Troy Aikman on preseason: NFL says it's all about fans, 'Have yet to run into a fan that loves it.'

[Deep_South]

The owners will never give up the full-price ticket revenue from four preseason games. Going to an 18 game season with 2 preseason games and maybe 2 byes would be better, and if the incremental media revenue from those games could be divvied up with the players, the cap raised, and the rosters expanded, maybe the players' union would go for it. I know it would make the season longer, and I would like that. Maybe the players not so much.

 

[Fla Cowpoke]

I would be fine with 16 games and just one or two preseason games. 18 games is a hard sell to the players....but it is all about money....give them a cut and they would sign off. They always do. The two byes in an 18 game season would be great. What I would like to see on the byes is if they would do all byes over 2 weeks to make it fair. Say weeks 6 and 7, half teams are off one week and half the next. Do the same around weeks 12 and 13.

 

[DallasEast]

In my opinion what needs to happen immediately is to cut down the preseason to 2 weeks. Add an additional Bye week in the regular season, establish a plan for a development league in the near future (within 5 years), and hopefully expand to 18 weeks of football within 10 years. Though I wouldn't be against keeping it 16 games, with 2 bye weeks per team. That's my ideal formula.

This is a plan I think the owners would endorse. I'm against it because of my concern that it would further impact player health negatively and pollute the overall strength of the season.

I say pollute because a 16-game regular season is optimal for professional football in my opinion. Lengthening the season is a factor in lessening the popularity of MLB and the NBA. I think the same overexposure could happen to the NFL.

 

[MarionBarberThe4th]

In my opinion what needs to happen immediately is to cut down the preseason to 2 weeks. Add an additional Bye week in the regular season, establish a plan for a development league in the near future (within 5 years), and hopefully expand to 18 weeks of football within 10 years. Though I wouldn't be against keeping it 16 games, with 2 bye weeks per team. That's my ideal formula.

Some sort Of practice-squad/FA midweek scrimmage works for me . Don't try to monetize it like NFL Europe.

 

[tyke1doe]

Yeah, this has been growing for some time now. Its dumb. Cut it down to 2 preseason games and maybe a controlled scrimmage...........Make up the money somewhere else. Like I am sure the NFL is hurting for money.

It aint gonna happen. The NFL is NOT going to give up its cash cow unless there's a venture that will make it even MORE money in the slot that preseason games fill.

 

[MarionBarberThe4th]

This is a plan I think the owners would endorse. I'm against it because of my concern that it would further impact player health negatively and pollute the overall strength of the season.

I say pollute because a 16-game regular season is optimal for professional football in my opinion. Lengthening the season is a factor in lessening the popularity of MLB and the NBA. I think the same overexposure could happen to the NFL.

This post is bad you should edit it with things that make sense and aren't wrong

 

[DallasEast]

The owners will never give up the full-price ticket revenue from four preseason games. Going to an 18 game season with 2 preseason games and maybe 2 byes would be better, and if the incremental media revenue from those games could be divvied up with the players, the cap raised, and the rosters expanded, maybe the players' union would go for it. I know it would make the season longer, and I would like that. Maybe the players not so much.

I was against owner greed for ticket revenue but have since changed my mind. In my opinion, ticket face values are arguably reasonable. It's the resale ticket market that is the problem, for which the owners do not share in the markup.

For example, I've purchase three tickets for the Seahawks game. Face value is $99 each or $300 total. I had to purchase them through Stubhub for 900 bucks. That's $600 that Jerry Jones didn't charge me and he's not pocketing. Neither are the players.

Regardless, greed is involved. I can see owners and players compromising on a 18-games/two bye regular season. It would not surprise me to see the Super Bowl eventually competing with NCAA March Madness. I think I have read or heard discussions on the NFL seeking greater television share in the February/March sweeps. A longer season would help make that goal possible.

 

[xwalker]

Troy Aikman on 4-game preseason: NFL says it’s all about fans, ‘Have yet to run into an NFL fan that loves’ it

Sportscaster Joe Buck and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman rehearse before hosting the 2015 Texas Medal of Arts Awards presented by the Texas Cultural Trust on Wednesday, February 25, 2015 at the Long Center in Austin, Texas.
(Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)

Doesn’t look like Troy Aikman is a fan the NFL’s preseason.

The former Dallas Cowboys sent a series of tweets out during the team’s scrimmage with the San Francisco 49ers.







Before the team’s preseason game in San Francisco, owner Jerry Jones expressed his concern about playing in Levi Stadium.

“And this field is really causing us to have to look at what we’re going to do during the game because of the challenges of this turf not taking hold,” he told KRLD-FM 105.3.

The Cowboys haven’t had any major injuries – the Carolina Panthers lost Kelvin Benjamin to a torn ACL earlier this preseason, and the Green Bay Packers’ Jordy Nelson could be out with the same injury – but the team has had some minor ones.

