Are the NFL ratings down this year due to the reduction of violent hits ?

[DougDew]

1 hour ago, Coffeedrinker said:

It's election time so here's a poll on why the NFL ratings are declining.

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2016/10/27/nfl-ratings-national-anthem-protests-poll/

 

Interesting that player safety and poor play were the two lowest reasons.  The number 1 reason... player protest.

And most of that protest/sociology stuff is fostered by the media.  They are out of touch.  They will tell you that this stuff is ratings driven but I'll bet the data suggests otherwise...on a long term basis.

 

Sure, if you get some Kardashian type news about an NFL player hitting the air it will probably show a spike in ratings.  But if the media chases those spikes week after week, which they do, it changes the nature of their programming from being a sports show into a gossip show.  That weighs on the fan and eventually the fan starts watching other shows where they don't have to watch low-life behavior or get preached to.

 

The way the media presents the NFL is not doing the NFL or themselves any favors.

 

PS:  I watched a NYG game recently, and after Odell scored a 4th quarter TD, he took off his helmet and yelled all the way back to the sidelines and then kneeled in front of the kickers net and "talked to it".  We saw the whole thing because the producer in the truck chose to isolate one camera on Odell AFTER he scored the TD.  They replayed his post-TD antics as much as they replayed the actual play.  Sorry....NO..people do NOT watch football to see that stuff.  Only the twinkies in the media think that stuff is interesting.

[Coffeedrinker]

11 minutes ago, DougDew said:

And most of that protest/sociology stuff is fostered by the media.  They are out of touch.  They will tell you that this stuff is ratings driven but I'll bet the data suggests otherwise...on a long term basis.

 

Sure, if you get some Kardashian type news about an NFL player hitting the air it will probably show a spike in ratings.  But if the media chases those spikes week after week, which they do, it changes the nature of their programming from being a sports show into a gossip show.  That weighs on the fan and eventually the fan starts watching other shows where they don't have to watch low-life behavior or get preached to.

 

The way the media presents the NFL is not doing the NFL or themselves any favors.

 

PS:  I watched a NYG game recently, and after Odell scored a 4th quarter TD, he took off his helmet and yelled all the way back to the sidelines and then kneeled in front of the kickers net and "talked to it".  We saw the whole thing because the producer in the truck chose to isolate one camera on Odell AFTER he scored the TD.  They replayed his post-TD antics as much as they replayed the actual play.  Sorry....NO..people do NOT watch football to see that stuff.  Only the twinkies in the media think that stuff is interesting.

Yup.  Like I said in my earlier post, I think fans would put up with the protest if not for the networks making such a big deal about it and putting those players on a pedestal (well a higher pedestal than they already do).

 

And in my original thread, I also mentioned the antics of players.

 

Good points Dougdew.

[bayone]

I dont know if this was mentioned I havent read all on this topic,m but did read on 1 of the sports v channels CBS or NFL.com that ratings went down as people dont like the national anthem protests 

[DougDew]

1 hour ago, bayone said:

I dont know if this was mentioned I havent read all on this topic,m but did read on 1 of the sports v channels CBS or NFL.com that ratings went down as people dont like the national anthem protests 

Don't know if that is true, but I doubt just the protests by themselves is causing it.  Its also combined with the fact the NFL doesn't discipline the players for it.

 

Freedom of speech has nothing to do with it.

 

Playing the national anthem at a football game is not government law.  It is an action sanctioned by sports teams because they think it is a good thing to do.  Just like wearing pink for BSA.  The players are giving the finger to an NFL sanctioned ritual, and the NFL sheepishly does nothing about it....out of fear of something.

 

It can't seem to be able to control the actions of its own employees while on company time...what a turn off.

[bayone]

25 minutes ago, DougDew said:

Don't know if that is true, but I doubt just the protests by themselves is causing it.  Its also combined with the fact the NFL doesn't discipline the players for it.

 

Freedom of speech has nothing to do with it.

 

Playing the national anthem at a football game is not government law.  It is an action sanctioned by sports teams because they think it is a good thing to do.  Just like wearing pink for BSA.  The players are giving the finger to an NFL sanctioned ritual, and the NFL sheepishly does nothing about it....out of fear of something.

 

It can't seem to be able to control the actions of its own employees while on company time...what a turn off.

 

Here is the article I read

 

Poll: National Anthem Protests Leading Cause For NFL Ratings Drop

October 27, 2016 3:42 PM

Excerpt

There are many reasons why the NFL’s ratings are down in 2016. You may be dismissive of the very idea that the backlash to the national anthem protests, has played a role in the NFL’s TV ratings, which have dropped by about 12 percent year-over-year. To continue to dismiss that is to blatantly ignore legitimate data on the subject.

