Y'all Think It's Hyperbole, But Football is at a True Crisis Point

[I.V.]

I think a bunch of you are missing my point. The TIME cover story has nothing to do with domestic violence. The domestic abuse and child abuse publicity certainly doesn't help though. Overall, the point is that several aspects of the NFL - all of which are interconnected - are under very public scrutiny and attack. The prudent move is to rebrand, which typically appeases an angry public. Which is why I'm baffled the owners haven't done some backroom-dealing to move Goodell into a cush, behind the scenes role so he publicly resigns. The arrogance - of the NFL and Goodell - is exactly the sort of thing that sinks ventures that seem - as does the NFL - unsinkable. It's as if they've become so drunk off their absurd influence (controlling how media reports on them, even when it comes to criminal activity on behalf of players and owners alike, labeling themselves a non-profit, fleecing the public through breast cancer awareness schemes with minimal blowback, etc) they completely abandoned the notion of practical wisdom, which would allow for short term setbacks and concessions in order to ensure the long term con goes as planned. They're doing the opposite. And no, football ain't gonna disappear this season, nor next, nor 5 years from now. But the momentum is building, and without addressing that momentum keenly there will be significant repercussions sooner than a lot of you think.

You post an article.

People reply without reading the article.

You point out the fact that people didn't read the article.

People respond that the article doesn't matter.



......if nobody pays attention to the point of a thread, does a thread really get made?

 

[Bolzmark]

I just dont understand why people keep saying this. Everything loses popularity, everything goes numb at some point. EVERYTHING. I mean cmon man.

Everything dies. Hence the reason we dont have freaking gladiators anymore lol. Hence the reason that outside of Money Mayweather, most people dont give a shyt about boxing. Hence the reason that Baseball was NFL, and College FB was 1,000x more popular than pro football, but guess what? Time change.

I just dont think you are grasping "not as popular" vs "total implosion". No one is saying that there wont be an NFL. Hell, there will be a NFL for as long as I am alive. But that sh*t can easily be what boxing is today. People go watch but its totally dominated by the major sports.

Its ALWAYS, ALWAYS going to be something 100% inforeseen and unplanned for. Who on earth ever couldve predicted that Blockbuster video would go under?? I mean they could adapt to anything - except for some new system that was created where people could watch movies over some space technology called the internet lol.

Could you have predicted that the music industry would have gone under because some 17 year old kid created an MP3 sharing service?

Could you have predicted that The Washington Post and other newspapers are now going obselete because people get info in thier hands via twitter and FB?

These little things you are ignoring are tearing the NFL down. When have you EVER seen so many players come out and say that they wont let thier kids play, or they dont want them to?

I am a fb fanatic, raised around the sport, played a very high level, and still involved in PROs and CFB more than I am willing to share here. There is a 100% shift in a lot of things you are ignoring, INCLUDING the talent.

Almost everything loses popularity, but usually there is something better to REPLACE it. (we don't have Gladiators because a lot of what they did is illegal now)
The reason boxing is less popular now is because there is a SEVERE lack of actual stars. I don't know how old you are but maybe you don't know about a time in boxing where it was flush with stars. Sugar Ray, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Hitman Hearns, John "The Beast" Mugabi, Roberto Duran to name a few. Then Tyson came along? Man, please. The talent is not there like it used to be, period. People didn't just start saying "I don't like boxing anymore". And EVEN TODAY, if Mayweather and Pac ever fight, it will likely break PPV records.

Blockbuster was replaced due to technology. People didn't just say "I'm tired of watching videos at home". They still do, just in different, more efficient ways.

Hold up - the music industry hasn't "gone under". Records don't sell like they used to but that's not because music has lost popularity. Again, a lot of it is due to technology. We got MP3, Sirius, Pandora, etc. Music listening hasn't become less popular, its just in different forms.

Again, The foundation of the Washington Post is news. We still get news, just in different ways.

But will REPLACE football? Can you answer that? Because there is nothing like it, and all technology will do is make it safer.

 

[mastermind]

......if nobody pays attention to the point of a thread, does a thread really get made?

my mind is blown

 

[Osmar]

http://www.latimes.com/sports/highs...spite-concussion-concerns-20140820-story.html

Despite concerns over the risk of concussion injuries, football participation among high school students increased for the first time in five years, with an additional 6,607 boys participating in 11-man football during the 2013-14 school year, according to the annual High School Athletics Participation Survey conducted by the National Federation of State High School Assns.

