# Why is NFL viewership declining? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 22, 2016, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nfl-viewership-declining/772731 "2016-11-22T10:56:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![littlespeedysuperbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@littlespeedysuperbike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/littlespeedysuperbike)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2016, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nfl-viewership-declining/772731/81 "2016-12-06T03:06:09Z")
> [@Cyberhwk](#): > > All you need is $1000 for a family of four! :eek: Take a zero off of that and go to the Palace of Auburn Hills. ---
**Author:** ![Vicsage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e68b1a/32.png) [@Vicsage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vicsage)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2016, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nfl-viewership-declining/772731/82 "2016-12-06T04:48:22Z")
The core NFL fans used to be the same as NASCAR fans. NFL decided they wanted to bring in the coastal people, the rich, the libs, the women. They got some but lost much of their core. They got rid of Hank Williams and replaced him with some bimbo in a short skirt. The core group of football can barely afford a regular season ticket, let alone playoffs or Super Bowls. The average joe is expected to pay and watch the regular games, but when it comes to the important ones, that’s for the rich and famous. And I think the average football fan is finally saying shove it. And I don’t think kids have been playing football for some time. Only organized stuff. I never see a pick- up game in some field anymore. Hell, most fields are fenced off so kids can’t get in. When I was a kid (over 40 years ago) we literally played everyday after school during football season. You lose the young and eventually it catches up to you. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2016, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nfl-viewership-declining/772731/83 "2016-12-06T13:26:16Z")
The primetime games have been pretty bad. This week especially. There wasn’t anything they could flex into the Sunday night game to replace Seahawks-Panthers? And I know ESPN is stuck with what they’ve got, but a bad Colts team going against a bad Jets team had no interest for me. I didn’t even check the score until the game was over and I see I didn’t miss much of anything. ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2016, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nfl-viewership-declining/772731/84 "2016-12-06T14:06:57Z")
Personally, I think that (amongst the many excellent points that have been made in this thread, particularly divorcing fans from their teams with the explosion of Fantasy Football, and the drag that games have become with commercials and official reviews) a big part of the death of the games isn’t that good games aren’t flexed into the prime time slots, but that they play too many games at prime time. Watching football isn’t a thing that you can dedicate your Sunday afternoon to anymore. You’ve got Monday Night Football, Sunday Night Football (which, if you want to watch it, turns a wasted afternoon into a whole wasted day, and makes it tough to get up for work the next morning if you want to watch the end of it) and then the addition of Thursday Night Football, you have 6 teams not playing at roughly the same block of time as all the other games, without counting bye weeks. In my world of having five different teams being followed by my group of sports watching buddies, it means that there’s always someone who isn’t interested in watching when the rest of us are, and who can’t find anyone willing to go out to watch their game with them. I’m not missing watching a Browns game if I’m already at the bar with my friends, but I’m probably not going to bother even trying to make the time on a Thursday Night. It used to feel like fall Sunday afternoons (or mornings, when I lived on the West Coast) had its own identity as being “football time,” but that’s no longer the case. This is particularly highlighted that the league sneaks in extra Monday or Thursday night games here or there at the beginning or end of the season when people want to watch the most. I think that next weekend, there’s going to be a Saturday Night game. When you make every day a football day, no day is a football day. It starts to feel like baseball in June: something to watch if it’s on, but not something that’s its own event. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2016, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nfl-viewership-declining/772731/85 "2016-12-06T15:06:23Z")
> [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](#): > > When you make every day a football day, no day is a football day. It starts to feel like baseball in June: something to watch if it’s on, but not something that’s its own event. I think this may be a good analogy. Also, while not every NFL fan is also a fan of college football…good lord, there’s a ton of college football on, too, especially if you have access to ESPN. On any given Saturday in September-November, I could have a college game on (and probably have my choice of several) from 10am until 1am, and that doesn’t include the games that are being played during the week. