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[OuterLimits]

the rise of the nfl nonsense correlates directly with the rise of fantasy football and the gambling that is associated with it. people want to feel better informed about their picks, and the sports channels know that their empty hot takes and mindnumbing facts draws this crowd.

Yep. Gambling is a huge aspect. Entire shows are dedicated to fantasy sports now. Crazy.

I find it interesting that Sheldon Adelson is trying to get Congress to pass a new Wire Act bill that would make online poker, online casino and even state online lotteries illegal.

However, one exception is fantasy football.(The other is horseracing) Shows you how much power fantasy football has if it indeed gets allowed while other online gambling is targeted.

 

[SDCowboy]

This is factually incorrect. Baseball is making absolutely absurd revenue right now. Local TV contracts are making major bank for individual organizations. Yes, the national ratings are not close to NFL levels, but that's not what MLB's after. And I hope you can see the difference in revenue streams from a sport with 162 games per team compared to a sport with 16 games per team.

Right local teams do very well at the local level. That's not my point. Broad baseball coverage isn't going to covered as much as football (which is the point of the thread, I gather) because the ratings aren't comparable.

 

[Rhomega Beta]

Eh. More options are always a good thing. It's so easy to ignore this stuff if you don't care.

Exactly. I just ignore the news until the season schedule goes up.

 

[Opiate]

Even despite the NFLs black eyes the last couple seasons, the NFL is the best run of the major sports leagues in the US, with the highest level of competitiveness.

NFL offseason is meaningful, with major signings for nearly every team once every other year. The NFL draft is the best professional sports draft as so many NFL rookies make an impact on their team and it is relatively easy to measure the effectiveness of players in most positions coming into the NFL.

In the season itself, every game matters, and this is just heightened by the playoffs where almost every game is a good one because the level of competition is so close.

Finally, the fantasy angle. NFL Football makes the best fantasy sport and the NFL has catered to the fantasy football audience, practically running its news cycle around the interest in fantasy football. The league is smart and they know how to appeal to fans.

I definitely agree with a lot of this, and would argue that the NFL's raw appeal to violence and machismo strongly help its image in the modern age.

 

[cdyhybrid]

Its not though. I was listening to a radio station to hear about the upcoming season in baseball and the final roster moves, etc. but instead I got 2 hours of draft discussion that I already heard like 3 months ago since literally nothing has changed since the last college game was played.

There have actually been a bunch of things happening since the college season with regards to draft stock. The Combine, pro days, free agency, retirements, contract negotiations with current players all have an effect on who teams will end up drafting.

 

[Chris R]

NFL Mania just means I watch almost no ESPN (outside of College Football) now.

I'm OK with that!

edit: This is as someone who will watch a NFL game, but only if there isn't something else on.

 

[JJDinomite]

It could be much, much worse. My roommate is a competitive Melee player and he watches tournaments nonstop every single day of his life. How that shit doesn't get old after a while is beyond me.

 

[old]

I enjoy the year round coverage. Beats talking about baseball.

 

[SDCowboy]

Well, even with that assumption, it doesn't explain statements like "nobody cares about baseball anymore."

Attendance is better than ever, revenue is up, local TV ratings are up. The only thing doing poorly for baseball are national ratings.

Because outside of cities with local teams, the interest in MLB is extremely low. Especially for the demographic under 50 years old.

 

[Little Green Yoda]

and ESPN

I think I identified your problem. You're welcome, OP.

 

[Draxal]

I definitely agree with a lot of this, and would argue that the NFL's raw appeal to violence and machismo strongly help its image in the modern age.

NFL's biggest draw is the limited amount of games, it's why Mannfred pretty much said they're open to reducing the number of games in the season in an interview today.

Because outside of cities with local teams, the interest in MLB is extremely low. Especially for the demographic under 50 years old.

I wouldn't say that's true, MLB will thrive just due to fantasy alone.

 

[WesternHeretic]

I rather hear about what Richard Sherman has for breakfast than see what's going on with the Mariners.

 

[Opiate]

Because outside of cities with local teams, the interest in MLB is extremely low. Especially for the demographic under 50 years old.

That doesn't explain the statement that "nobody cares about baseball" when, as you are now apparently admitting, attendance, local viewership, and revenue are up. You were wrong -- it happens.

