We've lamented in here the decreasing interest in baseball, especially with younger viewers. Questions were posited about how to speed up the game or make it more interesting through bat flips and other means of showboating. Now the NY Times runs this article explaining the efforts of the NFL to stem a tide of disinterest in their game. I find this interesting.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11...wer-commercials.html
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TE,
The business issues of baseball and football are so different in my opinion that you can't compare the two to each other. The NFL has saturated their product across Mondays, Thursdays and Sundays for a 16 game season for each team. I don't think I've ever watched Thursday night football even if my team (Patriots) is playing, and I'm in the sweetspot of their demographic. Also, I very rarely watch Monday Night Football. The truth is I don't have time, and I'm willing to bet many people feel the same way either with business, family, or other activities. Baseball is a constant and I know I can always find a game that will interest me and is at my convenience. Heck, the two teams (Red Sox and Nats) I follow each play 162 from April to September....I can always find time (based on my schedule) to listen or watch many games and see some live anytime (budget $$ willing). The NFL is a watching only activity in my opinion. Radio doesn't do it for me.
Also, I think the NFL has some long term business viability questions that need to be addressed specifically around the protection and health of its players. The long term business prospects of baseball are good if they don't do anything stupid. In my part of the country, more people are interested in college football than pro football. The people that I work with and customers that I visit only want to talk about college football. People can afford the games and many go to the games.
I can't help to wonder if Fantasy Football is having an adverse effect on TV ratings because people won't watch one game. They are focused on all games so they are tuning into that NFL show that flips around to different games (Whip Around or something like that) to give the Fantasy football player an update on all his games. As you can tell I'm not a fantasy football player. I tried it once here on HSBBWeb with some folks but realized it is a huge time commitment.
BTW - I will not DVR sporting events. Sports were meant to be seen in real time or live.
Anyway, those are my 54-year-old thoughts on the topic. Excuse me I need to take my Geritol.
These are some well thought out points Fenway. I have heard some of the saturation arguments before. The thursday games are said to be horrific at times. I am one of those folks who loves the college game. ESPN shows a Thursday night game. If it is a bad game, I've got no interest in keeping up with that either.
I wonder about the concussion issue as well. What responsible parent puts their kid in football nowadays, knowing that there are such potential serious long-term health issues at risk?
Football is not what it was when I was young. My son's high school team is losing players pretty rapidly each year to guys wanting to focus on baseball (Baseball is a pretty popular sport at his school, drawing 100 or so fans at many varsity games). He quit football after 9th grade year saying that it just wasn't enjoyable sitting around doing nothing for much of practice and playing once a week. Also, I think that many people don't care that much for the coach. He can be a bit of a bully.
NFL has huge issues too. Player safety is a big issue for Football. the game is thriving financially but youth Football will get Problems if the concussion issue can't be resolved.
The actual match ups in prime time are the biggest culprit. The Thursday game scheduling has been horrible. Monday not much better. No more marqueematchup of the best teams in the game. The star QBs are getting older and there is almost NO defense anymore, but the constant penalty flags and the 20 minute replay delays are also a part of the problem.
Baseball has its own issues. The common issue is that kids are spending much more time on their smartphones and tablets than actually watching on tv. Many would even prefer to play the game online than in reality.
I can't help to wonder if Fantasy Football is having an adverse effect on TV ratings because people won't watch one game.
My son told me none of his friends watch one game unless it's their team and they're in the game. Otherwise they watch Red Zone.
if the weather isn't conducive to being outdoors I use daily to turn on the best game while reading. I would look up if I heard noise. I started watching Red Zone and the college equivalent this fall. It's far better than watching one game that might be good. They break to whatever is most interesting happening in the moment.
Red Zone is not calculated as NFL football viewing in the ratings. I started watching these shows for football after watching ESPN's college baseball version during the NCAA tournament. If not zeroed in on a team it's the best way to have seen the "did you see that" moments.
I never think about TNF unless the Patriots are playing. The bloom is off the rise on MNF. It's rating have been in decline for years. I find Gruden to be nails on a chalkboard. The only Primetime event football is Sunday night. That Al Michaels is the announcer should tell you it's the main show.
Parity/mediocrity is another issue. How many games each week are between two teams with winning records. Even worse, two teams with winning records that are +2 over .500.
You can watch baseball and football and read. Look up when the announcers voice increases. If you turn away from basketball or hockey for five minutes you've completely lost the flow of the game. I believe lacrosse is becoming more and more popular because it's essentially hockey without skates.
NFL should go back to 1 night game per week... They've spread their product too thin - besides as an East Coaster I really don't want to be up 3 nights a week watching what many times turns out to be a dreadful game. I have a job in the morning. Tough to schedule out the best matchups because it's not as easy to predict results. Where I'm at now it's all about why are the Panthers not as good (I keep saying it's because they have a first place schedule, but no one understands that). I'm thankful for NFL Sunday Ticket so I can watch my Patriots and other interesting games.
MLB is just a staple. There's always a game to watch and it's very easy for MLB Network feed to show an interesting game in addition to so many team based sports networks - lots of choice. Games can be a bit long, but there are ways to fix that - more than half involve ad revenue stream though, which is the necessary evil to afford paying the players (outrageous) salaries. "Waiting out" or "working the count" isn't my favorite part of the game - how many times do you see batters willing take 2 down the middle, foul off a bunch, then get punched out on a ball just off the plate and then complain. Damn, swing at the one down the middle - the worst thing you could do is hit that. All this theory works it's way down to the youth level and we wonder why kids who already have short attention spans don't want to play the game.
NBA needs to figure it out - they were on top at one time, but now IMO it's an awful product pandering to a few stars and devoid of rooting for any specific team. Hopefully the NFL doesn't fall into that trap. The NHL has always broadcast to a small subset of ravenous fans. ESPN found that out pretty quickly. Still one of the better takes to watch if you understand the sport.
MLS and whatever other international s*r is being sent to America is not interesting to me. Game is much too slow. I'm sure the international game is interesting because IIUC it's mostly "area" based and has been forever. Build up a ravenous and crazy fan base of people who've grown up watching the sport all in the same area and it's a winning formula.
I enjoy the college game a lot - although I'm not a fan of the hurry up football offense which really isn't hurry up when the whole team spends 20 seconds looking at the side line for the next play. Script 10-15 plays and play hurry up for real - that's exciting. Can anyone justify why college men's basketball still goes with two 20 minute halves? Still a better take than the NBA though. Not a fan of the metal bats in college, but at least the BBCOR bats have leveled the playing field a bit. Still there are leagues that play wood only and they do produce teams that can compete nationally (d2 at least).
John, to quote Karl Childers, "I like the way you talk." (Actually the little boy said it first, Karl added a "too", but that's not nearly as memorable.)
I think part of the problem is the amount of games. I've always felt 162 games were too many.
Fenway pretty much nailed it. Use to be NFL was Sunday afternoon only along with MNF. I think adding Thursday night and Sunday night games has saturated the sport. Not mention most Thursday night match ups have been mediocre at best. The best one was probably the Denver/Carolina opener - other than that they have been blah......
Tickets for games are outrageous if you can even get them. Co-worker has had season tickets for the Redskins. They are dropping them after this season after having them for 20+ years. Simply put the product on the field stinks, it's a hassle to go to games, poor officiating and it they just don't enjoy it anymore.
I actually enjoy Sunday Night Football, but only due to Al Michaels. Gruden about makes me puke on Monday Night Football. I sometimes turn the volume down when I get tired of Gruden and usually fall asleep watching MNF.
