News: Sunday Night Football takes big hit in ratings

[Nightman]

Kind of off topic but something that has been very frustrating for me has been the amount of injuries. As I've always said, in an ideal world I'd like to see no injuries. For one, I don't like seeing anyone get hurt but I realize that's part of the game. Secondly, I want to see the best possible football available. In other words, I'd much rather watch Brady, Wentz, whoever...chunk the ball around then some scrub that can't even hit a wide ooen receiver 5 yards from the line of scrimmage. It's just not fun to watch. The same can be said for most/all positions.

Got off topic a bit. A few weeks ago I was listening to a radio program and they brought up an interesting point. It seems there are a lot more injuries in the NFL then there used to be. I haven't looked into the stats but I feel like there is a lot more stoppage of play due to injury timeouts which slow the game to a crawl. Obviously most are legit but I also think some teams are sand bagging a little more to buy extra time. Anyways, the radio hosts theory was that the way technology and training have improved over the years has been the main reason for more injuries and it isn't likely to get better anytime soon. These players now are trained and built to do things the human body wasn't meant to do and it's resulting in more and more injuries. Every year, a large part of who makes the playoffs now is who has the least amount of injuries. That sucks.

Seems every other play is an injury, flag, timeout, replay, commecial or all of the above

 

[DallasEast]

Kind of off topic but something that has been very frustrating for me has been the amount of injuries. As I've always said, in an ideal world I'd like to see no injuries. For one, I don't like seeing anyone get hurt but I realize that's part of the game. Secondly, I want to see the best possible football available. In other words, I'd much rather watch Brady, Wentz, whoever...chunk the ball around then some scrub that can't even hit a wide ooen receiver 5 yards from the line of scrimmage. It's just not fun to watch. The same can be said for most/all positions.

Got off topic a bit. A few weeks ago I was listening to a radio program and they brought up an interesting point. It seems there are a lot more injuries in the NFL then there used to be. I haven't looked into the stats but I feel like there is a lot more stoppage of play due to injury timeouts which slow the game to a crawl. Obviously most are legit but I also think some teams are sand bagging a little more to buy extra time. Anyways, the radio hosts theory was that the way technology and training have improved over the years has been the main reason for more injuries and it isn't likely to get better anytime soon. These players now are trained and built to do things the human body wasn't meant to do and it's resulting in more and more injuries. Every year, a large part of who makes the playoffs now is who has the least amount of injuries. That sucks.

I think it is safe saying some form of sandbagging is practiced throughout the sport and at all levels. At some point during a game, a coach or player decides a stoppage in play is necessary for his team to re-evaluate or re-group. It has happened so often that I take it for granted. It does bother me whenever it looks like a player is trying to win a Tony Award though.

 

[aria]

I think it is safe saying some form of sandbagging is practiced throughout the sport and at all levels. At some point during a game, a coach or player decides a stoppage in play is necessary for his team to re-evaluate or re-group. It has happened so often that I take it for granted. It does bother me whenever it looks like a player is trying to win a Tony Award though.

Yeah, it's always happened and been part of the game but it just seems to happen more often. I can't recall, is there a penalty after a certain amount of times? I know the player has to sit out a down but does time come off the clock and after X amount of times does a team get penalized with yards?

 

[Captain43Crash]

Funny - I don't know one. I'm absolutely serious. I do not one single person who isn't watching because of that.

Totul_Makto hit it right on the nose.

Ratings for all of television are down across the board. Nielson just does not account for non-televised viewing while viewing is up all across other platforms. I'll tell you what else, I went to a large sports bar in a tourist section of Orlando last week where people from all over the country were and I could not find a seat and none of those people are being accounted for by ratings either.

I'm not saying the league doesn't have serious problems and I'm not saying some fans have been turned off, but it still dominates the sports landscape in the U.S. and there simply isn't a close second.

I don't know what the future holds.

You must live in a large city where people are much less Patriotic. In suburbs and smaller towns around this country a lot of fans completely disagree with players protesting during our National Anthem. I have talked to many football fans who are not near as excited about football due to the protesting. Personally, other than the Cowboys I am watching less football due to this situation. Goddell completely mis handled this situation.

 

[DallasEast]

Yeah, it's always happened and been part of the game but it just seems to happen more often. I can't recall, is there a penalty after a certain amount of times? I know the player has to sit out a down but does time come off the clock and after X amount of times does a team get penalized with yards?

NFL Rulebook: http://webcache.***BROKEN***/search...le4_Game_Timing.pdf+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us


INJURY TIMEOUTS

Article 2 If an official determines a player to be injured, or if attendants from the bench come on the field to assist an injured player, an injury timeout will be called by the Referee.


A.R. 4.7
Runner A1 is tackled and appears injured since he does not move.
Ruling: Official should call timeout for injured player. Official should not try to determine if player is injured.
Timeout is not charged if conditions are not violated.