As to your other point, it's definitely a problem for baseball going forward. However, I'm not sure it's clearly worse than the newly discovered knowledge that football mentally disables its players over time. Both are very serious problems for both sports going forward, and neither is easy to fix.

 

[cashman]

The NFL draft is the worst of all the major sports drafts imo.

 

[Angry Grimace]

I can't imagine a world where this is a bad thing, and if it bothers you ignore it. It's so so so much easier to not care about something than to get all riled up for no reason at all. You know there are probably people who love all of the hullabaloo? You want to rob them of that because you can't just choose to ignore something for a few months?

It blocks out everything else

 

[Draxal]

That doesn't explain the statement. You were wrong -- it happens.

It's definitely a problem for baseball going forward. However, I'm not sure it's clearly worse than the newly discovered knowledge that football mentally disables its players over time. Both are very serious problems for both sports going forward, and neither is easy to fix.

Baseball has a huge issue with UCL tears right now (while not life threatening .... it really hurts the quality of play).

And hockey has it much worse than the NFL it on the CTE (that sport is actually the one that might have to change a ton).

 

[Angry Grimace]

I sort of agree, it feels like it's gotten more "365" the last year or 2 than it was in the past, but a lot of that may be due to my increased social media (facebook and twitter) usage.

Plus, it still can't really compare to European soccer leagues, which generally play from August/September to April/May, with the summer months taken up by internationals.

Yeah, but at least Euro football leagues are playing the sport.

 

[GamerSoul]

I still can't believe there are nfl fantasy draft experts. Shit is serious business.

 

[cdyhybrid]

It blocks out everything else

That's a problem with ESPN, local media, etc. more than anything. Yes, the NFL probably puts pressure on them to continue coverage year-round, but everything is a business in the end, and that's what makes business sense for both the league and the media. If the consumers made more noise to express their dissatisfaction with too much NFL coverage, it would change. However, I don't think there are enough people who actually dislike it (or are at least willing to complain about it) to make a difference.

I still can't believe there are nfl fantasy draft experts. Shit is serious business.

There's a LOT of money in fantasy sports, not that surprising.

 

[SDCowboy]

That doesn't explain the statement. You were wrong -- it happens.

It's definitely a problem for baseball going forward. However, I'm not sure it's clearly worse than the newly discovered knowledge that football mentally disables its players over time. Both are very serious problems for both sports going forward, and neither is easy to fix.

Fair enough. But any way you wish to look at it, the answer to the question of why sports radio overwhelmingly covers the NFL year round over other sports is because of the ratings difference. Period. In the US, it's NFL first, then college football, then after that, there is a valley in interest nationally to the remaining sports. Yes they are still popular (I worded it poorly before), but they are going to mostly cover what people most want to listen to.

 

[OctoMan]

I think youth participation levels in football are going to reach near 0 in the coming years unless they fundamentally change the game. It may destroy the sport.

 

[Opiate]

Baseball has a huge issue with UCL tears right now (while not life threatening .... it really hurts the quality of play).

And hockey has it much worse than the NFL it on the CTE (that sport is actually the one that might have to change a ton).

Yes, UCL issues are serious, and CTE issues are a problem for Hockey. Can you cite statistics which show CTE are worse for Hockey? It can't get much worse than 60%+ that NFL has.

Why wouldn't NFL have to "change a ton?"

 

[bonesmccoy]

And hockey has it much worse than the NFL it on the CTE (that sport is actually the one that might have to change a ton).

It does?

 

[OuterLimits]

It blocks out everything else

Mainly though on sports talk radio. On TV you can watch the MLB network or NHL Network or any other dedicated to one sport channel.

 

[Konka]

The NFL draft is the worst of all the major sports drafts imo.

How would you know? You just watch twitter, not the draft.

 

[Derpyduck]

What am I supposed to care about otherwise? College basketball? Baseball's interminable 162 game borefest? The NHL and NBA's stupidly long seasons? LOL no thank you. Sports year for me is NFL all year with a break in late April to watch the NBA playoffs.

 

[Amory]

I wouldn't even say that. Rondo and Green had no heart this season. It was always going to be addition by subtraction and Ainge knew that. Especially taking into account the move for Thomas. If anything, Ainge did what he could to improve the outlook of this team in the short term and long term.

I more just meant that he shipped out the established talent for picks and cap room, which was the right thing to do. Worst case scenario we tank and get a good pick.

