Wall Street Journal: The NFL Is Losing Its Core Audience, a WSJ/NBC News Poll Finds.

[pepaw]

7 hours ago, JakeDel5674 said:

What's better than the Wall Street Journal then, sir? Please let me know. 

I'm sure they're fine for all the stock things you mentioned. I think the point to be made is to remember at the end of the day, they are a Murdoch owned, who are already dumping on the NFL pretty hardcore over at Fox.  But I don't think anyone at this point, would dispute the NFL is losing viewers. 

[RealisticPanther]

3 hours ago, Davidson Deac II said:

The kneeling part really isn't a big deal.  In fact, I rarely watched the anthem anyway, unless I was at the game.  

What annoyed me was the increasingly political bend of the various sports news shows on espn and the other sports channels.  Its why I stopped watching all of those years ago.  

I agree. I don't care about race or politics and don't want to hear about them. They're just negative subjects. There's a time and place and way to go about it, and 99% of the instances where they come up are inappropriate and do nothing but fuel whatever problems we have.

[rodeo]

12 hours ago, Khyber53 said:

Honestly, it's just following the cyclical nature of American entertainment trends. Remember when NASCAR got really hot a few years back and was the biggest thing going nationwide, not just in the traditional stronghold of the South? Celebrities were going to the races and it was a big deal. Then it just kinda faded back to its stalwarts and a handful of new permanent fans picked up during the swell. It was a fad for a while, partly because it just got a favorable trend, partly due to timely marketing. 

The same thing has happened to the NFL over the last decade. The fad started fading last season after it had really become the biggest thing going. Some are going to pin it on the kneeling players/anthem issue, but really, it is just more a matter of the fickle viewing public. It's just coming down off its peak. The league won't be going away, any more than NASCAR or the NBA faded out of existence. It will just go back to where it once was, two game slots on Sundays and a single Monday night game. 

And honestly, that'll be better for the real fans, the players and the longterm health of the league.

this is the most accurate take

[rodeo]

4 hours ago, rayzor said:

interesting point of discussion here.

i think this is coming about because mcmahon believes he can cash in on people who are losing interest in the NFL, but what he doesn't get is that it's not just the NFL, but the game itself that people are losing interest in. he should have tried to strike when the NFL was hot and people couldn't get enough.

i think xfl 2.0 is headed for the same destination the first iteration was. people who quit watching the NFL aren't going to jump to another version of the game. they're going to go to whatever the next hot thing is for whatever demographic they fit into.

especially a version of the game played by people who can't get on an NFL practice squad.

[Lords0fPain]

Peeps can down play the player protest all they want, but the vast majority of people I talk to...bring that up (after all what they should be doing is outlined in the Operations Manuel). The seemingly fixed games (bad calls/no calls) for certain teams and/or players are also a biggie.

[rayzor]

1 hour ago, rodeo said:

especially a version of the game played by people who can't get on an NFL practice squad.

true.

no matter how you look at it...the dream is to play in the NFL. you won't find many people at all who choose to join the xfl if they can make it in the NFL, but you will be able to find plenty who would choose the NFL over the xfl. that goes for players and coaches. if you can't start or have no hope of starting in the NFL, then you might be a candidate for the xfl. at best, the xfl will be more or less a farm league for the NFL, but even then....it's doubtful that many at all will be able to make the leap from xfl to NFL.

no matter how much marketing mcmahon does, the xfl will always be smaller and inferior to the NFL. the only major draws to the xfl as far as viewers go will be the most diehard and desperate of fans or that incredibly small niche who boycott the NFL for political reasons or but still want to watch a little football.

for someone who is supposedly very business savvy, mcmahon is pretty dumb when it comes to football. he'll make a little money, but no doubt it will be pale in comparison to the money he spends to put it together or to what will always be considered the real deal, the NFL.

[cardiackat88.]

Few of us have money to attend games, or pay for NFL Sunday ticket, exclusively on Direct-tv.

i hate the college "those guys try so hard" crap. There is a major difference between players abilities where the NFL continues to have level talent. 

[Jangler]

damage to the body long term is why fewer and fewer parents are letting their kids play football. The Officials suck, talent has gone down, and over saturation of the sport is the real reason for declining ratings. 

I'm surprised there are still Browns fans at this point.

[Jangler]

8 hours ago, rodeo said:

especially a version of the game played by people who can't get on an NFL practice squad.

[aGDevil2k]

In honesty, at some point, plastic will be removed from the game of football, and that will change it, but make it safer from head injury.  I see a day when helmets and shoulder pads are made out of foams (maybe a thin plastic on the helmet).  Then you get a game a little more like rugby, because there's no sense of false protection from a helmet or pads.  Hits will lessen in force and style.  

I just don't see a way that it doesn't end up happening over time.  

 

That and in-game experiences have just priced out so many people.  

[Wolfcop]

There is more parity and drama in the NFL than in any other sport. It is the best thing on TV by a wide margin. Declining ratings have more to do with the "have it your way", on demand society that we have become. I'm sure that every other sport is getting fewer viewers as well. Sitting down to watch a 3-hour sporting event is hard when your attention span is about 10 seconds. Either way, my family and I love it and always will, regardless of the overblown political and social commentary that has come with it lately.

[Carolina Mike]

Honestly I’m not sure why. Last year I was out in the Bering Sea during the Super Bowl so I missed it for the first time I can ever remember. Born & raised from NC I’ve followed the Panthers from their 1st game. Living up in the PNW I’ve had to get the NFL Package every year so I’ve NEVER missed a game. I use to watch multiple games on Sunday but this year only Panthers. I’ll be one of those that might not even watch this years Super Bowl. Didn’t even watch the Playoffs this year.

[Montsta]

On 2/2/2018 at 8:27 AM, PurityControl said:

Same here my interest has waned, back in the day after the Panthers I would watch other games, my local team, & all the prime time games but now after the Panthers I’m pretty much  done, I’ll leave a SF game on in the back ground and that’s it.

The only reason I take it up the ass from Direct TV is to watch the Panthers here in California, $350 isn’t bad comes out to about $20 a game to watch, after football season I slash my pkg to the base package no NFLN no ESPN, I’m out until August.

& forget going to games a family of 4 spending about a G to go no thank you,  ( I wanted to go to the Carolina & SF opener last year) but no way was I going to spend that, for about the same money I could take the whole family on a few day getaway.

+ Levi stadium is a joke….lol

 

 

I took my daughter to the SF-Carolina opener. That stadium is poo. 

[rayzor]

yeah the prices for live games are and have been way out of control for years. there's no way i'm ever going to take my wife and daughters to see them play short of someone giving us tickets. i love the panthers, but there's no way i'm going spend what i do for a mortgage payment to see a 2 hour game.