# Muting the announcers during sporting events **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 11, 2024, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muting-the-announcers-during-sporting-events/1010064 "2024-11-11T03:52:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2024, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muting-the-announcers-during-sporting-events/1010064/41 "2024-12-31T00:02:08Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Nope, no way, I can’t do this. I have very little interest in watching anything but maybe a couple of highlight plays if I already know the outcome. I can watch a football game live but I would never waste an hour of time if I already know that \_\_\_ team won You don’t have to wait until the game is over, just run your own tape delay by 20 mins. You’ll catch up before the game is over. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2024, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muting-the-announcers-during-sporting-events/1010064/42 "2024-12-31T00:38:47Z")
Probably need more like 40 minutes to skip over all the BS and all the ads in an NFL game. IMO they’re completely unwatchable in real time. As to already knowing the outcome, it’s real easy to remain ignorant of all that if you’re not a fan or bettor, but somebody who just likes to watch 60 or 90 minutes of a contest of skill & brawn regardless of who is contending on this particular episode. Back in the day we’d build up a backlog of 15 or 20 MLB recorded games or 10-15 recorded NFL games and pick one at random with no idea what had happened 3 or 4 weeks ago. ---
**Author:** ![Dereknocue67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2024, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muting-the-announcers-during-sporting-events/1010064/43 "2024-12-31T09:14:21Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > I can watch a football game live but I would never waste an hour of time if I already know that \_\_\_ team won If I knew which team won, I’d agree, but I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2024, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muting-the-announcers-during-sporting-events/1010064/44 "2024-12-31T09:40:20Z")
> [@Marine\_One](#): > > Don’t know if you kids knew this or not, but there was an “ **Announcerless Game** ” between the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins on December 20, 1980. I watched that game. The lack of announcers made little difference, the TV coverage was just fine. It was like I was sitting in the stands, watching the game. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2024, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muting-the-announcers-during-sporting-events/1010064/45 "2024-12-31T13:37:56Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > but somebody who just likes to watch 60 or 90 minutes of a contest of skill & brawn regardless of who is contending on this particular episode. It’s about 11 minutes of actual play action for NFL games. More time is spent on replays, with the bulk of the broadcast as “filler.” If there was a way to chop-out all the filler and just watch that 11 minutes of action, even with the inane announcers, then we’d have something! Sundays would be so much more productive. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2024, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muting-the-announcers-during-sporting-events/1010064/46 "2024-12-31T14:05:38Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Sundays would be so much more productive. Well … I think you’d watch just as many minutes of NFL. Which would be ~10 games instead of just one. Whether that counts as “productivity” is left as an exercise for the reader. 😉 I’m sort of off TV these days. But at one time a few years ago NFL had something they called “NFL Replay” that was available on their free (or at least oft-bundled) cable TV channel. They took a game, then compressed out all the time wasting and even the boring non-productive plays. So a 50 yard drive that was 4 yards and a cloud of astroturf 12 times was replaced by the ball suddenly being way downfield with a caption like [12 ground plays for 50 yards skipped]. IIRC a full game took about 20 minutes to watch. I don’t know if they still offer that show, but it was great. ---
**Author:** ![DaveUnknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@DaveUnknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveUnknown)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2024, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muting-the-announcers-during-sporting-events/1010064/47 "2024-12-31T14:35:24Z")
They still add crowd noise. I can’t take the commercials. The NFL TV rights are a product of Fox/NewsCorp Russian money laundering— they outbid CBS in the early 90’s ---
**Author:** ![sb1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@sb1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sb1953)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muting-the-announcers-during-sporting-events/1010064/48 "2025-01-13T14:22:07Z")
Collinsworth and Tirico are not that bad;… there are times when neither is talking. Romo, on the other hand NEVER SHUTS UP and is forever saying …“I wouldn’t do this,.if I were coaching I would…” WE watched the whole 1 O clock game with the sound muted. T. Brady is almost as bad. My daughter will text us when the game comes on and they show the two announcers:…“OH No Romo!” ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muting-the-announcers-during-sporting-events/1010064/49 "2025-01-13T14:47:58Z")
> [@sb1953](#): > > Romo, on the other hand NEVER SHUTS UP and is forever saying …“I wouldn’t do this,.if I were coaching I would…” It’d be bad enough if he wasn’t overly chatty, what with that annoyingly hoarse voice. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muting-the-announcers-during-sporting-events/1010064/50 "2025-01-13T18:00:09Z")
> [@sb1953](#): > > T. Brady is almost as bad. Hey, at least Romo doesn’t say ‘San Fran’ every chance he gets. I think Brady is far worse, but yeah, the nonstop inane chatter gets exhausting. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2025, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muting-the-announcers-during-sporting-events/1010064/51 "2025-01-19T23:56:21Z")
For those watching Bills/Ravens, are you getting 5.1 audio? I am not on Hulu. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2025, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muting-the-announcers-during-sporting-events/1010064/52 "2025-01-21T02:11:35Z")
Last night I was informed that a key to the game would be how well Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson use their legs. Now I am being informed that the Ohio State QB is good with his legs. Do all of these guys meet up every Monday and coordinate all the phrases they will use? Every damn one of them say this. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2025, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muting-the-announcers-during-sporting-events/1010064/53 "2025-01-21T02:34:28Z")
I still remember going to visit my grandpa in the late 70s and found him watching the Brewers game on his 25” black and white Curtis-Mathis console tv with the sound down. “Hi grandpa! Want me to turn the sound up so you can hear the game?” “No! I turned it down on purpose. Those announcers never shut the hell up and they have no idea what they’re talking about.” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2025, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muting-the-announcers-during-sporting-events/1010064/54 "2025-01-21T02:37:07Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Curtis-Mathis Now that’s a name I’ve not heard in a long time … a long time. But it turns out it’s Curtis Mathes, not Curtis-Mathis: > **[Curtis Mathes Corporation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtis_Mathes_Corporation)** > > Curtis Mathes, Inc., is a North American electronics retailer initially based in Garland, Texas, and specializing in the sale of private label brand electronics and repair services. It manufactured its own brand of televisions in Athens, Texas, until July 31, 1982; ten years later, it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and reorganization which allowed it to stay in business and use future earnings to pay off creditors. The company is now based in Frisco, Texas. > Known for its commercials touting its... Thanks for the stroll down memory lane. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2025, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muting-the-announcers-during-sporting-events/1010064/55 "2025-01-23T22:21:01Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > Do all of these guys meet up every Monday and coordinate all the phrases they will use? Every damn one of them say this. When did football announcers decide to say “the line to gain” instead of “first down”? Was there a special edict? ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2025, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muting-the-announcers-during-sporting-events/1010064/56 "2025-01-23T22:27:22Z")
I remember hearing this in 1990 at a college game. I was still learning the rules of football at the time as a new immigrant. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muting-the-announcers-during-sporting-events/1010064.md?page=2)