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NFL TV Ratings In Sharp Decline Since Anthem Protests And Alike

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The lion and the tiger may be more powerful, but the wolf doesn't perform in the circus.
 
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The lion and the tiger may be more powerful, but the wolf doesn't perform in the circus.
 
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Posted: #3
I don't think the anthem protests have anything to do with it though. If I was to speculate why ratings are down, I'd say some possible reasons are:

1) The matchups on the night TV games have been mostly terrible the past few years. They're constantly putting bad teams on MNF and TNF. 

2) A lack of familiarity with the players and an overall lack of exciting teams/players you want to watch. A lot of teams are in a transition period with young QBs, and the 2 best teams so far - Denver and Minnesota, are winning with defense which a lot of people think is boring. Brady has been suspended until this week. Peyton is done. Brees and Luck are on bad teams. Mariota looked exciting but he got hurt and is on a bad team. Romo's hurt. The Steelers and Packers are probably the most exciting offenses. Most people aren't excited to watch guys like Derek Carr, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Tyrod Taylor, Kirk Cousins, Ryan Tannehill, Sam Bradford, Alex Smith, Brock Osweiler, Blake Bortles, Trevor Siemian, Blaine Gabbert, whoever the Browns trot out, etc. Not saying those guys stink or anything but there's just a lack of household names right now, it's all young guys and sort of journeyman types. Cam lit it up last year but a lot of people don't like him and he hasn't been so good this year. Just not a lot of guys with that IT factor (to the casual fan, anyway, there's plenty of exciting players in the league they're just young)

3) Fantasy football, too many ads, and the internet. People have so much more entertainment at their fingertips now that they aren't going to sit through a TV program that has so many ad breaks any more. They need to take out some of the ads because people are just going to watch red zone and check scores on their phones and then only tune in late if the game is close. Also, a lot of people just follow football for fantasy and just watch stats on their phones, etc. I hate fantasy football, you can't even get through the scores of all the games in between ads because the ticker at the bottom is now all the stats of every freaking guy who caught a ball in every game.

4) I don't know if this has caused some people to stop watching, but the amount of flags for taunting and not allowing guys to celebrate isn't helping make the game more watchable IMO.

5) Casual fans probably see the records of Denver, NE, Seattle and think it's just the same old story as last year (though Carolina isn't up there now).

 
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Posted: #4
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The lion and the tiger may be more powerful, but the wolf doesn't perform in the circus.
 
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Posted: #5
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The lion and the tiger may be more powerful, but the wolf doesn't perform in the circus.
 
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Posted: #6
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The lion and the tiger may be more powerful, but the wolf doesn't perform in the circus.
 
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Posted: #7
Due to a protester the anti-protest people are protesting the games until the protesting stops and killing ratings 


I definitely agree that games do seem to suck consistently...i bet on them and don't even care to watch. I certainly have no preference about body language during the national anthem...
 
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Posted: #8
as long as i see blowouts and other team doing nothing to keep the game close, i guess this trend will continue

performances from chiefs and giants were humiliating
 
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Posted: #9
Not sure what it is for me but outside of Sunday early game slate I haven't been all that excited for the primetime games
 
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Posted: #10
it has nothing to do with the protests the product the nfl is selling has declined.. too many penalties and commercial breaks, there is no flow to most games. i live in the bay area and im neither a niners or raiders fan but those are the only games i "get to" watch on a consistent basis, so i chose not to watch instead. id rather stream a cowboys game or a game i have action on instead. 

the nfl needs to release a direct tv gameday type package for people to purchase so they can watch any game they want and i think rating would improve
 
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Posted: #11
Mark Cuban predicted this a few years ago.  He basically said nfl would ruin itself and it has.  They institute new rules that nobody likes.  Can't hit qbs anymore, can't dance after a touchdown, can't block on special teams.  I'm not sure about you but I'm sick of seeing a flag on like every punt return, it's nauseating.  Player punishments are out of whack, player protests are widely frowned upon.  I'll still watch because I'm a sports,junkie but I get why casual fans may be viewing other products.
 
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Posted: #12
It has nothing to do with anthem protests. 

I just wasted five minutes of my life looking at that Newsmax website. Looks like your typical right wing tabloid garbage. 
 
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The lion and the tiger may be more powerful, but the wolf doesn't perform in the circus.
 
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Posted: #14
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The lion and the tiger may be more powerful, but the wolf doesn't perform in the circus.
 
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Posted: #15
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The lion and the tiger may be more powerful, but the wolf doesn't perform in the circus.
 
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Posted: #16
Not sure if this has anything to do with it or not but personally my football day is Saturday.  Starts with College Gameday and ends with some late night Mountain West / PAC 12 action.  

As much as i would love to sit on the couch on Sunday i cant.  This is the day i do all of my errands and family stuff.  Used to be the other way around back in the day when Sunday was the football day and Saturday was the running around day.