Yet somehow the team gelled and got better.

Sorry I'm derailing this topic.

 

[GhostWriter24]

I honestly don't get why you can't just watch something you enjoy rather than complain about something you don't.

 

[OuterLimits]

What am I supposed to care about otherwise? College basketball? Baseball's interminable 162 game borefest? The NHL and NBA's stupidly long seasons? LOL no thank you. Sports year for me is NFL all year with a break in late April to watch the NBA playoffs.

So you take a 2 to 3 month break to watch the NBA playoffs? I wish the NBA had less teams make the playoffs. Regular season seems pointless.

 

[DoktorEvil]

Even despite the NFLs black eyes the last couple seasons, the NFL is the best run of the major sports leagues in the US, with the highest level of competitiveness.

NFL offseason is meaningful, with major signings for nearly every team once every other year. The NFL draft is the best professional sports draft as so many NFL rookies make an impact on their team and it is relatively easy to measure the effectiveness of players in most positions coming into the NFL.

In the season itself, every game matters, and this is just heightened by the playoffs where almost every game is a good one because the level of competition is so close.

Finally, the fantasy angle. NFL Football makes the best fantasy sport and the NFL has catered to the fantasy football audience, practically running its news cycle around the interest in fantasy football. The league is smart and they know how to appeal to fans.

The Super Bowl is the most viewed TV event in the US.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/02/02/media/super-bowl-ratings/

There's a whole lot of money in the NFL and so it makes sense for NFL coverage to be year round.

 

[Draxal]

Yes, UCL issues are serious, and CTE issues are a problem for Hockey. Can you cite statistics which show CTE are worse for Hockey? It can't get much worse than 60%+ that NFL has.

Why wouldn't NFL have to "change a ton?"

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/12564082/virginia-tech-study-hockey-helmets-finds-many-unsafe (for the NHL being forced to change).

I should have been clear that I'm going on supposition here. But I believe CTE is much more serious than we thought and effects many more sports than just the NFL. It's just that CTE research itself is very much in its infancy and primarily done by universities in the states (who of are course are going to focus on the big dog sport). Once it matures a bit, I think it will be much more damning of other sports as well (hi rugby).

NFL is probably going to have to change a ton as well but the big differential for me is that hockey plays 82 games in a regular season instead of 16 games.

 

[Konka]

The Super Bowl is the most viewed TV event around the world.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/02/02/media/super-bowl-ratings/

There's a whole lot of money in the NFL and so it makes sense for NFL coverage to be year round.

Uh, not even close.

Most viewed even in the USA, like your link says. But it's dwarfed by the Olympics, World Cup, dozens of soccer games every year, cricket, and a bunch of other things.

 

[OctoMan]

The Super Bowl is the most viewed TV event around the world.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/02/02/media/super-bowl-ratings/

There's a whole lot of money in the NFL and so it makes sense for NFL coverage to be year round.

I highly doubt the super bowl is watched more than the world cup, champions league, or even a regular season madrid - barcelona game.

 

[DoktorEvil]

Uh, not even close.

I highly doubt the super bowl is watched more than the world cup, champions league, or even a regular season madrid - barcelona game.

I saw it. It can't compete with the Copa Mundial.

 

[Angry Grimace]

I highly doubt the super bowl is watched more than the world cup, champions league, or even a regular season madrid - barcelona game.

I'll give you the world cup, but the other two I highly doubt. The world cup doesn't occur often enough to be a legitimate comparison though.

 

[Gully State]

I think youth participation levels in football are going to reach near 0 in the coming years unless they fundamentally change the game. It may destroy the sport.

It'll be just fine. As long as Texas HS football exists...

 

[TemplaerDude]

It blocks out everything else

The fuck you talking about?

I'll give you the world cup, but the other two I highly doubt. The world cup doesn't occur often enough to be a legitimate comparison though.

Never mind you have no idea what you're talking about.

 

[Angry Grimace]

The fuck you talking about?

Like three other people quoted that comment and all of them understood that comment without issue. Probably because they read more than one sentence of the rest of the thread for context.

 

[OctoMan]

I'll give you the world cup, but the other two I highly doubt. The world cup doesn't occur often enough to be a legitimate comparison though.

El classico according to the BBC drew 500 million viewers in october. That's 5x the super bowl. I imagine the Champions League is much more than that.