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nfl-viewership-declining/772731/86 "2016-12-06T18:34:34Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > A frisbee dog at halftime would be a nice little shot in the arm, I think. > > I’m not sure that youth participation matters that much. Pop Warner football never topped more than 250,000 [participants](http://www.espn.com/espn/otl/story/_/page/popwarner/pop-warner-youth-football-participation-drops-nfl-concussion-crisis-seen-causal-factor) nationwide anyway. Little League draws ten times that number, yet college and pro football easily remains at least as popular as MLB. For that matter, kids have been abandoning Little League for some time now, without hurting major league popularity, and conversely all the kids playing soccer have never translated to more than limited success at the pro level in the US. MLB is having a demographics problem insofar as it’s viewership is relatively quite old when compared with basketball or soccer. As the number of little league players decline it will continue to impact MLB. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nfl-viewership-declining/772731/87 "2016-12-07T04:00:17Z")
With the Cowboys being scheduled for 4 primetime games in a row, and also on an 11-1 tear, they just might give NFL ratings a shot in the arm. A Cowboys vs. Patriots or Cowboys vs. Raiders Super Bowl would in all likelihood draw the highest TV ratings of any Super Bowl in history, especially if the game is close and hard-fought. ---
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2017, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nfl-viewership-declining/772731/88 "2017-01-13T14:43:19Z")
Football’s the only sport where you’re allowed to obliterate the opposing player. Efforts to tone by the violence to prevent injuries, like penalties if you look at the quarterback the wrong way or moving the kickoffs forward so there’s fewer returns have made it boring. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2017, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nfl-viewership-declining/772731/89 "2017-01-13T15:05:44Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > I’m not a football fan, so I don’t know what may have changed about NFL games, but I’ve been seeing news articles about the decline. > [This](http://theundefeated.com/features/nfl-viewership-down-and-study-suggests-its-over-protests/) article references a Rasmussen poll and claims that the protests are a large part of it. This [Bloomberg](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-03/nfl-was-a-sure-thing-for-tv-networks-until-now) report agrees, but also blames the increasing game lengths and too many referee calls. > So to the sport enthusiasts here, what say you? I sat down and watched a game last weekend as an uninterested observer, and here are the reason I wouldn’t watch again. > > 1. Too many commercials. Seriously. I wasn’t sure if I was watching a sporting event or a slow motion mugging by advertisers. > > 2. Too choppy. This is the same reason I stopped watching NASCAR. The constant interruptions by announcers to breathlessly tell me that player X was “guardedly optimistic” about the game and then drop some irrelevant factoid about their personal life. NASCAR got worse and worse about cutting from the race to show how a driver’s wife made corn fritters, that they lost me. > > 3. Playing too much with their graphical toys. Showing the line of scrimmage and a few other relevant yard markers is OK. The constant treatment of the finished plays as an Etch-a-Sketch with circles and arrows got a little old. NASCAR did the same thing before I abandoned them. They had little “thought bubbles” above each car with instantaneous info about speed, driver, lap counts etc. It distracted so much from the race that I finally turned off the set. > > 4. And yes, the protests. I tune in sports events as a respite from the world’s problems, not to be lectured and reminded of them. > So, what do you think are the reasons for the growing decline in NFL watchers? What would you recommend the NFL change to turn it around? According to the articles, it’s approaching 20% viewer loss this year. I think you pretty much nailed the lion’s share of it. Not to mention that football is a totally boring ass game in the first place. As far as turn it around? When Kaepernick took a knee the first time, the league should have suspended him without pay for at least two games. If he did it again, they should have fired him outright. If they had, the NFL wouldn’t be having the protest problem that they do now. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2017, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nfl-viewership-declining/772731/90 "2017-01-13T15:40:57Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > I think you pretty much nailed the lion’s share of it. Not to mention that football is a totally boring ass game in the first place. > > As far as turn it around? When Kaepernick took a knee the first time, the league should have suspended him without pay for at least two games. If he did it again, they should have fired him outright. If they had, the NFL wouldn’t be having the protest problem that they do now. So you think soldiers died for us to have the freedom to do as YOU expect us to do? Why should anyone give a flying fuck if anyone stands for the anthem or not? What business is it of yours? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2017, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nfl-viewership-declining/772731/91 "2017-01-13T20:13:09Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I will say that IN PERSON, an NBA game is absolutely the best experience of any major pro sport, on average. If someone isn’t an NBA fan, get good seats to an NBA game and you’ll be a fan soon enough. An NFL game is almost always better on TV than live. Baseball is more enjoyable live, but I can have as much fun in the bleachers as in box seats behind home plate. An NHL game is always infinitely better live than on TV. But even the “bad” seats for a hockey game are usually great. Even in the upper deck at Madison Square Garden, you’re right on top of the action. Basketball is also better in person, but you’re absolutely right: the premium seats for a basketball game are worth every penny, if you can afford them. “Bad” seats for a Spurs game are pretty good. But if you get floor seats for a Spurs game just once, you’ll make a mental note to buy season tickets on the floor if you ever win the lottery. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nfl-viewership-declining/772731/92 "2017-01-25T19:09:44Z")
