Bad Calls and NFL Ad Revenue

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Kaiser

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Lets look at officiating in key points of the first half of the last two Dallas games. I’ve said for years that bad calls “mysteriously” happen in the NFL at the exact points needed to keep the games close so fans keep watching. That is purely because of TV ad revenue, which depends on fans watching – and they don’t watch the second half of blowouts. Last year the NFL made 13 Billion in revenue with 5 Billion coming from the TV contracts.


I accidently deleted the tape of the Colts game but when they were up 7 and about to go up 14 to take control the game, the refs made several bad calls to stop the Colts (helping Dallas) and keep the game close. If Indy is up 14 at the half, the fans turn the channel, ad revenue goes down and the NFL loses money. No question they were terrible calls and they benefited Dallas.


In the Bucs game, look at the last drive of the half. Two minutes left, Dallas is up by 11. A three and out and Dallas is up by 11 or 14 at the half and fans change the channel. Lets look at consecutive plays on that drive:


2&10 at TB 25 – Winston hits Jackson at 24 yards but the refs add 15 yards for Gregory roughing the passer even though he hits Winston a half step after his release - well within the rules. Ball at the Dallas 36 followed by a 5 yard pass.

2nd & 5 at Dallas 31. 11 yard pass to Evans on a play where several TB OL are holding. Holding was called on both teams on similar plays throughout the game but not here.

1st & 10 at Dallas 20 – Winston throws to Evans in the End Zone, who flagrantly pushes off in the End Zone, directly in front of the refs. The announcers call it a blatant push off. No call.

2nd & 10 at the Dallas 20 – Winston throws 8 yards to Humphries. Xavier Woods makes a text book shoulder to shoulder tackle to knock the ball lose, making it a fumble or an incompletion.

Nope, the refs call Unnecessary Roughness, giving the Bucs a 1st and Goal at the 6. They score two plays later, the score is 4 points at halftime instead of 11 or 14.

Four out of five consecutive plays are bad calls. Fans keep watching, ad revenue comes into the networks and those Billions of dollars continue to roll into the NFL.
 

Doomsday101

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I will just say if it was ever proven that these calls are on purpose to fix a game, then I would stop watching the NFL all together. I agree that there are bad calls and questionable calls in every game but I do not think the refs really care about the outcomes of any game.
 

Jake

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Lets look at officiating in key points of the first half of the last two Dallas games. I’ve said for years that bad calls “mysteriously” happen in the NFL at the exact points needed to keep the games close so fans keep watching.

Bad calls happen in every sport.

What you're experiencing is called confirmation bias: the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one's existing beliefs or theories.
 

Kaiser

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What you're experiencing is called confirmation bias: the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one's existing beliefs or theories.

Actually I developed the theory from twenty plus years of watching every Dallas replay after seeing the game live. Confirmation bias exists and every sport has bad calls. But I'm not saying it helps one team over another, which is why I pointed out it worked for and against Dallas in the last two games.

If the majority of terrible calls happen at similar points for years and years, and it coincides exactly with the best financial interest of the NFL, there is plenty of reason to suspect something is going on. Everything in the NFL from the rules to the draft to the salary cap are designed to have all 32 teams close in performance, that is the reason for the Competition Committee. And when its a 5 Billion dollar source of revenue, it wouldn't be surprising to see the NFL's thumb on the scale.
 

gimmesix

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I accidently deleted the tape of the Colts game but when they were up 7 and about to go up 14 to take control the game, the refs made several bad calls to stop the Colts (helping Dallas) and keep the game close. If Indy is up 14 at the half, the fans turn the channel, ad revenue goes down and the NFL loses money. No question they were terrible calls and they benefited Dallas.

When you say that you "accidently deleted the tape," do you really mean that the NFL forced you to delete the evidence but you're not allowed to talk about it?

Like once for yes, twice for no.
 

Hennessy_King

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I can get behind this. Financially it makes the most sense to have their most popular team always "in the game". Or always really close if up. These greedy owners and gooddell would put this together in a heartbeat.
 

DenCWBY

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Interesting perspective. The one that really was a farce was when our DE legally realigned his position inside before the snap and the offensive guard illegally jumped. The penalty called against the DE for repositioning too quickly. WTH?
 

Doomsday77

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So, in theory penalties are the great equalizer? I am not buying it. Coincidence maybe but not intentional in my mind. You have turnovers which are part of the game and they are random at best. They often influence outcomes. No one but the opposition controls that. I will agree that this year more than any other has been the absolute worst officiating in history as a whole. You have every major network with a retired ref in the booth contradicting those on the field every week.
 

Hennessy_King

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So, in theory penalties are the great equalizer? I am not buying it. Coincidence maybe but not intentional in my mind. You have turnovers which are part of the game and they are random at best. They often influence outcomes. No one but the opposition controls that. I will agree that this year more than any other has been the absolute worst officiating in history as a whole. You have every major network with a retired ref in the booth contradicting those on the field every week.
Penalties is the only thing the league can control. And they can either make or break a drive to make the game closer.
 

Kaiser

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We were up 24-0 over the Jags in the first half, with no sign of a comeback. Why didn't they "adjust" that game? Do all the sponsors hate Jacksonville?

The Jags put up 52 yards of combined offense in four drives by the time Dallas went up 24 points. What were the refs supposed to adjust?
 

Kaiser

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Interesting perspective. The one that really was a farce was when our DE legally realigned his position inside before the snap and the offensive guard illegally jumped. The penalty called against the DE for repositioning too quickly. WTH?

IMO that was purely a makeup call because they should have given Winston a 1st down rushing on the previous 3rd down play. On that penalty DLaw did make an "abrupt movement" but that happens on almost every play. The Bucs OT moved prior to the snap and also DLaw's hand was slightly in the neutral zone when he pointed that out. Then the play clock ran out.

Its a make up call IMO, but its also a good example where you have 3 super nit picky things that could be called on either team, while the main penalty that is called 19 times out of 20 is the Delay of Game.
 

Runwildboys

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The Jags put up 52 yards of combined offense in four drives by the time Dallas went up 24 points. What were the refs supposed to adjust?
Why didn't they throw some phantom PI flags, or neutral zone infraction flags? Either of those could be thrown on just about every play, technically.
 

Kaiser

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Why didn't they throw some phantom PI flags, or neutral zone infraction flags? Either of those could be thrown on just about every play, technically.

If you look at the box score, Bortles only made two passes over 10 yards and both were complete. You can't call PI on a screen or a running play.
 

Runwildboys

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If you look at the box score, Bortles only made two passes over 10 yards and both were complete. You can't call PI on a screen or a running play.
So they wanted to help the Jaguars, but Goodell helps those who help themselves?
 

Stash

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I will just say if it was ever proven that these calls are on purpose to fix a game, then I would stop watching the NFL all together. I agree that there are bad calls and questionable calls in every game but I do not think the refs really care about the outcomes of any game.

Exactly. These conspiracies theories don’t hold water. Ad revenues? Seriously? They’re going to jeopardize an entire sport and billions upon billions of dollars for ad revenues?

Uh, no. They’re bad calls, but the result of incompetence, not some dastardly plan.
 
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