OT: NFL to implode in 10 years?

[BigRedRage]

Why don't they play on Fridays?

high school football

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

No way it will implode, it's too important of a tradition in too many parts of this country. Now could I see it not being the juggernaut it is today? Absolutely, in fact it's probably inevitable. Popularity trends have always changed in sports in this country. I personally think basketball and soccer have a huge upside in this country if only that they generally begin and end in a couple hours. As we work more hours as a society sports with shorter game times will become more popular.

 

[chickenhead]

I think Cuban is being hyperbolic, but I take his point. The backfiring "greedy" example I would cite is the NHL. For years the league chased unsustainable growth and casual fans while ignoring their core audience. The move of a franchise back to Winnipeg was a mea culpa of sorts. Both the attendance and TV models are different (and the weak NFL markets are nowhere near as precarious as the week NHL ones) so I won't say it's apples-to-apples, but things like the push for overseas games are symptomatic of the same thing IMO.

The other point I'd make is that even though there are only 16 regular season games, the NFL-related media products are 365 days a year for the most part. So they are extending themselves to compete with other leagues regardless of off-days or the offseason.

 

[Mainstreet]

I think he is right. You can shepherd a huge audience when they know to plan their week around Sunday and Monday but eventually with games on so many different days the audience might get diluted.

On this forum, I think never.

 

[Mainstreet]

No way it will implode, it's too important of a tradition in too many parts of this country. Now could I see it not being the juggernaut it is today? Absolutely, in fact it's probably inevitable. Popularity trends have always changed in sports in this country. I personally think basketball and soccer have a huge upside in this country if only that they generally begin and end in a couple hours. As we work more hours as a society sports with shorter game times will become more popular.

I would swear soccer games go on forever. I guess it only seems that way.

If the NBA ever figured out basketball was a game where teams can shine as well players, then it might go somewhere.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

high school football

That's the only thing I could think of, but why? They don't want to upset their future players?

 

[earthsci]

That's the only thing I could think of, but why? They don't want to upset their future players?

If you have the two Ohio teams or two Texas teams playing each other there will be whole lot of people not watching the game.

 

[Darkside]

I have agreed to this on principal many of times.

But was speaking with a few old rugby buddies about this, and the conversation took an interesting turn.

All the attention to the statement in bold is to prevent said child from injury. Yet, no one has talked about the secondary repercussions from preventing kids from playing sport, and more specifically contact sports, and by contact you are talking football, basketball, rugby, hockey, wrestling, lacrosse, and even soccer can be brought into the conversation, we stopped at baseball even though there is plenty of injuries in baseball.

Yes, the parents are saving the child from harm by preventing him from playing sports, but at what point is the child sheltered, and coddled to a point where he has no interaction, no challenges, no knowledge of what he can do, no outlet for his energy, etc., etc.

What kind of mental damage are you going to take on in order to "save" said child from physical damage ?

Thus while I believe a dip in participants will happen via the "scary stories" told by old men who don't want to take responsibility for their actions, I feel it will be a cyclical situation where the effects of kids not playing sports will show to be as bad or worse.

We will see.

Again, you bring up a good point, that I do agree with, just wanted to share what I thought was a interesting twist to the subject.

Interesting point that I happen to agree with. But I also think this trend has already been happening for a long long time. Some of the older dudes could put me to shame with their tales: I'm only 44, but even I recall being in PE in school and playing dodgeball, climbing ropes (not even sure why frankly), playing soccer, football, baseball, depending on the season. We played football in the snow in PE in those days and loved it. They even had a locker-room where everyone showered together and kept their towels and uniforms. I suspect that isn't entirely the case any longer, and I'm not arguing the merits of all these activities, except to say I agree that something gets lost when you remove them.

(I forgot track. We had to run track in PE in 6th grade. I remember trying to run the required mile and puking my guts out--we lived near the Copper mines and you could taste it. I took last. I didn't place 20th out of 20 or get a ribbon. I was last. Good times)

You make a valid point RM. I think it'll all go away eventually and all that'll be left are spelling bees.


Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

 

[NJCardFan]

I think Cuban is being hyperbolic, but I take his point. The backfiring "greedy" example I would cite is the NHL. For years the league chased unsustainable growth and casual fans while ignoring their core audience. The move of a franchise back to Winnipeg was a mea culpa of sorts. Both the attendance and TV models are different (and the weak NFL markets are nowhere near as precarious as the week NHL ones) so I won't say it's apples-to-apples, but things like the push for overseas games are symptomatic of the same thing IMO.

The other point I'd make is that even though there are only 16 regular season games, the NFL-related media products are 365 days a year for the most part. So they are extending themselves to compete with other leagues regardless of off-days or the offseason.

Despite Bettman's best efforts, the NHL is financially sound for the most part. His problem is expanding into markets the NHL has no business expanding into. In 1972 the NHL took a chance and expanded into Atlanta. While the flames were a decent franchise, they were dying a slow death as Atlanta is a football city and nothing else. Just look at the Braves. A perennial contender and they couldn't draw flies if the entire stadium were covered in manure. So the Flames moved to Calgary and have been highly successful. So what does Bettman do? Expands into Florida, Nashville, and Atlanta again. With the exception of Nashville who is surprisingly hockey crazy the others have a sporadic base even though the Lightning once won a Cup. Hockey is a northern sport. Even the California teams don't have that great a following and having 2 teams in SOCAL is just plain dumb. There is no reason to not have a team in Quebec. At least they put one back in Winnipeg.

