The unplanned decline of the NFL

[erod]

Is there a reason you're so combative? You sound like a grumpy old man shaking his fist at kids to get off his lawn. Did I say something to upset you, or do you simply enjoy mocking things you don't understand? I'm glad you make so much money, though it's odd you brought it up, and even odder you would assume I don't make a lot of money simply because I'm a millennial (I'm an Elevator Mechanic so I do alright for myself). It's simply a difference in priorities between our generations, one that the NFL will have to account for going forward. I'm going to go back to not visiting this forum, it really just feels like a bunch of angry old white guys circle jerking each other here. Sorry I questioned your preconceived notions, toodles.

No offense intended. Just observations.

I forget how sensitive folks get sometimes.

 

[Gaede]

I’ve been losing interest for years, mostly because the league makes up rules on the spot and can’t even decide what a friggin catch is.

I just want to see the sport. The NFL as currently constructed is a spectacle.

Plus I hate Joe Buck

 

[Wood]

When it comes to changing the entertainment interests of a large number of people, "movements" just don't work. Things like billboard campaigns and organized calls for people to "don't go to events" or "don't watch it on TV" have very little short term effects and almost no long term effects against whatever the target is.

The problem is that, while important, most so-called issues are just not deal breakers for most people, especially not to the loyal fans. How many Get-Rid-Of-____ posts did we see on CZ back in the 2000's? Three 5-11 years in a row .. for the COWBOYS!?!? Yet, the NFL and Dallas Cowboys just kept getting more popular and more valuable. Movements, petitions, promotions, campaigns, etc. just don't have any long term effects like people think or hope they do.

So, what does push long time fans away from something they adore? A decline in entertainment or enjoyment value more than anything, but that is rarely a quick process. That is when bad decisions lead to a decline in quality over time, with a large part of it going unnoticed early on except by a few "Wolf! cryers" until one day it just hits you, "What happened to this?"

There is one thing of course that will push long time fans away more quickly, and that is when decisions are made that either greatly change or negatively affect the product/service/entertainment or that deeply offend or upset the fans. For example, when Jerry fired Landry, especially the way he did it, it drove a lot of older fans away from the team who have never returned. Younger fans were upset as well, but the Super Bowl wins a few years later helped bring a lot them back into the fold.

In a more current example, Cowboys fans are losing interest in the NFL because of a perceived bias against the team over the last few years, culminated by the unjustified suspension of Ezekiel Elliott. While that in itself is not enough to drive Cowboys fans away from the team itself, many Cowboys fans' views of the NFL are way more negative and tainted these days. For example, I do not watch NFL games unless the Cowboys are playing, where I used to watch NFL games almost every time they were on.

The world of entertainment is changing. People are moving away from scheduled-based TV and moving more toward on-demand entertainment. That last big hold-out for scheduled-based entertainment has been sporting events, with the NFL dominating that market for the last few decades. However, with the change in how people view and want entertainment combined with all of the missteps, mistakes and decisions the NFL has been making in recent years along with a noticeable decrease in quality of the NFL as a whole, these things are starting to impact the NFL's long time untouchable popularity.

For example, ten years ago, if a network cancelled your favorite TV show, you might have been upset, but you looked for and eventually found a replacement for it. Now, because most people are wanting more control and freedom in their lives, people are moving away from scheduled TV shows and TV in general. So, when a network cancels a show you like, you get upset, but then you soon realize that's another 30-60 minutes of your life each week that's no longer tied up with something usually 13-24 weeks out of the year.

For me, the NFL is the same way. In the past, my Sundays, Monday nights and Thursday nights were usually tied up with watching NFL games, either directly or casually while doing something else. Now, I only have one game a week I watch and in many cases, I am doing something else while the game is on, which I never did in the past while watching Cowboys games. Watching Cowboys games used to be a mental break for me from the rest of my busy schedule. I watched Cowboys games, and even the commercials, from start to finish. Now, I find myself sometimes wondering things like, "How did they get the ball back so quickly?" or "How did they get up/down by 3?"

People's entertainment interests have been changing for a while. Unlike many forms of entertainment, the NFL seemed to be shielded (pun intended) from those changes, but cracks have been appearing the last few years, and it seems like this year, the cracks are about to be replaced by gaping holes as fans and viewers leave.

The decline of the NFL has already started and given how long the process has been in motion, I cannot see any way it recovers. At best, the NFL needs to start making better decisions and providing teams with a better way to field more competitive teams if they want to hold on to what they still have.

agree with everything and we didn't even touch on head injury issue. With not as many mom's allowing their sons to play football I figure we have about 10 years left to watch this sport in its current form. What I still can't get my hands around is how more people watched big tournament for Esports than the Super Bowl. BTW: Jerry recently bought the main US team that participates in Esports.