> [@Lowdown](#): > > I’ve never been a superfan but I watch games here and there. I live in Packer country, but am a Bills fan, so whenever a Bills game is televised here I’ll watch. (Why do I do this?) > > Anyway, for me, whenever I see the refs blow an obvious call (obvious to me at home, the people in the stands, the announcers on television) I turn the game off. This happens quite a bit. Then the next day the league doubles down on “The refs are fine and everything is great!” I haven’t bothered trying to watch a whole game since the Bills-Seahawks Monday Night Game, which I turned off at the end of the first half because of the absurd referee shitshow. “absurd referee shitshow?” I have to wonder if it’s a severe case of calls going against your team that you don’t agree with. The officiating IMO hasn’t been that bad. I suggest you try officiating in real life. I found it to be enjoyable; plus I learned that people, with out a doubt, see things differently when they have a favored team in the contest. > [@kayaker](#): > > There was also the dog fighter who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers for a while. I boycotted the team and realized I wasn’t really missing much. This is an interesting point to me. On one hand, I don’t understand the mentality where someone who is guilty of something should be punishable by his career being ruined; and that seems to very common these days. Michael Vick did prison time. He’s paid his dues. I don’t personally care for Michael Vick (I live in Atlanta) but I don’t begrudge him playing football again. His crime had nothing to do with career as a football player. If he was fighting dogs, and owned a dog grooming place; maybe I’d have an issue with that. If was betting on football games; I’d have an issue with him playing football again. That being said; I can speak for my thoughts on Michael Vick by not buying a ticket to see his games. I don’t know how much it’s affecting viewership; but I believe that collectively NFL players are thought of as a bunch of thugs and Ne’er-do-wells. The NFL is selling a product, and they would probably be well served if they could get a tough player conduct policy enforced. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nfl-viewership-declining/772731/93 "2017-01-26T21:34:05Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > “absurd referee shitshow?” I have to wonder if it’s a severe case of calls going against your team that you don’t agree with. The officiating IMO hasn’t been that bad. I suggest you try officiating in real life. I found it to be enjoyable; plus I learned that people, with out a doubt, see things differently when they have a favored team in the contest. > > This is an interesting point to me. On one hand, I don’t understand the mentality where someone who is guilty of something should be punishable by his career being ruined; and that seems to very common these days. Michael Vick did prison time. He’s paid his dues. I don’t personally care for Michael Vick (I live in Atlanta) but I don’t begrudge him playing football again. His crime had nothing to do with career as a football player. If he was fighting dogs, and owned a dog grooming place; maybe I’d have an issue with that. If was betting on football games; I’d have an issue with him playing football again. That being said; I can speak for my thoughts on Michael Vick by not buying a ticket to see his games. > > I don’t know how much it’s affecting viewership; but I believe that collectively NFL players are thought of as a bunch of thugs and Ne’er-do-wells. The NFL is selling a product, and they would probably be well served if they could get a tough player conduct policy enforced. Getting ever stricter with a largely minority work force has never been more in vogue. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2017, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nfl-viewership-declining/772731/94 "2017-01-27T14:40:25Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > Leaping over the line to block a field goal is fine, except it’s a penalty if your foot grazes another player. Nitpick: Incidental contact is fine, you’re just not allowed to leap off another player with your foot, or “land on” another player in the jump. The Seahawks made a couple of legal jumps over the line to block kicks that included grazing the opponent with your foot, and that’s not illegal no matter how loudly Bruce Arians whines about it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2017, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nfl-viewership-declining/772731/95 "2017-01-29T07:41:05Z")
It would help greatly if the players on the local team stayed out of the news. It’s tough to warm up to gutter-thugs who call police B\_ \_ \_ \_ \_ A \_ \_ \_ N\_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ when they’re arrested for disorderly conduct. I’d rather watch reruns of … anything. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-nfl-viewership-declining/772731.md?page=4)