The Offseason Reading Series #8: Changes the NFL needs right now

[21isSuperman]

As the offseason goes on, so do the offseason reading series installments!

 

Previous ORS installments

ORS1: The best Indianapolis Colts team ever

ORS2: Which Indianapolis Colt are you?

ORS3: Dissecting the 15th overall pick

ORS4: Choose your contract

ORS5: Which Simpsons characters are the Indianapolis Colts?

ORS6: The best trash-talking moments of Peyton Manning's career

ORS7: My favourite Andrew Luck throws

 

This topic is about different changes the NFL needs right away.  By no means is it a comprehensive list, but these are some of the things I felt are more pressing issues.  This topic also somewhat ties in with one previously made by @oldunclemark regarding speeding up the game. 

 

The NFL is incredibly popular, despite this year’s fall in viewership.  And it will continue to be very popular after this year because football is so great.  However, there are some things that the NFL needs to change if it really wants to improve its popularity and viewership.

 

Length of games

An NHL game is 60 minutes, but the broadcast takes around 2.5 hours, though it can go up to 3 hours.  An NBA game is 48 minutes, but the broadcast is around 2.5 hours.  A soccer game is 90 minutes of action and usually 2-2.5 hours of broadcast.  The length of an NFL game is 60 minutes, but the broadcast can take over 3 hours.  That’s an insane amount of time for a game that is incredibly slow.  Basketball and hockey games are very fast paced.  In the 2.5 hours of broadcast, you see a lot of action because the game is so fast-paced.  NFL games, on the other hand, not so much.  During a 3.5 hour broadcast of a 60 minute football game, reports are that there are less than 20 minutes of football while there is about a full hour of commercials.  So out of 3.5 hours of watching, you’re getting less than 20 minutes of actual football.  When you make viewers watch for 3.5 hours to get less than 20 minutes of action, it’s no surprise people will lose interest.  The reason behind this is obvious: money.  More stoppages mean more commercial breaks, which gives the NFL more revenue.  There are solutions to this, none of which the NFL would like. 

 

1) The main culprit here is ads.  One possibility is fewer commercial breaks.  This would require owners to bite the bullet a little bit and take home less money (), but it's good for the game.  A lot of times, you’ll see a team kick the extra point after a touchdown, then a commercial, then the kickoff (usually a touchback), then a commercial.  Extra point, commercial, touchback, commercial?  Forget all of that.  Skip the two commercial breaks and just let the game continue.  Touchdown, extra point, kickoff, other team’s offense; no commercial breaks, no stoppages, just let the game continue.  If that doesn’t work, then consider shorter commercial breaks.  Even if the NFL refuses to decrease the number of commercial breaks, they could consider reducing the length of commercial breaks.  Cap commercial breaks at 90 seconds instead of what they currently are, which I believe is around 3 minutes.  Of course, this would require that the league doesn’t increase the number of commercial breaks to compensate for the shorter length of the breaks. 

 

Still not happy?  Consider alternative forms of ad revenue.  Do sidelines reports at the end or beginning of halves really add anything?  It usually consists of a reporter asking a coach what they need to focus on in the next half and the coach gives a generic response, “play better football, reduce our mistakes, don’t hurt ourselves”.  Instead of the minute that takes, use that time to show commercials so the gameplay itself is smoother.  The CFL has ads on the field (which some fans might not like) and ads on the sidelines.  Implementing those can reduce the need for commercials.

 

2) I think this change is one that can make a huge difference that isn't really given much attention.  Keep the clock running after an incomplete pass.  Usually, when a QB throws an incomplete pass (which tends to happen on about 40% of throws), the game clock stops.  This eats up a lot of time.  Change the rule so that the clock keeps running after an incomplete pass.  This will speed up the game by a lot.  This may affect strategy (eg. spiking the ball), so to keep those competitive strategies in place, the rule for an incomplete pass could be made identical to that of a regular play going out of bounds: the clock continues running after an incomplete pass unless it is in the final 2 minutes of the first half or the final 5 minutes of the second half.  This lets teams manage the clock with things like spikes if they’re out of timeouts, but keeps the bulk of the game flowing much faster.