 

[TheDude]

Is there a reason you're so combative? You sound like a grumpy old man shaking his fist at kids to get off his lawn. Did I say something to upset you, or do you simply enjoy mocking things you don't understand? I'm glad you make so much money, though it's odd you brought it up, and even odder you would assume I don't make a lot of money simply because I'm a millennial (I'm an Elevator Mechanic so I do alright for myself). It's simply a difference in priorities between our generations, one that the NFL will have to account for going forward. I'm going to go back to not visiting this forum, it really just feels like a bunch of angry old white guys circle jerking each other here. Sorry I questioned your preconceived notions, toodles.

Well, I dont see how can argue that millennials aren't looking for free stuff when you admit to illegal streaming. Like it or not, when you commoditize a good or service usually the quality goes down. Music, furniture (IKEA and Costco vs handmade), and eventually sports. I'll leave it there

 

[mugsybows]

Great post. I was talking to my friends at lunch about it today. The fact that I’m talking more about the inner workings of the NFL and the politics of it and Roger Goodell more than the actual teams and how they match up is a problem and honestly is making me lose complete interest in the sport altogether. My whole world around this time of year revolved around football and the cowboys. This year I’m just completely uninterested and hopeless. The past couple of years I always thought the league was out to get us but gave the NFL the benefit of the doubt, ie every fan feels that way at some point. But with Zeke getting the boom thrown at him while people like josh brown get a one game suspension and it’s swept under the rug, not to mention the control and favor east coast teams seem to get and how we’ll get called for everything in the book while our opponents get off im just over it. I will always enjoy watching cowboys but honestly the league took me from a super fan to a very casual fan who isn’t very hopeful about the future of football. It’s probably for the best too. Good while it lasted.

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

I went down to our Christmas tree lighting ceremony last night and talked to an Eagle fan. I know but he was pretty nice. lol He said what I've been saying. He's fed up with the NFL too. The only games he watches are Eagle games. I think it's more common than the NFL wants to admit.

 

[CCBoy]

Get rid of Jerry...

and then...

 

[Sarge]

What's to like about the NFL right now? The Zeke situation? No. The current Jerry situation? No. The fact that there are way too many flags? No. The fact that there are at too many commercials? No. The fact that we don't even know what a freakin catch is anymore? No. The fact that there have been no holding calls for the opposition since who knows when? No. The fact that even when they do look at the replays, they screw them up half the time? No. The fact that the quarterbacks are no longer allowed to be touched? No.

Seriously, the list is long and getting longer. The days of hard nosed football where teams truly hated each other is gone. Instead of players telling other players to **** off after the game, they are hugging each other and signing each other's jerseys. Harvey Martin may wipe his butt with a Commanders Jersey, but that would be the extent of it.

Can you see Jay Novacek doing a potato sack dance after a TD? Me neither.

 

[Grevus]

The league is in free-fall, more than they know. I watch less and clearly I'm not alone.

Officiating is a mess...the injection of politics and agenda kills the fun. Joy is gone.

The handling of the Zeke case is a kick in the gut. When I think of those running the league I get a gross sensation of their creepiness.

As if I wrote this myself. I feel exactly the same, and I'm sure we are not alone in this. I hear these same type of statements from nearly all fans. Just this year I happen to go to a sports bar for the Greenbay game with friends, amazing, the place was dead where in years past, it would be patched.

 

[CCBoy]

What's to like about the NFL right now? The Zeke situation? No. The current Jerry situation? No. The fact that there are way too many flags? No. The fact that there are at too many commercials? No. The fact that we don't even know what a freakin catch is anymore? No. The fact that there have been no holding calls for the opposition since who knows when? No. The fact that even when they do look at the replays, they screw them up half the time? No. The fact that the quarterbacks are no longer allowed to be touched? No.

Seriously, the list is long and getting longer. The days of hard nosed football where teams truly hated each other is gone. Instead of players telling other players to **** off after the game, they are hugging each other and signing each other's jerseys. Harvey Martin may wipe his butt with a Commanders Jersey, but that would be the extent of it.

Can you see Jay Novacek doing a potato sack dance after a TD? Me neither.

Two running steps and the ground creating a fumble constitutes an incomplete pass...start from there.

A running back can use his helmet as a battering ram, but a defender can't.

Make quarterbacks off limits and then don't enforce that rule against certain teams.

Allow some teams to flagrantly hold and throw flags around as if it were a May Day Celebration, against others. Don't touch a wide receiver, unless he gets mauled...step to step.

