NFL Ratings are down Week 1

[Shunpike]

Details below.

http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/nfl-ratings-hurricane-irma-1202559149/

I say it isn't only the Hurricanes. I expect this rating issue continue for the networks. My reasons in no particular order.

1) NFL is QB centric and teams that don't have a franchise QB(more than 20 teams) aren't in it to win the championship. Parity isn't there anymore. Pats, Packers, Seahawks are in it year in and year out but other teams are just come and go.

2) Political issues. People watch NFL games to get away from all the politics but finally politics in the football coming to our houses uninvited.

3) Commercials commercials and commercials. And therefore long games.

4) Youth isn't into watching sports anymore.

5) High ticket prices drew families away from the stadiums and emotional connection to the teams got lost.

What are your theories?

 

[Dhragon]

Every year, more things come to light which makes me believe the NFL just might be corrupt. We know they are unfair.

 

[mattjames2010]

Details below.

http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/nfl-ratings-hurricane-irma-1202559149/

I say it isn't only the Hurricanes. I expect this rating issue continue for the networks. My reasons in no particular order.

1) NFL is QB centric and teams that don't have a franchise QB(more than 20 teams) aren't in it to win the championship. Parity isn't there anymore. Pats, Packers, Seahawks are in it year in and year out but other teams are just come and go.

2) Political issues. People watch NFL games to get away from all the politics but finally politics in the football coming to our houses uninvited.

3) Commercials commercials and commercials. And therefore long games.

4) Youth isn't into watching sports anymore.

5) High ticket prices drew families away from the stadiums and emotional connection to the teams got lost.

What are your theories?

1. In a bit of a transition, old QBs going out, young QBs coming in. There will be replacements, not worried about this.

2. I think this is overblown. If anything, I think it's simple that politics in general has people distracted from entertainment.

3. Games are far shorter this year

4. Would like to see a study on this, I doubt this in a very big way though

5. Eh.

I think there is a bigger factor here - people are illegally livestreaming games. More and more people are finding their ways to illegally stream games. From everything I've seen, football is talked about as much if not more than it was in years past. Every Thursday, Sunday, and Monday something with football is trending at the top.

We seem to keep ourselves in a bubble - when you are part of a forum discussing football, everything about football becomes a discussion and bigger. However, when it comes to the political stuff, I don't think most people even care; especially casual watchers. I know the NFL had that survey, but it was quite limited.

While it's probably a combination of things, I think the biggest factor is how much you have to pay just to watch your team play, especially if you don't live in an area that has their games on weekly.

 

[Shunpike]

4. Would like to see a study on this, I doubt this in a very big way though

This was the reason for my claim. Link is below. You are right about illegal streams though. I forgot to add Red Zone as a factor as well.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/welln...h-more-esports-than-regular-sports/ar-AArSxqo

 

[MichaelWinicki]

1. In a bit of a transition, old QBs going out, young QBs coming in. There will be replacements, not worried about this.

2. I think this is overblown. If anything, I think it's simple that politics in general has people distracted from entertainment.

3. Games are far shorter this year

4. Would like to see a study on this, I doubt this in a very big way though

5. Eh.

I think there is a bigger factor here - people are illegally livestreaming games. More and more people are finding their ways to illegally stream games. From everything I've seen, football is talked about as much if not more than it was in years past. Every Thursday, Sunday, and Monday something with football is trending at the top.

We seem to keep ourselves in a bubble - when you are part of a forum discussing football, everything about football becomes a discussion and bigger. However, when it comes to the political stuff, I don't think most people even care; especially casual watchers. I know the NFL had that survey, but it was quite limited.

While it's probably a combination of things, I think the biggest factor is how much you have to pay just to watch your team play, especially if you don't live in an area that has their games on weekly.

I think the biggest factor is the game isn't that interesting. Many are simply bad.

Game after game last weekend were just not entertaining.

Last night's game was a dreg.

Folks like scoring & close games and we're getting neither.

 

[mattjames2010]

I think the biggest factor is the game isn't that interesting. Many are simply bad.

Game after game last weekend were just not entertaining.