 

[Angry Grimace]

El classico according to the BBC drew 500 million viewers in october. That's 5x the super bowl. I imagine the Champions League is much more than that.

Research (e.g. I went to Wikipedia) suggests the Champion's League final had 360 million television viewers in 2013.

 

[cashman]

How would you know? You just watch twitter, not the draft.

"watch twitter" like the NFL draft is a tv show or something and not a news event.

 

[TemplaerDude]

Like three other people quoted that comment and all of them understood that comment without issue. Probably because they read more than one sentence of the rest of the thread for context.

I read your whole post, it just highlights how unbelievably lazy you are.

Do you know what I do when the TV is showing something I'm not interested in?

I change the channel.

It is 20 motherfucking 15. There are so many different ways to get your sports fix. Whining about football being on all the time is 1) false and 2) a load of shit. This thread is bunk.

 

[sgjackson]

idk what he means by used to be cause i was reading joel buchsbaum write about draft prospects like twenty years ago. i probably knew trung canidate's 40 time when i was like ten.

 

[Novoitus]

I love it.

dis.

no other sport would be able to do this. NFL is insanely popular and is just getting bigger

 

[perfectchaos007]

It'll be just fine. As long as Texas HS football exists...

Whats kind of strange in Texas, is that Football really isn't popular until Junior High. Most kids before entering junior high play baseball, basketball, soccer, and other sports before being introduced to football. Yes there are a few peewee football leagues, but participation isn't as high as other sports until Junior High

 

[Gully State]

I dunno....I certainly am not a fan of Thursday night games for player safety issues. As for coverage, I've heard from sports radio guys that there's always an uptick in listeners when it comes to any NFL related segment. You can complain all you want but NFL news brings in the viewers.

I for one wish the NFL would televise the Wonderlic on ESPN. That would be amazing.

 

[The Albatross]

The NFL draft is the worst of all the major sports drafts imo.

... What? THe NFL draft is, clearly, the best draft, which is how they can split it over 3 days on prime time. 45million viewers watched the NFL primetime draft last year. Compare this to 2.5million viewers of the NBA draft in 2014. Heck.. compare this to 10million viewers who watched the clinching win in the NBA championship last year.

And it's not some mystery why the NFL Draft alone is more popular than the championship games of every other professional sport. Nearly every player in the NFL draft in the first 3 rounds is a known, proven commodity, and the majority of those players in rounds 1 and 2 make meaningful impacts on their team in that first year. The NBA draft has dramatically improved since the college requirement was established, but it's still largely difficult to predict outcomes of any player outside the top 5, which is why lottery picks have such an imbalanced weight.

The effectiveness of the draft immediately impacts the product on the field/court as well. In the NFL, there are only a small handful of cases where teams tank a season for a high draft pick.. Indianapolis tanking for Andrew Luck is basically the only contemporary example of a team that is seemingly tanking a season to draft a single player. Yet, in the NBA, this happens almost every year, with 3 or 4 teams who have a race to the bottom, because after those top 1 - 3 picks, the value of a draft pick drops considerably. Compare this to the NFL, where teams regularly trade down from a 1-5 pick because you can still get all star quality talent at pick #10 or 20, or two 2nd round picks.

This isn't to say that there aren't busts in the NFL, of course there are, but more often than not, players can be properly evaluated in the NFL draft and a players' success and value to a team is easier to judge, making for far fewer busts and a lot more interest in the draft.

I mean, the fact that the NFL draft has 4x more viewers than the clinching championship game in the NBA and almost 25x more viewers than the NBA draft is a testament to this.

 

[Kuroyume]

I enjoy the year round coverage. Beats talking about baseball.

No it doesn't. This isn't football. The combines isn't football. Owners meetings isn't football.

Anyone who find this stuff interesting is just sick.

 

[zswordsman]

Been totally into the NFL news and rumor stuff lately. Its a nice way to waste a few minutes during the day.

*scratches neck cause I can't wait for NFL games to start*

 

[Draxal]

Whats kind of strange in Texas, is that Football really isn't popular until Junior High. Most kids before entering junior high play baseball, basketball, soccer, and other sports before being introduced to football. Yes there are a few peewee football leagues, but participation isn't as high as other sports until Junior High

Peewee football is just so funny to watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-QW2YhKq-A