 

[JoeKing]

No Zeke, No Sean Lee, No Tyron Smith... No more Cowboys wins that matter. Without the Cowboys in the playoff race, the NFL truly is unwatchable. Never mind all the other issues causing viewership to decline... politics be damned.

 

[Doomsay]

Is there a reason you're so combative? You sound like a grumpy old man shaking his fist at kids to get off his lawn. Did I say something to upset you, or do you simply enjoy mocking things you don't understand? I'm glad you make so much money, though it's odd you brought it up, and even odder you would assume I don't make a lot of money simply because I'm a millennial (I'm an Elevator Mechanic so I do alright for myself). It's simply a difference in priorities between our generations, one that the NFL will have to account for going forward. I'm going to go back to not visiting this forum, it really just feels like a bunch of angry old white guys circle jerking each other here. Sorry I questioned your preconceived notions, toodles.

Your superiority complex is ageless.

 

[haleyrules]

What's to like about the NFL right now? The Zeke situation? No. The current Jerry situation? No. The fact that there are way too many flags? No. The fact that there are at too many commercials? No. The fact that we don't even know what a freakin catch is anymore? No. The fact that there have been no holding calls for the opposition since who knows when? No. The fact that even when they do look at the replays, they screw them up half the time? No. The fact that the quarterbacks are no longer allowed to be touched? No.

Seriously, the list is long and getting longer. The days of hard nosed football where teams truly hated each other is gone. Instead of players telling other players to **** off after the game, they are hugging each other and signing each other's jerseys. Harvey Martin may wipe his butt with a Commanders Jersey, but that would be the extent of it.

Can you see Jay Novacek doing a potato sack dance after a TD? Me neither.

What more can be said. That's about it. Get back to the basics.

 

[Jake]

When it comes to changing the entertainment interests of a large number of people, "movements" just don't work. Things like billboard campaigns and organized calls for people to "don't go to events" or "don't watch it on TV" have very little short term effects and almost no long term effects against whatever the target is.

The problem is that, while important, most so-called issues are just not deal breakers for most people, especially not to the loyal fans. How many Get-Rid-Of-____ posts did we see on CZ back in the 2000's? Three 5-11 years in a row .. for the COWBOYS!?!? Yet, the NFL and Dallas Cowboys just kept getting more popular and more valuable. Movements, petitions, promotions, campaigns, etc. just don't have any long term effects like people think or hope they do.

So, what does push long time fans away from something they adore? A decline in entertainment or enjoyment value more than anything, but that is rarely a quick process. That is when bad decisions lead to a decline in quality over time, with a large part of it going unnoticed early on except by a few "Wolf! cryers" until one day it just hits you, "What happened to this?"

There is one thing of course that will push long time fans away more quickly, and that is when decisions are made that either greatly change or negatively affect the product/service/entertainment or that deeply offend or upset the fans. For example, when Jerry fired Landry, especially the way he did it, it drove a lot of older fans away from the team who have never returned. Younger fans were upset as well, but the Super Bowl wins a few years later helped bring a lot them back into the fold.

In a more current example, Cowboys fans are losing interest in the NFL because of a perceived bias against the team over the last few years, culminated by the unjustified suspension of Ezekiel Elliott. While that in itself is not enough to drive Cowboys fans away from the team itself, many Cowboys fans' views of the NFL are way more negative and tainted these days. For example, I do not watch NFL games unless the Cowboys are playing, where I used to watch NFL games almost every time they were on.

The world of entertainment is changing. People are moving away from scheduled-based TV and moving more toward on-demand entertainment. That last big hold-out for scheduled-based entertainment has been sporting events, with the NFL dominating that market for the last few decades. However, with the change in how people view and want entertainment combined with all of the missteps, mistakes and decisions the NFL has been making in recent years along with a noticeable decrease in quality of the NFL as a whole, these things are starting to impact the NFL's long time untouchable popularity.

For example, ten years ago, if a network cancelled your favorite TV show, you might have been upset, but you looked for and eventually found a replacement for it. Now, because most people are wanting more control and freedom in their lives, people are moving away from scheduled TV shows and TV in general. So, when a network cancels a show you like, you get upset, but then you soon realize that's another 30-60 minutes of your life each week that's no longer tied up with something usually 13-24 weeks out of the year.

For me, the NFL is the same way. In the past, my Sundays, Monday nights and Thursday nights were usually tied up with watching NFL games, either directly or casually while doing something else. Now, I only have one game a week I watch and in many cases, I am doing something else while the game is on, which I never did in the past while watching Cowboys games. Watching Cowboys games used to be a mental break for me from the rest of my busy schedule. I watched Cowboys games, and even the commercials, from start to finish. Now, I find myself sometimes wondering things like, "How did they get the ball back so quickly?" or "How did they get up/down by 3?"