Among the top 10 most popular boys sports, baseball had the largest gain with an additional 7,838 participants, followed by football and soccer (6,437)

 

[Hov]

Almost everything loses popularity, but usually there is something better to REPLACE it. (we don't have Gladiators because a lot of what they did is illegal now)
The reason boxing is less popular now is because there is a SEVERE lack of actual stars. I don't know how old you are but maybe you don't know about a time in boxing where it was flush with stars. Sugar Ray, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Hitman Hearns, John "The Beast" Mugabi, Roberto Duran to name a few. Then Tyson came along? Man, please. The talent is not there like it used to be, period. People didn't just start saying "I don't like boxing anymore". And EVEN TODAY, if Mayweather and Pac ever fight, it will likely break PPV records.

Blockbuster was replaced due to technology. People didn't just say "I'm tired of watching videos at home". They still do, just in different, more efficient ways.

Hold up - the music industry hasn't "gone under". Records don't sell like they used to but that's not because music has lost popularity. Again, a lot of it is due to technology. We got MP3, Sirius, Pandora, etc. Music listening hasn't become less popular, its just in different forms.

Again, The foundation of the Washington Post is news. We still get news, just in different ways.

But will REPLACE football? Can you answer that? Because there is nothing like it, and all technology will do is make it safer.

I'm likely older than you. Are you sure the talent isn't there in boxing anymore, or people just don't care? Or, if the talent isn't there, its because a lot of people dont freaking want to be boxers anymore like they used to - ever thought about that?

You do know that MLB was the NFL of today right? You keep tlaking "replace" but all of these sports have been around since the 1800s. College Football at one point was by far more popular than NFL ball. Guess what, NFL overtook all of this - and really, has been on like a 20 year run.

You do know they are trying to fight the fact that people don't want to attend games as much as they used to, becuase the at-home experience is 100x better?

Its a culmination on things. And, please answer this: Are you saying that the NFL will be the most popular sport for out lifespan? Say 40 years. Are you stating that you believe the NFL will be the most popular sport in America for the next 40 years, and nothing can or will cause its DECLINE in popularity?

 

[Hov]

http://www.latimes.com/sports/highs...spite-concussion-concerns-20140820-story.html

Umm overall, sports participation in U.S. increased for the 25th consecutive year, rising to 7,795,658, a record as well. In ALL sports. Every sport saw higher participation. Kinda like because we have more people in America - ever think about that? lol

 

[Osmar]

If the Number of people who play football is not going down, and the number of people who watch football is not going down? how is it close to dying?

We haven't seen actual declines yet, people are just guessing.

Imo A lot of sports in America have reached their peak already. I think the NFL starts declining (participation + viewership) when the people here start losing interest in sports in general.

 

[Rocket Scientist]

Viewership will never go down as long as there is a Super Bowl.Half the players on Cowboys for example could get arrested and guess what?Ratings whenever they play will go up.Controversy helps but in NFL case people will talk about AP,Rice and by Sunday's close thrillers and finishes no one will mention the arrests at work come Monday morning.

 

[beanz]

Why can't we all just get along?

 

[The War Report]

What you idiots don't get is that The NFL doesn't need to go anywhere for people to feel the decline of the sport. Once upon a time Boxing and Baseball were kings of the hill. I bet it looked it would of never declined in popularity to those people back then but it did. You don't even have to get concussions to develop CTE. Once we know more about CTE, shyt will hit the fan.

 

[resurrection]

Viewership will never go down as long as there is a Super Bowl.Half the players on Cowboys for example could get arrested and guess what?Ratings whenever they play will go up.Controversy helps but in NFL case people will talk about AP,Rice and by Sunday's close thrillers and finishes no one will mention the arrests at work come Monday morning.

The thing is.. For this current string of cases, we did talk about it come Monday morning. In fact, it's Thursday, and we're STILL talking about it.

Part of that is because of the media climate and the severity and frequency of the problems. But another part is that the NFL has done a terrible job of keeping the actual product on the field as interesting as it was in the past.

 

[Ain't That Something]

As long as there is a game on T.V. I will watch. Whether the NFL is in a crisis or not is for league to figure out not me. I will let them and those with an agenda to battle it out

 

[Rocket Scientist]

The thing is.. For this current string of cases, we did talk about it come Monday morning. In fact, it's Thursday, and we're STILL talking about it.

Part of that is because of the media climate and the severity and frequency of the problems. But another part is that the NFL has done a terrible job of keeping the actual product on the field as interesting as it was in the past.

Ok I see ya point but let's say Peyton has a big game and eins against Seahawks on Sunday.No one will be talking about it.I'm talking in terms of sports fans.Ray Rice thing is dying down,most people in America agree with corporal punishment,these issues won't dominate the whole season.The real fans like us won't let these incidents stop us from tuning in

 

[Bolzmark]

I'm likely older than you. Are you sure the talent isn't there in boxing anymore, or people just don't care? Or, if the talent isn't there, its because a lot of people dont freaking want to be boxers anymore like they used to - ever thought about that?