Offensive lineman Zack Martin suffered a stinger in practice. Dez Bryant also tweaked his hamstring earlier this preseason during workouts.

SportsDay columnist Tim Cowlishaw recently wrote on how the preseason can be fixed, saying the only party that wouldn’t benefit from a reduced preseason would be the NFL owners. You can read more from his column here.

Follow Joshua Friemel on Twitter at @Josh_Friemel.

I love PS games.

 

[DallasEast]

This post is bad you should edit it with things that make sense and aren't wrong

They say too much of a good thing is bad. The same principal applies in marketing.

The current popularity of the league is supported by a true fanbase and casual supporter base. In my opinion, the true fanbase peaked some time ago and the casual supporter base has helped bolster ticket and merchandising revenues, along with validing media network advertising projections and expenditures. If the casual supporter base begins to erode, so does the overall popularity of the league.

All businesses enjoy circular lifespans. The league is not an exception to that rule. Do you disagree? If so, what makes you believe the league can withstand popularity erosion in a century where other social conventions are growing increasingly in this country?

 

[BringBackThatOleTimeBoys]

I'm just not sure how much the players' union will enjoy that type of counterproposal.

They killed the 18 game regular season a few years ago

 

[DallasEast]

They killed the 18 game regular season a few years ago

True but that was the past and does not govern future proposals.

 

[JoeBoBBY]

It aint gonna happen. The NFL is NOT going to give up its cash cow unless there's a venture that will make it even MORE money in the slot that preseason games fill.

Yeah. I Know. And I am not even sure how Coaches/Players Union feels about it? But I have been hearing rumblings these last so-so years about reducing it....And it makes sense to me;

 

[Apollo Creed]

I cover my eyes, avoid this forum/major media outlets during games and hope to God no one gets hurt.

That's my 'preseason'. Basically a month long panic attack.

 

[BringBackThatOleTimeBoys]

True but that was the past and does not govern future proposals.

Things can change.

The player's objection is the veterans don't play that much or with the same intensity pre-season as a regular season game....the potential for injury goes way up when it's a regular season game. Are the owners going to add something to entice players to covert a couple of pre-season games to regular?

 

[cowboyeric8]

With less practice time like there is now, and if you cut the preseason games, someone like Tony Romo is never found because there simply isn't enough reps.

Preseason is good for coaches evaluation, and good for bubble players. And I'm one of the few who enjoy preseason, I like watching all the bubble players play for a job. I think these games are critical to any young QBs development. There just isn't anything like game speed.

Now I do agree that season ticket holders should not have to pay for these games. I think it should be at cheap general admission prices, but I know this will never happen.

And please oh please do not extend the season to 18 games. So many teams are battered enough when they get to the playoffs, that sometimes it isn't about the better team it's about the healthier team. With two added games your starters are going have more injuries than they do. So from an injury standpoint starters are going to get more injured in those 2 added games more than the preseason game where they get very few plays.

 

[DallasEast]

Things can change.

The player's objection is the veterans don't play that much or with the same intensity pre-season as a regular season game....the potential for injury goes way up when it's a regular season game. Are the owners going to add something to entice players to covert a couple of pre-season games to regular?

That depends. The mere subtraction of the preseason games is one enticement. The associated monetary compensation would be another and the primary one. The extra bye week is yet another one. I wouldn't want the players' union to agree with any or all of the proposals but can see them doing so.

 

[Nightman]

With less practice time like there is now, and if you cut the preseason games, someone like Tony Romo is never found because there simply isn't enough reps.

Preseason is good for coaches evaluation, and good for bubble players. And I'm one of the few who enjoy preseason, I like watching all the bubble players play for a job. I think these games are critical to any young QBs development. There just isn't anything like game speed.

Now I do agree that season ticket holders should not have to pay for these games. I think it should be at cheap general admission prices, but I know this will never happen.

And please oh please do not extend the season to 18 games. So many teams are battered enough when they get to the playoffs, that sometimes it isn't about the better team it's about the healthier team. With two added games your starters are going have more injuries than they do. So from an injury standpoint starters are going to get more injured in those 2 added games more than the preseason game where they get very few plays.

The problem isn't the game itself. It is marketing it like a regular season game. There shouldn't be a full TV crew and MNF or SNF treatment. It is a glorified scrimmage but the owners and the League don't want to give up the revenue. The fans have been forced to buy the 2 preseason games as part of the season ticket package, so they want to feel like it is a real game and not a practice. Players can get hurt at practice so that is not a reason to scrap all PS games.

Game 1 PS- no TV, relaxed rules. More coaching, less polish
Game 2 PS- local TV only. Starters play a quarter
Game 3 PS- national coverage. Starters play up to a half.
Game 4 PS- local coverage, no starters 48 min game.