Mark Cuban says NFL oversaturating its market and could implode in ten years

[sweetsurrender]

Has any league ever imploded?

XFL

[Dark Superman]

I'm glad Cuban can speak up..

It's funny to see how many people actually watch basketball compared to football.

[cmgww]

Cuban isn't stupid. He's a shrewd businessman who took the Mavs from an NBA laughingstock to an NBA Title and perennial playoff contender. That and his other business ventures, most have been fairly successful. Some have failed, but then again most successful businessmen fail a lot. Buffett, Rockafeller, JP Morgan, they all had their fair share of failures.

His points are very valid. First, I get with the whole Thursday night thing. It's overdone. I was ok with just the late season deal they had a few seasons back, when it started. Now, it's every week. I hated it. Unless the Colts were playing I usually didn't watch. It makes fantasy more difficult bc I had a shorter week to work with. It's harder on the teams, short prep week. The quality of play suffered too bc of the short week. Now, with talk of an expanded season and two more teams in the playoffs (it WILL happen someday, don't be a fool to think it won't)...I get where Cuban is coming from. And like he said, it won't be in the next few years. It will take longer, but there will be a tipping point. Especially with the safety issues, declining participation in youth football, etc. This generation is already known for being overly cautious with their children....you think that's going to change? No.

I look at it like Rome. It will take a while, but it will crumble from the inside and out if they keep pushing the envelope. Greed will eventually destroy the NFL. And WHY? It's already the dominant sport in the US by miles, the league and teams make obscene amounts of money....but Cuban is right IMO. I'm a hard core fan and I already found myself tuning out of crap matchups last season, and we didn't go to a Colts game for the first time in a decade+. Just my two cents...

[cmgww]

I'm glad Cuban can speak up..

It's funny to see how many people actually watch basketball compared to football.

Thats a valid point...last year 46 of 50 of the most watched sporting events were NFL games. The other 4 were the BCS Title game, the NCAA basketball title game, and Game 6/7 of the NBA Finals. And they were all way down the list.

That said, what Cuban said, as I posted before, is a prediction. And I think it has merit. Attendance is down, even Colts games had empty seats. Sure they were "sold out" but there were clearly visible sections of empty seats during several non-marquee home games. Even the Steelers, with a die hard fan base, had a lot of empty seats last year. I know the whole "stadium experience" and rising cost of going to a game vs watching it at home on a 65" HDTV plays into that. But it's still a problem. TV money is great for the teams and league, but buts in seats are important to the bottom line as well.

[southwest1]

The word implode means to collapse from the inside out highlighting internal vs external forces that destroy, demolish, deteriorate, or unravel something typically due to arrogance, greed, & a belief that a person, organization, or object is invincible. 

 

"No one wants to do the same thing every night. No matter what it is."

 

Mark Cuban does have a point here. Sunday & Monday NFL games are acceptable to people who grew up with that TV watching formula as well as Saturday games during Wildcard weekend during the Playoffs. But, Thursday games still feel odd to me & I don't always watch them regularly all the way through from start to finish because I can't devote all of my free time to watching football & if the league expands the Playoff eligibility format down the line more & more games will be divided up across different days making my NFL viewing pleasure more of a chore than a leisurely past time activity. Therein lies the problem of saturation meaning that there needs to be a break in the action to avoid a bombardment of games that can blend into 1 another & make a fan lose the significance of individual games standing on their own. 

 

For example, I have the Direct TV NFL Ticket package which means that I have the ability to watch all 32 teams for 16 weeks. However that feature does not mean that I can logistically watch every game from kickoff to it's conclusion either. Usually, SW1 just narrows my focus to a select few favorite squads like the Colts, Broncos, Giants, Patriots, Texans, & Saints. 

