About the NFL ratings going down.

[Loki]

*rolls eyes* Christ on a crutch...

I'm just saying what Eskin said. That streaming isn't included in the ratings.


Is some of it from the two places you mentioned? Maybe. Maybe not.

[DEERSPINE GUY]

He missed that putt by a cunt hair. aka a very small bit. heh

WHEN I WAS GOLFING, WAS PRETTY DAMN GOOD TOO, IT WAS A BLONDE CUNT HAIR.

[slag]

As I wrote afterwards ... even if they haven't been measuring streaming as part of their traditional rating numbers, cord cutters did not all leave cable/broadcast tv this year.

Accordingly, the numbers from prior years, to which they are comparing this year, were already depleted by cord cutters.

That being the case, I seriously doubt the drop this year is substantially attributable to "cord cutters" who cut that cord this year.

The product gets suckier and suckier and they better recognize.

[rothdawg]

... and happy birthday.

Thank you, sir.

[rothdawg]

Holding has always been a "call it anytime" problem but to me the two rules that have to fucking go (and I've been saying it about illegal contact for fucking ever) is the 5-yard contact rule and that stupid fucking "zero tolerance" hand to the head on the QB.

When a hand brushes a qb's helmet because a guy is trying to rush the passer with his hands up, or is taller than the qb and makes contact with the helmet as he sacks him ... that shit drives me nuts.

And I've been saying for a long time that full contact down the field until the ball is in the air should be reinstated ... no grabbing ... but incidental contact that is called illegal contact is fucking horseshit.

I cannot watch an NFL game without looking for a flag on every big play or any incompletion.

And that's what is killing the game ... Kapernick will blow over ... that shit won't.

This pretty much sums it up.

[Diggle]

You are also forgetting the bs related to off the field violence -- Greg Hardy, Ray Rice, Josh Brown. But its moreso the reaction of fambase to Goodells NFL. Tom Brady gets 4 games for deflategate and Josh Brown gets 1 game for beating his wife. That shit is a ratings killer

[McCarthy12]

The owners have always tolerated Goodell 's incompetence because the money kept rolling in. May be a different story if it starts affecting their wallets.

[McCarthy12]

Yeah, I hold my breathe after every single incomplete pass when we are on D. Every single one. I just look at the bottom of the screen and wait for the little yellow flag icon to come up. It sucks.

[slag]

Crotch grabbing TD celebrations ... no consequences.

Wrong socks ... impose a fine.

So, is a consistent culture important?

[Phire Phat Phuck]

Not that it will ever happen but there should be instant replay of called penalties subject to review and overruling by the officials in the booth. Each team should get three red flags to challenge penalty calls per game. The refs are controlling the outcome of games to a wide degree with their poor/bias officiating.

[The Duck]

Yeah, I hold my breathe after every single incomplete pass when we are on D. Every single one. I just look at the bottom of the screen and wait for the little yellow flag icon to come up. It sucks.

It's every positive play. Every completed pass or nice run on offense, every stop on defense, every runback on special teams. The default reaction to every positive play is to hold your breath and wait for the flag to fly. It kills the timing and flow of the thing and takes away all of the joy... which makes it very easy to walk away and find something else to do with your Sunday.

There are definitely other things hurting the NFL, but no other single thing directly effects my ability to enjoy a game more than the officiating.

[j1mmy]

Agree 110% with Duck. Officiating involvement is over the top.

Think about it, why do we know officials actual names? Totally inconsistent with fan experience, at least until we see fans coming to games in their favorite officials jersey, which cant be far off based on what I've seen this year. They are in the game just like the players.

[TerpEagle]

Some have said it's because of the Kaepernick protests. Originally this didn't make much sense to me.

After further review it does make sense to me.

Consider this: The demographic which is most aligned with the Donald Trump campaign is also the demographic which would be most opposed to the protests.

My Conclusion: Trump and Kaepernick are both rabble rousing and the NFL is taking a ratings hit as a result.

The product isn't that great and they've over saturated us with it.

Its easier to get highlights and there are endless hot takes on the internet so there is less need watch all of the mediocre parts just for a few exciting plays.

The players are bashing their brains in and the NFL is doing a poor job of pretending to care.

There are plenty of other ways to spend time rather than sit in front of the TV for football on Sunday, Monday and Thursday for the aforementioned mediocre product.

[art vandelay]

yeah this is it. on one hand i think the market is oversaturated, but on another i think the NFL has just reached the end of its unsustainable growth. the increase in access over the past 15 or so years was awesome at first. sunday ticket everywhere. highlights/stories available online. the debut of NFL network seemed like a revelation. smartphones took things to another level but also hurt people's attention spans (i used to love watching random game replays) and also invited in people who only cared about their fantasy teams. now some of the casual fans are dropping out, and die-hards are going back to their old viewing habits. the NFL isn't dead, but it won't command the TV contracts it used to. the salary cap can't keep increasing at its current rate.

[#48]

Touchdown - commercial - kickoff - commercial doesn't help. I know that it's not new this year, but when added to everything else mentioned here, it's an example of the league's arrogance and greed.