 

 841 adults across the U.S. Each respondent was asked to identify seven separate factors as a reason for the NFL ratings drop, allowing them to answer “yes” or “no” for each of them. The leading factor, according to the poll, was the national anthem protests, which scored “yes” at a rate of 56 percent.

 

(( VARIOUS other polls with diff reasons were noted in the full article but none had such a high rating ))

 

Interestingly enough, the lowest score, tied with player safety at 33 percent, was “a decline in quality of play on the field.”

 

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2016/10/27/nfl-ratings-national-anthem-protests-poll/

[CanuckColtsFan]

7 hours ago, crazycolt1 said:

The commercials are what pays the bills. The TV contracts is why every person affiliated with the NFL gets paid. Without them they are not on TV and none of us watches. Without that there would be no NFL.

Just the way it is.

No other sport is bogged down by anything close to the amount of commercials. It's was too much. CFL has less, NHL less. It's gross and way over done. 

[SkyBane]

Also this:

 

[19colt]

36 minutes ago, SkyBane said:

Also this:

 

Utterly ridiculous

[Happy2BeHere]

I started a topic about the ratings decline a number of weeks ago but it got locked due to ignorant responses.

 

At any rate here is a survey conducted that gives you a pretty good indication of the ratings drops...and the protesting of the national Anthem is the highest reason. The lowest reason is tied with "player safety" as well as "decline of quality of play on the field."

 

heres the article:

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2016/10/27/nfl-ratings-national-anthem-protests-poll/

 

[19colt]

Oakland just broke the NFL record for flags in a game with 23 (game still going). I know it is the Raiders but still. 

[jet1968]

I think the ratings are down because they have overexposed themselves. All day Sunday starting at what 8:00am if a London game? Monday night. Thursday night and in a few weeks even on Saturday. Thursday night football and overseas games are the worst thing the NFL could have done. The NFL is too greedy for their own good. In reality the common fan probably only needs or wants 1 game a week to satisfy their "fix" for the week and that's only when their team is playing. I know I get myself going for the Colts game but after that I may or may not watch or listen to a game and couldn't probably care less. Greed is what is going to make the NFL implode.

As far as politics goes the NFL, commentators, and networks need to stick to football and stay away from politics, and/or political correctness. Everyone has their opinions and they aren't going to do anything but rub a percentage of the people the wrong way no matter what they say.

[krunk]

The quality of the show is down

 

Too many flags for the most stupid stuff

Little to no kickoff returns

Defensive players have to play hesitantly

You can barely even play press man coverage without a flag

All the Roger Goodell drama

 

 

[krunk]

The London games are usually boring and it feels weird watching football that early in the morning.  The players are worn out from the trip which takes away from the performance somewhat.

[DougDew]

On 10/29/2016 at 9:17 PM, Happy2BeHere said:

I started a topic about the ratings decline a number of weeks ago but it got locked due to ignorant responses.

 

At any rate here is a survey conducted that gives you a pretty good indication of the ratings drops...and the protesting of the national Anthem is the highest reason. The lowest reason is tied with "player safety" as well as "decline of quality of play on the field."

 

heres the article:

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2016/10/27/nfl-ratings-national-anthem-protests-poll/

 

Not surprised.  Its the expansion of the nonfootball aspect of the sport that is turning people off.

 

But I will say that people also do not like to see TDs being scored based upon whether the WR or CB wins the uncalled PI battle.

[Dingus McGirt]

Reasons: 

 

--Poor play and more injuries due to restrictions on practice and conditioning by the CBA

--Focus has moved away from the game and on to social issues

--Too many antics by grown men acting the fool (pretend sex acts when celebrating, etc.)

 

My Directv goes dark on the 4th of November.  We have Amazon Prime and Roku.  I love my Colts, but will no longer allow my schedule to be driven by the NFL.  Sad that I ever let that happen in the first place...I know.

[Colttodd18]

Maybe I'm getting older and I might be alone on this but the broadcasting teams are terrible. Even through a bad game, it just seemed the broadcasting teams 5-20 years ago were more entertaining with their view points. They could keep you entertained trough a boring game. 

[19colt]

1 hour ago, Dingus McGirt said:

Reasons: 

 

--Poor play and more injuries due to restrictions on practice and conditioning by the CBA

 

Just want to add that this is occurring within an NFL that has faster and bigger players that probably need to spend more time in the offseason (not less!) working on injury prevention than previous generations. 

[Coffeedrinker]

here is another article on the ratings drop.

 

I'm a cord cutter, have been for years (actually before they came up with the phrase cutting the cord I just decided that I was not going to pay to bring crap into my house.

 

But if the NFL would just stream live games through game pass, even if they charged a couple hundred bucks a season I would buy that.  I'm already forking over the $99 to watch the games after they are played.  Or if they worked out a deal with Netflix I would probably become a netflix subscriber.

[ruksak]

greed

 

Does anyone really need say more on the subject than the above 5 letter word? 