INJURY TIMEOUTS PRIOR TO TWO-MINUTE WARNING OF EITHER HALF

Article 3 When an injury timeout is called, the injured player must leave the game for the completion of one

down. The player will be permitted to remain in the game if:
(a) either team calls a charged team timeout;
(b) the injury is the result of a foul by an opponent; or
(c) the period ends or the two-minute warning occurs before the next snap.
At the conclusion of an injury timeout, the game clock will start as if the injury timeout had not occurred. If either
team takes, or is charged with, a timeout, the clock will start on the snap.


INJURY TIMEOUTS AFTER TWO-MINUTE WARNING OF EITHER HALF

Article 4 After the two-minute warning of a half, the following shall apply:

(a) If a team has not used its three charged team timeouts, the team of the injured player will be charged
a team timeout, unless:
(i) the injury is the result of a foul by an opponent;
(ii) the injury occurs during a down in which there is a change of possession, a successful field goal,
or an attempted Try; or
(iii) the opponent calls a timeout.
(b) If a team has used its three charged team timeouts, an excess team timeout shall be called by the
Referee, unless:
(i) the injury is the result of a foul by an opponent;
(ii) the injury occurs during a down in which there is a change of possession, a successful field goal,
or an attempted Try; or
(iii) the opponent calls a timeout.
Penalty: For the second and each subsequent excess team timeout after the two-minute warning:
Loss of five yards from the succeeding spot for delay of the game.
(c) The player must leave the game for the completion of one down, unless:
(i) the injury is the result of a foul by an opponent; or
(ii) either team calls a charged team timeout.
(d) No yardage penalty will be assessed for the first excess team timeout, but a 10-second runoff of the
game clock may be applicable pursuant to (f) below. At the conclusion of an excess timeout taken
while time is in, the game clock shall start with the ready-for-play signal. For any excess timeout
charged to the defense, the play clock is reset to 40 seconds.
(e) If the Referee has already called an excess team timeout in that half for a team, any subsequent
excess timeout for that team will result in a five-yard penalty. (Such penalty shall be considered a foul
between downs and will not offset a foul by the defense or be part of a multiple foul by the offense.)
(f) If an excess team timeout is charged against a team in possession of the ball, and time is in when the
excess timeout is called, the ball shall not be put in play until the time on the game clock has been
reduced by 10 seconds, if the defense so chooses.

A.R. 4.8 Offensive team A, in the last two minutes of the half and the clock running:

a) Requests its fourth timeout because of an injured player.
Ruling: Granted. No five-yard penalty. Player has to be removed. Ten-second runoff. Ball will not be put in
play until the Referee blows his whistle and gives the wind-the-clock signal.
b) Requests its fifth timeout because of an injured player.
Ruling: Granted. Five-yard penalty. Player has to be removed. Ten-second runoff. Ball will not be put in play
until the Referee blows his whistle and gives the wind-the-clock signal.


SUPPLEMENTAL NOTES:
(1) Either half can end as the result of the 10-second runoff referenced in (f) above.
(2) If an injury timeout is called for both teams during or after a down, charged team timeouts and/or
excess team timeouts are charged as appropriate, but no yardage or 10-second runoff penalties shall
be enforced.
(3) If a foul by either team occurs during a down in which there is also an injury, such foul does not affect
the charging of an excess timeout, but it does prevent a 10-second runoff that may result from the
excess timeout, because the foul stopped the clock.
(4) The Competition Committee deprecates feigning injuries, with subsequent withdrawal, to obtain a
timeout without penalty. Coaches are urged to cooperate in discouraging this practice.
(5) There can never be a 10-second runoff against the defensive team.
(6) See Rule 16 (Sudden-Death Procedures), Section 1, Article 3 for application to overtime game

 

[goshan]

NFL games on 3 days a week. But what I really love is you prefer college ball when there are at least 20-25 games on every Saturday and yet mention oversaturation with only 4 NFL games on each Sunday.

how many college football time slots are there compared to NFL? NFL has thur night, 3 on sunday (sometimes 4) and 1 on monday. 5-6 time slots. I suspect college football averages 3-4 time slots per week?

 

[LocimusPrime]

Just read an interesting article, that chicken wing sales have gone down 19% as well. They are contributing this to th decline in NFL viewership. Sux for them.

 

[waldoputty]

how does one reconcile declining ratings with rise in overall revenues (cap dollars):
1. a large % of revenues are tied to long term contracts that rise in dollars over time.
2. ratings do not account for all viewership due to streaming

one may say that this can lead to long term decline if you look at revenues over 5 year spans instead of year-to-year. it is hard to say as not sure how recent this declining trend is.

furthermore, there is the matter of other viewing options. is viewership declining across the board for all programs, so NFL may offer the best of declining options? that may continue to support nfl revenues even though the revenues/$ advertising may been dropping for sponsors. they may simply lack a better option so the price premium is maintained?

 

[LocimusPrime]

I wanna know why all the chicken wing, fried chicken, pizza, and salsa sales are going down!
Well the producers are all pointing to the NFL. The wing stores are saying they see less traffic on Sundays this year (as opposed to last year).

