Is Football Dying? (nothing to do with ratings or over saturation)

[thefuzz]

1 hour ago, firefox1234 said:

Never understood this either, a bunch of elites have cornered youth soccer on the local level and no one has done anything about it....

Is this the case?  Why is that, or are muni's trying to get out of the youth sports thing?

[shulasmyhero]

The NFL will definitely experience a lull and may change substantially, but I'm not convinced it will die off. 

When society swings too far in one direction there is a tendency to swing back and often "over correct".  For example, Kornheiser says football will experience a similar fate to boxing due to the brutality.  What's on the rise in place of boxing?  MMA, which is much more brutal IMO.  MMA is essentially a direct response to the "softening" of society with an over correction.

This is all framed as rating for NFL are declining yet college football popularity is still on the rise.  I'm not ready to say it's dying but that doesn't mean it isn't in jeopardy if they fail to address the issues.

Still lots of work to address concussions but it will eventually be figured out.

[jasonluckydog]

They should make a rule that Tom Brady has to retire. Then and only then will football be safe again 

[Servant of Cthululelei]

4 hours ago, iBBB said:

The average NFL player salary is  $1.9mil and the end of the day, football is a job. None of the players play for our entertainment alone. 

 

I'm not sure why people don't understand that no one is forced to play football. I think NFL should just go ahead and declare that playing tackle football will 100% impact your brain health and all the reasons why playing football is dangerous. For this reason, the players are highly compensated. Nothing will change. There will be just as many players trying to play for 10 years and make as much money as possible. I know I would. 

I'm all for making it safer but there is a limit to what you can do trying to circumvent or soften a collision with a 250lb person at full speed. We might be at that limit in today's age. 

I know this sounds dull and inconsiderable, but at the end of the day, the players are sacrificing their bodies for an absurd amount of money and fame. It is their choice, unlike in the gladiator days. 

 

 

That's not the full scope of the problem though.  The NFL would still die off because the talent pool would dry up.  People aren't gonna put their kids in football anymore.   That trend started over a decade ago and shows no signs of stopping.  By the time the next generation gets to high school, significantly fewer of them will have any inclination to join the team.  Eventually, smaller college programs will begin shutting down.  The talent pool will just keep on shrinking to the point that the product on the field in the NFL greatly suffers.

Think of the issues we already see today with a dearth of offensive line talent across the league.  What happens if/when that extends to other position groups?  What if nobody wants to play linebacker anymore?  Then running back. Then defensive line.  These are the positions that have it the worst when it comes to CTE - and the result is that, over time, there won't be enough players that are truly at an NFL level to fill out all the rosters.

I already feel like the product on the field in the NFL is suffering.  I don't think it's yet due the problem I just described, but I absolutely think that, over the next 10 years, the problems the game already has will be exacerbated by a lack of marquee talent.

[Greatman77]

I've mentioned this before in a previous, similar thread, but a lot of teenagers (including both of mine) devote most of their recreational time to playing and watching networked video games on their cellphone or PC. Neither one of my kids ever watches TV, literally zero minutes per year. If you don't play football, don't watch it on TV and it is too expensive to go see in person, how are you going to develop any interest in it?

[Malt Liquor]

Robots will replace the players.....

[-13 Amp-]

5 hours ago, iBBB said:

The average NFL player salary is  $1.9mil and the end of the day, football is a job. None of the players play for our entertainment alone. 

 

I'm not sure why people don't understand that no one is forced to play football. I think NFL should just go ahead and declare that playing tackle football will 100% impact your brain health and all the reasons why playing football is dangerous. For this reason, the players are highly compensated. Nothing will change. There will be just as many players trying to play for 10 years and make as much money as possible. I know I would. 

I'm all for making it safer but there is a limit to what you can do trying to circumvent or soften a collision with a 250lb person at full speed. We might be at that limit in today's age. 

I know this sounds dull and inconsiderable, but at the end of the day, the players are sacrificing their bodies for an absurd amount of money and fame. It is their choice, unlike in the gladiator days. 

 

 

doesnt help kids...they dont get paid anything to play and possibly be ruined and never even have a shot at going pros...

the only way your idea works is if football doesnt exist until you're an adult and can sign up to play in the NFL...but that means kids miss college becuase they only got there due to a football scholarship and etc

[Greatman77]

3 minutes ago, Malt Liquor said:

Robots will replace the players.....

[Camp Fodder]

18 minutes ago, Greatman77 said:

I've mentioned this before in a previous, similar thread, but a lot of teenagers (including both of mine) devote most of their recreational time to playing and watching networked video games on their cellphone or PC. Neither one of my kids ever watches TV, literally zero minutes per year. If you don't play football, don't watch it on TV and it is too expensive to go see in person, how are you going to develop any interest in it?

This is bigger issue than just football

[Shufdog]

[firefox1234]

2 hours ago, thefuzz said:

Is this the case?  Why is that, or are muni's trying to get out of the youth sports thing?

To be honest I’m not well versed in it but when i was in highschool it seemed like all the top players had to play on some club or travel team to actually get proper coaching and some would join academies from MLS teams which I’m sur also had fees of their own. It didn’t seem like a sport outside of school teams that had few barriers to entry....

[Nails]

This is crazy.

[RealisticPanther]

7 hours ago, Jangler said:

sorry for Trump if you watch. 

http://www.newsweek.com/nfl-concussions-bob-costas-health-football-players-705638

 

Little League Baseball enrollment is up, Soccer and Lacrosse is rising in popularity. Hell, even kickball is becoming a thing...

Is Football Dying?

funny, because they find the same CTE in soccer, rugby, hockey, etc players....so.....

[Davidson Deac II]

 

2 hours ago, Greatman77 said:

I've mentioned this before in a previous, similar thread, but a lot of teenagers (including both of mine) devote most of their recreational time to playing and watching networked video games on their cellphone or PC. Neither one of my kids ever watches TV, literally zero minutes per year. If you don't play football, don't watch it on TV and it is too expensive to go see in person, how are you going to develop any interest in it?

Mine just left for college.  While their biggest activity is video gaming, they do play a lot of basketball, but not much football.  But apparently, fantasy football is a pretty big thing for them.  FF might help keep the NFL at the top, at least for a while.