 

The NFL’s policies and rules

Note: I wrote this piece before the NFL changed its celebration rules, but I think it still stands to some degree. 

1) It feels like the NFL is doing everything it can to take the fun out of celebrating so as to not offend anyone.  There’s a huge line between celebrating a touchdown and unsportsmanlike behaviour towards an opponent or official.  If a player wants to celebrate a touchdown in a way that’s fun for fans and doesn’t hurt anyone, what’s the problem?  Football is entertainment.  The people pay to be entertained.  What’s wrong with giving them football and some fun celebrations?  As long as no one is getting hurt (for example, Antonio Brown dancing/twerking) and no one is being offensive (e.g. Vernon Davis shooting the football through the uprights like a basketball), let the players have fun and give the fans a few laughs.  The NFL seems so concerned with making sure no one is offended (Brown’s twerking…which is ironic because cheerleaders are doing the same thing) that they’ve taken a lot of the fun out of football.  Not only that, but it’s inconsistent.  Using the ball as a prop is a foul, but isn’t that what spiking/Gronking is?  Just let the guys have their fun.

 

2) If the kickoff is as dangerous as the NFL says it is, they should eliminate it altogether.  Sure, a lot of fans won’t be happy, but if player safety is your ultimate goal, then this is part of the solution.  This could also make the game more fast-paced.  Once a team scores and kicks the extra point, put the ball on the 25 yard line and get the other offense out there.  Again, this won't be the most popular idea because a lot of fans like the kickoff and return, but a) many of them are touchbacks anyway, b) it would improve player safety, and c) it would speed up the game.

 

3) Take away Thursday night games.  Beyond the horrible jerseys and quality of games that are televised, three days is not enough rest for an NFL player.  After Sunday, they need several days for their bodies to recover, and forcing them to play again on Thursday isn’t helping them.  Again, if player safety is your concern, this is a step that needs to be taken.  Many players don't like the Thursday games either.  A lot of fans don't like them, players don't like them, just get rid of them.

 

4) Player discipline has been questionable at best in the NFL.  Players were getting suspended more for marijuana over domestic assault.  In fact, this became a common joke among many NFL fans: you can hit Mary as long as you don't hit Mary Jane.  Then came the handling of the DeflateGate business, where the saga was drawn out for months, drawing the ire of many fans (admittedly, this was not 100% the NFL's fault).  There were also reports that Goodell gave the Pats a heavier punishment for deflating footballs because of how things went with SpyGate.  Inconsistent discipline that doesn’t make sense to fans has made them frustrated and annoyed.  The NFL needs to get some consistency and logic here.

 

Other

1) This might fly in the face of the first point about saving time, but any play should be eligible to be challenged.  The goal of the NFL should be to get every play call correctly in terms of penalties, where the ball is placed, etc.  Right now, some plays aren’t reviewable.  But if the ultimate goal is to get every call correctly, shouldn’t every type of play be eligible for review?  This may add to how long a game is (assuming no measures are taken to reduce it), but then the pressure falls on the NFL to make sure its refs are making the correct calls on the field.  In an ideal world, this rule change is made as well as some that would improve the speed and flow of the game, giving the fans a product that is faster and of higher quality than before.

 

2) I understand trying to appeal to global fans, but international games need to stop.  It affects players, who might be jet-lagged, and fans that may have to wake up at earlier hours to watch a game from London, giving your overall product fewer quality.  Maybe have some preseason games overseas, but making teams go overseas for regular season games, giving the home team's fans the short end of the stick, is a bad idea.  Again, this is something many players don't like either.

 

What do you think?  Do you like these changes?  Am I completely off my rocker?  Do you have some ideas for what the NFL needs to change right away?