Will the NFL kill the golden goose?

[Quercus]

@Marley23

If LA gets a team, some other place will emerge as a new ‘we’ll move the team there’ cudgel- for example Toronto, Vegas, or whatever city lost the new LA team.

Well, clearly the new ‘we’ll move the team there’ cudgel would be St Louis, duh.

@Aji_de_Gallina

I still don’t get the urge of a city building those stadiums, unless you get a lot out of them aside from 8 or 9 football matches.

Fiscally, it’s universally a loser. But the Mayor generally isn’t worried about getting voted our because of a bad fiscal decision; he’s worried about being voted out by idiot football fans. Or, to put it another way, the Mayor doesn’t have to personally pay for the stadium, but he does get to enjoy sitting in luxury box seats in the new stadium.

@Cheesesteak

I see brain injury as a bigger issue than all of the others put together. Especially the impact of sub-concussive hits on brain health.

Folks are more concerned than ever about personal health and safety. Used up and broken NFL players are going to be more visible than in the past. All that will add up to the realization that we’re watching people destroy their bodies and minds for our personal amusement. Similar to the changes back in the early 1900’s when players were dying in unacceptable numbers, something will have to happen.

I agree. This is the big looming issue for the NFL, because there’s no easy solution. At least the NHL can create a lower-impact game that’s still hockey (if not quite the NHL culture of the past), but the NFL may not be able to.