You do know that MLB was the NFL of today right? You keep tlaking "replace" but all of these sports have been around since the 1800s. College Football at one point was by far more popular than NFL ball. Guess what, NFL overtook all of this - and really, has been on like a 20 year run.

You do know they are trying to fight the fact that people don't want to attend games as much as they used to, becuase the at-home experience is 100x better?

Its a culmination on things. And, please answer this: Are you saying that the NFL will be the most popular sport for out lifespan? Say 40 years. Are you stating that you believe the NFL will be the most popular sport in America for the next 40 years, and nothing can or will cause its DECLINE in popularity?

LOL, you are probably NOT older than me. Yes I'm sure its about talent in boxing. People would love to care, if they had a reason to. Talent comes and goes. Consider NYC rap talent in the 80' or 90's vs. today.

Look, of course something could end significantly affect the NFL's popularity. But if you go back to the start of this thread, it was alleged it could happen because a teenager died on the field. And I'm saying that isn't enough. I don't really know what can cause it. But I know this country WORSHIPS sports and professional athletes and its been like that for a LONG time. And football is at the top. To my knowledge, there haven't been any new sports created that are that popular in the past few decades, so it would be up to one of the existing sports to replace it.

Basketball? Best chance but its probably "too black".

Baseball? Not enough action, too boring.

Hockey?

And a MAJOR advantage football has over those sports is the games happen much less frequently. 16 games. 82 games in the NBA. 150 or so in MLB. You could miss a MONTH in those sports and not feel like you really missed much. Next week we are already a quarter of the way through the NFL season. But the real advantage is the playoffs...one and done. Every other sport you got best 4 out of 7, so its drawn out. The best team is more likely to win...but what playoff excitement in sports even comes CLOSE to the Super Bowl?

So something has to replace the entity known as the NFL. Enlighten me as to what you think that could be.

 

[Hov]

LOL, you are probably NOT older than me. Yes I'm sure its about talent in boxing. People would love to care, if they had a reason to. Talent comes and goes. Consider NYC rap talent in the 80' or 90's vs. today.

Look, of course something could end significantly affect the NFL's popularity. But if you go back to the start of this thread, it was alleged it could happen because a teenager died on the field. And I'm saying that isn't enough. I don't really know what can cause it. But I know this country WORSHIPS sports and professional athletes and its been like that for a LONG time. And football is at the top. To my knowledge, there haven't been any new sports created that are that popular in the past few decades, so it would be up to one of the existing sports to replace it.

Basketball? Best chance but its probably "too black".

Baseball? Not enough action, too boring.

Hockey?

And a MAJOR advantage football has over those sports is the games happen much less frequently. 16 games. 82 games in the NBA. 150 or so in MLB. You could miss a MONTH in those sports and not feel like you really missed much. Next week we are already a quarter of the way through the NFL season. But the real advantage is the playoffs...one and done. Every other sport you got best 4 out of 7, so its drawn out. The best team is more likely to win...but what playoff excitement in sports even comes CLOSE to the Super Bowl?

So something has to replace the entity known as the NFL. Enlighten me as to what you think that could be.

I feel like you are missing. I am not saying that a kid died and the sport will go into decline. I am sayin that pro sports, as is ANY business, goes into decline due to totally unexpected events happening concurrently.

Do you think that Marc Cuban stating that the NFL better watch out because it can implode on itself, and now us actually discussing that even being a POSSIBILITY from major catastrophic events, how crazy things can turn?

You do realize that the best, or 2nd best player in the NFL is not playing due to media pressure? And you realize that Marc Cuban was basically saying that the NFL was getting too greedy, opening itself to too many markets and not following the basics of business - well now look what happens when you pander to people who did not make you successful, for YEARS.

When you pander to the wrong crowd, TMZ can ruin your week. When you pander to women with fake ass breast cancer pink gear, you now have womens rights groups and totally unrelated things that now have a say in what you do. You pander to people who dont watch with fantasy fb, and now you have to change the rules so that fantasy points are exciting.

You have to change the hitting rules because people who never played football before think that the game is too violent.

Guess what you do when you cater your sport to people who really didnt care about it anyway? They run it, and the diehards start to fall back. Reminds of....rap...lol

And you keep asking me what will replace the NFL as the #1 sport - who knows.

Now answer my question that I have asked 3 x already. Do you think the NFL will be the USAs most popular sport for the rest of your lifetime?