NASCAR is going through the same thing. They keep tinkering with the product, putting races in places where you'd really have to look for NASCAR fans, and taking races away from hardcore areas(Rockingham). They keep tinkering with race rules and then they instituted the idiotic Chase and they wonder why attendance and TV ratings are down.

As for the NFL, they need to stop playing with the sport. Yes make it safer for the players but stop playing regular season games out of the country(this goes for MLB as well). They are driving regular football fans out of the stadium as well. It's nearly impossible for a family of 4 to attend a football game anymore. You lose your fanbase you lose your sport.

 

[Duckjake]

This comment coming from someone who owns a team in a league where the same 6 teams win the title year after year. The NBA is the most boring league of the major 4. And by 6 teams I'm talking: Bulls, Lakers, Spurs, Heat, Celtics, and Pistons(not so much lately). 30 of the last 34 champions are those teams. Boring.

That there have been only 5 AFC Championship games in the last 20 years without either the Steelers or the Patriots doesn't bother you? The AFC has had 5 teams dominate for 20 years. There have been only 2 AFC title games without Baltimore, NE, Pittsburgh, Indy, or Denver involved since the '93-'94 season. How about NE finishing first in their Division 11 times in the last 13 years?

The NHL of course is nuts. The Stanley Cup in June? Who is thinking about Hockey when its 100 degrees outside? If they were smart the Stanley Cup finals would be in the time frame between the SB and the start of the NCAA basketball tournament. You know, when its cold outside.

 

[RedViper]

The NFL would have to implode and re-implode every day for one hundred years before it got anywhere near the irrelevance of the NBA. God what an awful product. No reason to watch at all. Ever.

 

[chickenhead]

That there have been only 5 AFC Championship games in the last 20 years without either the Steelers or the Patriots doesn't bother you? The AFC has had 5 teams dominate for 20 years. There have been only 2 AFC title games without Baltimore, NE, Pittsburgh, Indy, or Denver involved since the '93-'94 season. How about NE finishing first in their Division 11 times in the last 13 years?

The NHL of course is nuts. The Stanley Cup in June? Who is thinking about Hockey when its 100 degrees outside? If they were smart the Stanley Cup finals would be in the time frame between the SB and the start of the NCAA basketball tournament. You know, when its cold outside.

I think the NHL could benefit from a shorter season more than any other sport (if they could overcome the loss of gate revenue). It's not even so much the Stanley Cup finals being played when it's warm--imagine if we had the opening round when there was still snow on the ground (where it snows). It would be amazing. Part of the reason why Olympic hockey, especially with NHL players, just works. It's hockey weather!

 

[cardpa]

Hockey, basketball, and baseball seasons are just way too long. I think baseball should go to 148 games, basketball 62 and hockey I don't know since I don't follow it.

Way too many teams in playoffs in all of these sports. The only reason for it is to generate revenue, nothing more. Look at the MLS (Major League Soccer) they only play 34 games so each one has more meaning. Now I think they are stretching the season out too far going into late October before playoffs start. I would like to see them go back so their season is over in late September and playoffs are done by late October.

 

[NJCardFan]

That there have been only 5 AFC Championship games in the last 20 years without either the Steelers or the Patriots doesn't bother you? The AFC has had 5 teams dominate for 20 years. There have been only 2 AFC title games without Baltimore, NE, Pittsburgh, Indy, or Denver involved since the '93-'94 season. How about NE finishing first in their Division 11 times in the last 13 years?

The NHL of course is nuts. The Stanley Cup in June? Who is thinking about Hockey when its 100 degrees outside? If they were smart the Stanley Cup finals would be in the time frame between the SB and the start of the NCAA basketball tournament. You know, when its cold outside.

Do you have issues with the World Series carrying into November? The Stanley Cup always pushed up against June. And at least there is more of a variety of champion and the Stanley Cup playoffs are the best of all the 4 major sports bar none. Champions have come from all over the place over the last 15-20 years. Since 1994 there have been 12 different champions from places like Raleigh-Durham, Anaheim, Tampa Bay, NJ, Dallas. There's variety. But if you're comparing dominance in leagues, nothing beats the NBA. In the 80's only 2 teams reached the finals from the West: Lakers, Rockets. In the 60's the Sixers kept the Celtics from dominating sweeping the entire decade making the finals. In baseball, you may have had the Yankees in the late 90's but you at least had champions from Florida, Philly, Arizona, SF and even Toronto. Baseball, football, and hockey are not as predictable as basketball.

 

[Duckjake]

Do you have issues with the World Series carrying into November? The Stanley Cup always pushed up against June. And at least there is more of a variety of champion and the Stanley Cup playoffs are the best of all the 4 major sports bar none. Champions have come from all over the place over the last 15-20 years. Since 1994 there have been 12 different champions from places like Raleigh-Durham, Anaheim, Tampa Bay, NJ, Dallas. There's variety. But if you're comparing dominance in leagues, nothing beats the NBA. In the 80's only 2 teams reached the finals from the West: Lakers, Rockets. In the 60's the Sixers kept the Celtics from dominating sweeping the entire decade making the finals. In baseball, you may have had the Yankees in the late 90's but you at least had champions from Florida, Philly, Arizona, SF and even Toronto. Baseball, football, and hockey are not as predictable as basketball.

I do think its goofy to have baseball playoffs in November. But then baseball doesn't have quite the ratings issues that the NHL does. The College World Series made ESPN. And of course that's played in June.

The NBA has the issue of one or two players making a team dominant for several years. Can't do that in other sports.