Enlighten me

 

[waldoputty]

I wanna know why all the chicken wing, fried chicken, pizza, and salsa sales are going down!
Well the producers are all pointing to the NFL. The wing stores are saying they see less traffic on Sundays this year (as opposed to last year).

Enlighten me

i would say u r less likely to be chowing down on wings, pizza etc when u r streaming...
streaming may happen less at game time but later in the evening after dinner.
also less excitement leads to reduced munching on various food items in my personal experience.

 

[LocimusPrime]

i would say u r less likely to be chowing down on wings, pizza etc when u r streaming...
streaming may happen less at game time but later in the evening after dinner.
also less excitement leads to reduced munching on various food items in my personal experience.

Just give me some butter bro.

 

[LocimusPrime]

i would say u r less likely to be chowing down on wings, pizza etc when u r streaming...
streaming may happen less at game time but later in the evening after dinner.
also less excitement leads to reduced munching on various food items in my personal experience.

What's good to eat while streaming

 

[waldoputty]

Just give me some butter bro.

now u see it, now u dont

 

[waldoputty]

What's good to eat while streaming

putty just has a hot drink during streaming.
very different from chowing wings down in a sports bar.
or chips and salsa with bros in front of the tv.

 

[DandyDon1722]

You must live in a large city where people are much less Patriotic. In suburbs and smaller towns around this country a lot of fans completely disagree with players protesting during our National Anthem. I have talked to many football fans who are not near as excited about football due to the protesting. Personally, other than the Cowboys I am watching less football due to this situation. Goddell completely mis handled this situation.

This will be a TIL for you - Today I Learned.

Your insinuation is the quintessence of the tribal mentality that has become a disease. That because I Iive in a big city we're all much less patriotic. Then, you inserted your personal views and tried to convince me that you're not alone because you know people who don't watch for the same reason you don't watch, again trying to convince yourself that everybody feels the same as you because it gives you comfort. Like most of the country - seeking affirmation not information on whichever side you may be on.

So - this should be the final word on it. My nephew has served 6 tours, he gets all the fun spots, early Iraq early Afghanistan, now in Somolia. He loves the Buffalo Bills more than anything, he tries to listen or watch as many games as he can. He serves with many if not mostly African Americans and he had no problems with the protests because many of those guys have helped save his life over the years and he understands their feelings. He would never do it, but he understands the right to do it and the inherent things that are still prevalent that they face.

Yes, I live in a city cty, but I'm from a small town in western New York, near the PA line which I've spent a great deal of time in because my mother is ill and I do not know ONE single person who is not watching the NFL because of the protests. Not one.

I'll sit back and watch the ratings soar the next three weeks and playoffs and Super Bowl while those who don't want to watch because of the protest, (perfectly fine with me - good for them if that's how they feel) shovel snow.

Hey - at least their sidewalks will be clean.

 

[DandyDon1722]

I actually am not bothered by the protests whatsoever, however, I work in the DoD and the number that I know that stopped watching due to that is staggering. Half of my fantasy league pulled out after the league wide protests so it is a contributing factor to a decline in ratings across the nation. Personally I stopped watching non Cowboys games due to Goodell and the front office and the officiating, which are also large contributors in the ratings decline.

This is a multiple regression model with many variables versus a linear model that people keep trying to force feed down people's throats due to whatever political platform they want to take.

Excellent post and I completely agree in your assertion that assuming the protests are the driving factor is simply trying to convince people your platform is right. It's a disingenuous argument.

I must say again I do not know one person n my vast assortment of friends and colleagues who watch the NFL that have ever stopped watching. I also think the environment at the DOD leans to a more political environment so it's understandable. As I stated earlier my nephew is on six tours now, loves the Bills, never misses a game when he can and he had no problems with the protests because of the men he serves with.

The ratings will soar the last three weeks and into the playoffs and Super Bowls because people still love football. The problems facing the NFL lie with Goodell (as you correctly stated) and CTE much more than any protests that will most likely not go into next season.

The future of football long-term is unknown but necessity brings change and hopefully they'll figure it out.

 

[DandyDon1722]

If the Giants were tied for first in the NFC East there would not be a single seat available. Nobody wants to watch a 2 win team in December.

 

[LocimusPrime]

now u see it, now u dont

I have to admit. This is my favorite. It's soooooo good.

 

[waldoputty]

I have to admit. This is my favorite. It's soooooo good.

sorry substituted with frozen olive oil with yellowing coloring

 

[theebs]

You must live in a large city where people are much less Patriotic. In suburbs and smaller towns around this country a lot of fans completely disagree with players protesting during our National Anthem. I have talked to many football fans who are not near as excited about football due to the protesting. Personally, other than the Cowboys I am watching less football due to this situation. Goddell completely mis handled this situation.

oh i like talking in code, large cities equals less patriotic.

ok then.