Last night's game was a dreg.

Folks like scoring & close games and we're getting neither.

It would be nice to compare this to years past though. I would be surprised if this was different a decade or two ago; especially with how many teams in the 80s and 90s that were terrible.

 

[Vinnie2u]

A Dallas vs. NE or Dallas vs. Pittsburgh Super Bowl would cure a lot of Issues.

 

[Outlaw Heroes]

A few half-baked theories I'd throw out for consideration:

1. Society has developed attention deficit issues that are not conducive to watching a 3-hour spectacle that includes only 13 minutes or so of snap-to-whistle action. We need our news in bite-sized morsels, tweets instead of articles (whose got the time to read them?) but we're going to sit down to watch a game in which more time elapses between plays than during the plays themselves? Yeah right.

2. The NFL has cannibalized its own product. Red Zone, while the perfect product offering for today's attention deficit society, makes watching the games themselves unnecessary. Why sit through all the "boring stuff" when you can basically watch a real-time highlight show that captures every ongoing game.

3. The league faces serious piracy issues. How many people stream games instead of paying for Sunday Ticket?

 

[SDCowboy]

Yep, the constant commercial breaks have to stop. Period. It's 2017. The patience for ads is gone.

 

[AmericanCowboy]

A few half-baked theories I'd throw out for consideration:

1. Society has developed attention deficit issues that are not conducive to watching a 3-hour spectacle that includes only 13 minutes or so of snap-to-whistle action. We need our news in bite-sized morsels, tweets instead of articles (whose got the time to read them?) but we're going to sit down to watch a game in which more time elapses between plays than during the plays themselves? Yeah right.

2. The NFL has cannibalized its own product. Red Zone, while the perfect product offering for today's attention deficit society, makes watching the games themselves unnecessary. Why sit through all the "boring stuff" when you can basically watch a real-time highlight show that captures every ongoing game.

3. The league faces serious piracy issues. How many people stream games instead of paying for Sunday Ticket?

To point three, I know like 10 people who do this.

Sunday ticket costs like 500 bucks after taxes

 

[SDCowboy]

To point three, I know like 10 people who do this.

Sunday ticket costs like 500 bucks after taxes

I only pay $99.

 

[conner01]

More and more are streaming their games
Millions had other things more important
Millions had no power to watch games
I expect the season to be down this year and I suspect much of it is people finding other ways to watch games
I know literally hundreds of people who stream all their sports
The league would be smart to tap into that by having a reasonable streaming service
Music industry doesn't have near the problem with music being bootlegged after it got so cheap to get it legally
I think the league could do the same but it would weaken their tv contracts

 

[conner01]

To point three, I know like 10 people who do this.

Sunday ticket costs like 500 bucks after taxes

its a huge problem that is not going away and is growing every year

 

[Kolemmitt]

A Dallas vs. NE or Dallas vs. Pittsburgh Super Bowl would cure a lot of Issues.

Or Dallas v. Raiders

 

[AmericanCowboy]

I had the same thing man

Kept my college email going specifically for Sunday ticket

Then all of a sudden they want to see transcripts!

I only pay $99.

 

[SDCowboy]

I had the same thing man

Kept my college email going specifically for Sunday ticket

Then all of a sudden they want to see transcripts!

I just called customer service and told them I would cancel if I didn't keep getting it for $99.

 

[Trouty]

I just called customer service and told them I would cancel if I didn't keep getting it for $99.

I tell them I'm gonna leave if I don't get it for free

$99 definitely isn't bad, either, SD, for the peace of mind knowing you won't miss a game.

 

[Trouty]

I had the same thing man

Kept my college email going specifically for Sunday ticket

Then all of a sudden they want to see transcripts!

Did they really ask to see your transcripts?? LOL

 

[AmericanCowboy]

Did they really ask to see your transcripts?? LOL

Lol yes- I uploaded an old one and the got some error message and told me to call.

I never called since my transcripts are from 2012

 

[robjay04]

You named every reason except the main one.

Cord cutting.

NBA is surging...they're also not as strict about their product being online as the NFL.