 

Will the NFL literally crumble from pure, unfettered greed? No, that's a stretch, but I will say this: The NFL cannot expect fans to sit down in front of their TV or computer & watch NFL games 4-5 days a week because wives won't allow it & nothing would get done around the house for 4 months period. Again, the NFL with their broadcasting advertisers has basically weened the public on Sunday, Monday, & Thursday games. That's already 3 days a week why not push aggressively for 2 more days in a given week? There is such a thing as overload or too much of a good thing. That's what Mark was alluding to. The number of games isn't really the issue here, but how close together they are in a compressed, short term timeframe. JMO. 

[southwest1]

I'm just tired of the overblown emphasis on player safety. To me that is what is saturated!

To me, I am growing weary of Roger Goodell pretending that he cares about player safety when he really doesn't. CTE & dementia denial prove this time & time again along with continuing to throw up roadblocks for NFL veterans that need medical compensation & have to hire lawyers just to get the guaranteed protections that they have already earned & should be entitled to with little to no red tape. 

 

This is what drives me nuts about Goodell. So much of what he does in front of the cameras is smoke screen & mirrors with little to no substance in my estimation. 

[IndyTrav]

I think Cuban is pretty spot on to an extent. The NFL will never fully implode, but I can see a serious downfall in ratings and attendance....

 

I've personally grown tired of all the media talk and over infatuation with all things NFL. I've already noticed myself falling back a bit on my NFL consumption. I used to watch the combines, and drafts, and preseason games etc. I've had Sunday ticket for years etc....Now I dont watch a second of the combine/draft, I've canceled my Sunday Ticket, and only watch Colts games and the remaining national games. And even then its half hearted....

 

I've even struggled to watch Colts Thursday games, let alone any of the other garbage games they have had. And MNF hasnt been much better. I just cant stay up until 12-12:30 for the Sunday Night/MNF/Thurs night games....It doesn't interest me enough.

 

One thing that I hate that never gets mentioned is the amount of time it takes to play a 60min game. 3 1/2 Hrs is absurd to me. The constant breaks in action have really worn me thin. But the NFL LOOOOOVES them some TV Timeout money.

 

The best thing to ever happen to the NFL was fantasy football, that alone has kept it in the limelight, and will probably continue to do so.   

[Thewholefnshow28]

I don't think he said that the NFL will 'Implode." Here's a recap of what he said, and I think he has some valid points:

 

1. Safety is an issue. This is causing a decline in youth football participation, which could have an effect on the future pool of players. This may also lead to a decrease in interest in the sport, if less people are playing football.

 

2. There is an increase in off-field exposure for all athletes--especially football players, since the popularity of the sport is at an all-time high. This will lead to more reports of bad behavior, which will impact the fans' perspective.

 

3. Adding additional nights for football games (Saturday nights in addition to Thursday nights) may lead to oversaturation. The popularity of the sport may stay the same, but the ratings will drop.

 

I think that all of the above points have merit.

 

I agree.  His points have merit.  I respect the hell out of Cuban and he is not some hack sports writer for Yahoo or ESPN.  This is a guy who knows how to run a team and a business.  

 

I think the safety issue is a real concern for the NFL.  Do I think it could be a problem in 10 years?  probably not but 15-20 years it could be a real problem if more and more parents stop letting their kids play football.

 

The over saturation should be a concern because their product has suffered.  Most of those Thursday night games last season were terrible and writers were talking more about the quality of the game versus what actually happened.  I know I found myself watching other shows like House of Cards or Breaking Bad than watching mediocre product on the NFL channel.  If they continue to add more and more games and the quality suffers eventually fans will lose interest.

 

You have them talking about more playoff teams and more games.  At some point you are going to hit an over saturation point with the fans. I think that it hurts the NBA and MLB. I would love the NBA to go the number of games they had in the strike season, but stretch it over the normal amount of time.  

[oldunclemark]

usfl

Was the usfl ever successful enough to implode..?

 

No successful pro league that I know of has ever blown up because they gave too much product to the public and made too much money for the owners and players

 

There was a time when the NBA playoffs were only shown on weekends....Now you can watch ever single game in every single round on free cable.......

 

World wide..its my understanding the NBA is much more popular than the NFL.....