gives them every call and lets them cheat.

[NJChiefsFan]

Originally Posted by milkman

They have over saturated the market.

Combine that the endless stream of commercials which turns a 60 minute game into a 3 1/2-4 hour marathon, officiating that is as bad as we've ever seen, and growing perception that officiating is slanted in favor of certain teams, people are becoming disenchanted with the product.

It's true. I have always said that if you went hypothetical and made the NFL a 162 game season, and made baseball a 16 game season, the intensity would flip on it's head. Certainly there are things about football that make it great. But the format of 1 epic day a week, for only 16 weeks, makes a great gathering and talking point.

To me it was/is the single greatest thing the NFL had going for itself.

[Buehler445]

Lots of great posts in this thread. I posted this in the Alex Smith Purgatory thread. It's an adequate summation of where I am. Bolded the TL;DR part.

Originally Posted by Buehler445

Wait. You said it was LeBatard. Where is the bullshit about the anthem/Kaepernick/BLM/racism schtick?

Really though, I don't give a ****. I'll stay in purgatory after climbing out the depths of hell thanks to Squirmin Herman Mother****ing Sack of **** Edwards and Scott Franchise Killer Pioli. **** man.

We aren't winning shit for awhile anyway. We don't consistently beat good teams so until we can do that, what's the ****ing point of worrying about who is taking the snaps?

Between the Tire Fire days of Squirmin Herman Mother****ing Sack of **** Edwards and Scott Franchise Killer Pioli, and then right the **** after that the CTE bullshit starts and they pull half our starters out because of "concussions" when we are raping some fools in the playoffs, to Donks becoming cheap shot artists and Von Douche not getting fined for obviously teeing off on Smith. Late. With the Crown. Launching. While a week later Tamba gets one for a fat OL sitting on him. Then through the whole London home game crap. All the way through to the tampering shit, Sean Smiths ridiculous suspension. Then these mother****ers like Richard Sherman says his knees hurt while I climb on the tractor with arthritis in my knees ankles and hands but don't happen to have any $20M checks laying around. I'm just ****ing tired man. What the **** am I rooting for? It used to be football. Now it's ****ing asenine PR driven nonsense that has only an ancillary correlation to football.

Maybe I'm grumpy after working a billion hours to get $3 corn harvested and $2.80 wheat planted, but I'm ****ing tired of ****ing nonsense.

/rant

Bottom line it is a cumulative effect of all the shit posted in the thread. Lots of it I had forgot about - like the Costas gun thing (**** that guy seriously), incapacity to determine catches, etc.

Every time some stupid shit like some game getting crazy calls for a certain team to win, or cover or some shit, dumbass discipline/non-discipline shit, collecting money from military for the appreciation days, ****ing off breast cancer money, or whatever other blatant sellout of the game for revenue dollars just knocks another chunk out of the credibility of the league. There isn't one big thing that wrecks the league, but eventually the foundation of credibility the game of football stood on is pissed away by these golden goose killing mother****ers.

When the credibility is gone, it is almost impossible to be engaged in, so that leads to guys like me getting tired of the shit and tuning out.

[stevieray]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

Lots of great posts in this thread. I posted this in the Alex Smith Purgatory thread. It's an adequate summation of where I am. Bolded the TL;DR part.


Bottom line it is a cumulative effect of all the shit posted in the thread. Lots of it I had forgot about - like the Costas gun thing (**** that guy seriously), incapacity to determine catches, etc.

Every time some stupid shit like some game getting crazy calls for a certain team to win, or cover or some shit, dumbass discipline/non-discipline shit, collecting money from military for the appreciation days, ****ing off breast cancer money, or whatever other blatant sellout of the game for revenue dollars just knocks another chunk out of the credibility of the league. There isn't one big thing that wrecks the league, but eventually the foundation of credibility the game of football stood on is pissed away by these golden goose killing mother****ers.

When the credibility is gone, it is almost impossible to be engaged in, so that leads to guys like me getting tired of the shit and tuning out.

man, it would be cool to share a brew with you.

[BlackOp]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

Lots of great posts in this thread. I posted this in the Alex Smith Purgatory thread. It's an adequate summation of where I am. Bolded the TL;DR part.


Bottom line it is a cumulative effect of all the shit posted in the thread. Lots of it I had forgot about - like the Costas gun thing (**** that guy seriously), incapacity to determine catches, etc.

Every time some stupid shit like some game getting crazy calls for a certain team to win, or cover or some shit, dumbass discipline/non-discipline shit, collecting money from military for the appreciation days, ****ing off breast cancer money, or whatever other blatant sellout of the game for revenue dollars just knocks another chunk out of the credibility of the league. There isn't one big thing that wrecks the league, but eventually the foundation of credibility the game of football stood on is pissed away by these golden goose killing mother****ers.

When the credibility is gone, it is almost impossible to be engaged in, so that leads to guys like me getting tired of the shit and tuning out.

Yep...and the core of the appeal is fair, human competition. You start jacking with the very foundation of why anyone cares about it...and it will crumble.

NFL and Vegas have over-played their hand..thinking the "unwashed" populace is too stupid to notice the sham.

[Pasta Little Brioni]

Most of You guys are knocking it outta the park. Still laughing at the clowns thking the Pats have a right to be mad though fuuuu******* that.

[BlackOp]

Originally Posted by milkman

So, the Raiders getting 23 (accepted) penalties is somehow beneficial to the Raiders?

No..the NFL had to cover it's tracks. Did you notice the Saints coach leading the charge to have full-time officials?

I didn't see the Raiders/Bucs game but heard another 4th down PI decided the game...NFL wants a team in Vegas BAD.

That's two games by the Raiders decided on 4th down PI calls...they would be 4-4 and losing public stadium financing (fleecing) momentum without it.

This unwarranted 7-9 team "hype" started in the off-season... it was a universal, NFL corporate directed, narrative that the talking head pundits parroted...now we are seeing it play out...and the motive.