I made the switch  a few years ago because college football imo is much more entertaining to watch.  I still like the NFL and watch it when i can but if i had to pick only one than i would easily choose college football 

Is Saturday the new Sunday?  Or does this just apply to myself?


 
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Posted: #17
Quote Originally Posted by Polar_Bear:

You're right, not sure what I was thinking looking back. A country built around military, apple pie, law and order, that half supports Trump, where about 90% of all white males in the age group that watch the NFL are voting for Trump, those people might be a put off when they tune in and see black players displaying the black power sign with fist raised. Ya not sure what I was thinking, that makes no sense at all LOL, It's not like there is any racial divide in your country or that the display by so many players would be a turn off to the demographic that makes up the large majority of it's viewership. Ya that is just a crazy thought....LOL. 

I wasn't giving you a hard time just having a laugh about the whole thing 
 
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Posted: #18
I think some of the reasons for the tv ratings drop is that football has become to soft you no longer have one guy who could dominate the whole field like a person Butkus ,Ray Nitshke ,or an Alex Karras just to name a few.You no longer have dominate defenses like the 85 Bears Some of the rules they've made are stupid like trying to eliminate the kickoff return ,moving the extra point back, what was that for betting purposes.If you score a touchdown you should get a freekick.They're making to many new rules.Then you see videos like Ray Rice now you have the protests I bet you have a lot of vets turned on by that.He didn't even fight for this country.The flag is not a symbol of the government the flag is a symbol of the men who created this great country and the men that have fought and died in order to keep it free.It's not the flag You think protesting the flag is going to change how people feel and go about doing things it won't. 
 
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Posted: #19
It's called the Donald Trump phenomenon. Wait until after the election and watch the numbers stabilize. I have not met, nor have I heard of a friend of a friend not watching football due to these protests. You just had a debate with the highest ratings on the face of the earth. Do the math.
 
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Posted: #20
too many rule changes in the name of "safety" and "political correctness". and letting more refs decide the outcome of games on questionable "judgment" calls 
Sip on that plus money honey!
 
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Posted: #21
I just can't watch it anymore.   I will watch 20+ hours of college football from the weeknight games through the final game that finishes early Sunday morning.  It's more exciting than the NFL, it has more variety, it has video game stats and multiple styles of play that simply aren't seen in the NFL.   Also as mentioned above, the pre-game nonsense does not help lead in to the games.   The blowhards like Berman and ex-player morons like Bradshaw and Boomer really add nothing but obvious statements that only the die hard facepainters want to hear.   On the field, it's generally boring.... Yes, the guys are at the top of their profession, but that doesn't always translate to excitement.   

The Thursday night games are straight $hit.  Forcing teams to play on short weeks hurts the product on the field.  Less recovery time, less prep time for players and coaches and shitty matchups.   Monday night games have been garbage for years since ESPN took it over.  Sunday Night games can be good, but how many times do we need to see the NFC East play during the season on NBC?   

I quit betting on the NFL last year and quit fantasy football after 20 years.  It's just not a worthy use of my time anymore and I NEVER thought I would say that.  I've watched about 5 minutes of games this year so far.   Might watch some more when the weather turns, but it is the farthest thing from 'must-watch TV' I can think of now.
 
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Posted: #22
Quote Originally Posted by ELDubarino:

Not sure if this has anything to do with it or not but personally my football day is Saturday.  Starts with College Gameday and ends with some late night Mountain West / PAC 12 action.  

As much as i would love to sit on the couch on Sunday i cant.  This is the day i do all of my errands and family stuff.  Used to be the other way around back in the day when Sunday was the football day and Saturday was the running around day.

I made the switch  a few years ago because college football imo is much more entertaining to watch.  I still like the NFL and watch it when i can but if i had to pick only one than i would easily choose college football 

Is Saturday the new Sunday?  Or does this just apply to myself?



Agreed, but this is in large part to the fact my Bears are so incompetent it has taken away any reason for me or a large part of the third largest market in the country to have a vested interest.

I thoroughly enjoy football Saturdays. The passion of the fans and players is unrivaled. I also enjoy watching coaches control their teams instead of being put in situations where a player is bigger (at least in their mind) than the teams they play for.
 
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Posted: #23
I think these two morons running for president has a lot to do with it.  It's like a train wreck, people can't look away.
 
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Posted: #24
the nfl is now like the nba in that it is over 90% black..THAT is why the ratings are taking a hit and will continue to drop!!
 
 
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Posted: #25
You can tell the NFL has had some discussions with their media partners because they have toned down the anthem distraction a lot from a TV perspective. Not good for the NFL and not good for the fans. You want to protest? Don't use the NFL and your respective team as a platform to grow your own image.
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