People's entertainment interests have been changing for a while. Unlike many forms of entertainment, the NFL seemed to be shielded (pun intended) from those changes, but cracks have been appearing the last few years, and it seems like this year, the cracks are about to be replaced by gaping holes as fans and viewers leave.

The decline of the NFL has already started and given how long the process has been in motion, I cannot see any way it recovers. At best, the NFL needs to start making better decisions and providing teams with a better way to field more competitive teams if they want to hold on to what they still have.

While of all of that has merit, lost in the discussion are the changing demographics in the country that began long before Roger Goodell. The growth of the Hispanic population, largely from countries where soccer is king, and a generation of domestic adults who grew up playing the sport here, also plays a big role in the decline of football in general. Those trends are going to continue, regardless of what happens to the Commissioner's office of the NFL.

What's accelerating the process are the shenanigans that are annoying us older fans, who are simply tired of it. Policing every hit, suspending players for public perception, and overall arrogance of how the NFL sells its product. Wanna watch all of the games? You have to subscribe to DirectTV first. Why? Because we said so, that's why. They're overplaying their hand, and it is costing them.

 

[Tass]

Wow! An Alexander O'Neill "Fake" reference.

NIcely done - great song.

You can't conceal it.
Know how I know?
Cuz I can feel it.

 

[Floatyworm]

The NFL has been less and less important to me every year for half a decade at least. At this point I'm entirely done with it. I was holding out hope that Romo and Witten could get a ring, and that was keeping me around. Now that dream is dead, and I have found that I am entirely disinterested in the NFL as a whole. You have to watch over 3 hours of programming to see 11 minutes of time when the ball is actually in play. I think the study done said 3 hours and 12 minutes for 11 minutes of play - that's 3 hours and 1 minute that the NFL is basically just stealing. Between that and the fact that the officiating is questionable at best, I find nothing enjoyable about watching - which is why I simply don't watch anymore. I'm not going to invest time and energy into a form of entertainment that doesn't entertain me.

And on top of all that Goodell is a scumbag.

The Cowboyszone is the only tie I have to the NFL at this point, and that's because I like the community here.

Well said...

I'm just about there w/ you. Corporate greed/politics has ruined this sport. The commercials are non stop. The political bias is over whelming....trying to tell you what to think is good...acceptable.

I seriously think this could be it for me too. Sports in general are becoming a waste of time.

 

[JohnsKey19]

If you haven't checked out Twitch, please do. Kids these days don't talk about sports teams like I did when I was young. Or trade baseball cards.

They have competitive gaming, esports in their pocket. There are huge sponsored esports teams online, and if you check out communities like reddit for their respective sports, when a player switches teams, it's big news. The NFL needs to innovate get the young viewers back. They've already lost them.

Esports is the future for competitive sports, there was news of Jerry investing in esports this week, but that train has been steaming along for years now.

Bingo. Esports will ultimately be the demise of the NFL as we know it or force the league to get on board. Don't be surprised to see your favorite team running around in stadiums in the form of holograms in 15 years. That may even be a conservative projection.

The factors are too many to list. Some obvious and others not so much.

Great topic here and all good points throughout the thread.

 

[Bleedblue1111]

If we as fans want to see positive changes in the NFL. We have to stop buying the products that advertise with the NFL. I have a feeling the whole ratings system is rigged. Once the sponsors start losing money, then it gets real, really fast.

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

If we as fans want to see positive changes in the NFL. We have to stop buying the products that advertise with the NFL. I have a feeling the whole ratings system is rigged. Once the sponsors start losing money, then it gets real, really fast.

Well I haven't bought any NFL stuff since our SB years and I vowed not to until we are in a SB. So I'm good. lol

 

[JakeCamp12]

I sold the rest of my season tickets for this year. I haven't watched 10 minutes of a Monday or Thursday game since about Week 4. I won't watch Sunday except for Dallas because I made other plans. I NEVER willingly make other plans on Sunday.

And I'm not missing it. That surprises me.

I'm getting closer to just letting it all go. It's really not that big of a deal as I thought this would be.

I have the same mentality. It just is not that important, and with all of this other nonsense wrapped around it, I have really lost interest. Goodell and the way he shafted Zeke and the way the officiating has been so against our team has made me realize that the NFL does not care for the common fan. We are not buying luxury suites, not are we sponsoring ad time, so they get around to our needs at the very end. We are basically told to accept what we give you and like it. Well, I do not like it nor am I going to watch. This is the first year that I did not buy any Cowboys gear. No hat, shirts, sweatshirt....nothing. I told my family to not purchase one NFL Dallas Cowboy thing for me at Christmas or birthday. I will not buy anything NFL related until Goodell is gone.