[southwest1]

On October 26, 2016 at 7:17 PM, Bogie said:

Add in the topic of over-saturation (thursday night games that no one gives a crap about, London games that no one cares about either) and the NFL has themselves to blame. It also don't help when most prime time games have been BLOW OUTS...Some fans might enjoy this, but the majority of average viewers, do not. Ratings are always bad on blow out games, and so far, every MNF game has been a blow out. Most of the SNF games have also been blow outs. Ever watched a game and half the stadium is empty during the blow out, even if it's the home team winning? It's boring to most people. 

Yes, this is my biggest complaint too. TNF is just too much football in a given week during the regular season & lopsided victories are not compelling to watch on TV. You must give fans a break from Sunday & Monday night games. Yes, I realize Tuesday & Wednesday qualify as a temporary reprieve from professional football, but by the time Thursday rolls around a fan is already in pre-weekend mode. I just don't like TNF period. Both teams look like they are wearing loud pajama colors, the game doesn't feel authentic to me because my mind is conditioned to watch football on Sunday & Monday. The only time this schedule deviates is on Saturday during Wildcard weekend. 

 

Uh huh. I get the time difference & all, but early London games are not riveting either. Yes, these games appeal to an international audience sure, but who wants to watch the Bengals & Redskins tie? Talk about a snooze fest. If you never saw it, did you miss anything? No. 

[southwest1]

On October 26, 2016 at 2:44 PM, chad72 said:

You need a story you love or hate while it is entertaining, we are not having much of that other than the national anthem kneeling distractions this year. 

True, it is difficult to pick a villain squad for me to despise this yr. The Cowboys are winning, which I'm not thrilled about but I actually like the kid Dak Prescott & don't like that Tony Romo is scheming to get his job back when he doesn't deserve to have it back IMO. 

 

Cam Newton's team is underperforming this yr as well as Seattle, AZ, & GB as of late. And even if I wanted to hate Brady, which I don't. The dude is on fire right now. I like having a nemesis to root against even when INDY is struggling & right now, I can't find a team to have disdain for as a competitor. It's very strange. I've never been in this position before. I feel adrift actually this season. I know what teams I like, but I have no idea what 1 franchise I wanna see fall flat on their face this yr since Dak is a good kid, balling out of his skull, & I never like to see a guy railroaded thru no fault of his own. 

[southwest1]

On November 1, 2016 at 0:27 PM, krunk said:

Too many flags for the most stupid stuff

Preach my brother! Richard Sherman commits blatant pass interference against Julio Jones in the Hawks vs Falcons game & no flag anywhere in sight. But, then I'll see laundry on the field. They show the infraction on tape & I'm like ref what in the world are you looking at? 

 

Top that off with Josh Norman saying referee #88 sucked recently & I wonder who is in control here? 

[The Lucky Neck Beard]

because of Grigson...

 

 

somebody had to say it ;)

 

 

In reality I feel like there is football every day and it has become too much. It used to be Sundays... all day sunday, but just sunday.  I personally HATE the thursday/Monday night games.  Its probably all right if you are on the west coast, but getting up for work here on the east coast is miserable the next day.  I feel like the saturation is the problem, just too much of a good thing.

 

So my fix? go back to just Sundays with just a couple prime time during the week games as the playoffs loom... Then, Extend the year to 18 games, get rid of the useless preseason games (do televised scrimmages for all I care, preseason is bunk), increase the roster size (to mitigate injury problems) and add in an additional bye week... last but not least, light up the penalties on holds and interference calls...  So tired of seeing great plays getting called back.

 

*Steps of soap box* 

[DougDew]

23 hours ago, Coffeedrinker said:

here is another article on the ratings drop.

 

I'm a cord cutter, have been for years (actually before they came up with the phrase cutting the cord I just decided that I was not going to pay to bring crap into my house.

 

But if the NFL would just stream live games through game pass, even if they charged a couple hundred bucks a season I would buy that.  I'm already forking over the $99 to watch the games after they are played.  Or if they worked out a deal with Netflix I would probably become a netflix subscriber.

The cord was about $50 bucks a month and gave me a clear uninterrupted signal on a nice 30 something inch screen, live ("real time" for the techies) at least when it was analog.  It was easy to turn on the TV and watch the games, and it cost nothing extra.   Cable TV, vintage about 1992, was the best form of media to watch football.  Clear, live, and inexpensive.

 

Now the pricing of the product has turned into a pricing by the piece.  I get a bigger screen that I didn't need, channel switching that takes comparatively forever, and unreliability in the signal since anything that's digital is much less tolerant of a weak signal than old analog.  Technological advancement has basically made watching the games less convenient but more expensive, but gives me stuff that never mattered in the first place, like being able to watch it on a small hand held device...or a screen that overwhelms the room its in.