Ratings for NFL games this year are down. Many theories abound:
- Presidential debates for a couple of the night games hurt ratings
- People are paying a lot of attention to the Presidential race (but on Sunday afternoon? Come on)
- Games are taking too long – seem to average 3.5 hours these days
- Absence of quality QBs (see injury to Romo, retirement of Peyton Manning, Brady suspension)
- People are pissed off about players not standing up for the national anthem
- Games are just not that exciting
- Few really superior teams other than the Patriots
SU is a long-time fan and I must admit, the games are not as interesting. 3rd down and 8 yards to go feels like 3rd and 50. Quarterbacks throw the ball 5 yards and you end up kicking. There are so many mediocre quarterbacks out there or rookies who are learning on the job and are still not ready for prime time. And what is up with the field goal kickers? The best ones are all in their late 30s or early 40s. Finally, I don’t know about you but there are so many injuries this year, and many seem to be the result of targeting by defensive backs. A lot of cheap shots. Whatever happened to not damaging someone’s ability to earn a living? Hard hits are fine but it sure seems like there are more vicious ones this year. Bottom line: is this a blip? Or the start of a longer term trend? SU subscribers: what do you think?
On the other hand, now that the NBA season is entering its 2nd week, they are also suffering from an absence of great teams. The Cavs are already humming along but they had minimal disruption from off season moves. Golden State has no bench other than Sean Livingston. This will bear watching as the season moves along. Expect some mid-year deals to get some role players. But this is what happens when your total payroll is taken up by 4 players. SU is enjoying watching Jeremy Lin and some of the Michigan alumni on various teams but they are mostly role players off the bench. But I think it’s early and as teams get used to playing together, some will emerge to become must see tv. The Knicks have that potential if they can stay healthy. (Did I just say that?? Must be delirious).
Game 6 tonight. You know this is going 7 games. The Indians have been fortunate to keep these games low scoring. That will be their challenge the last two games: anything over 4 runs will be hard for them to keep up. It’s been a good series – a lot of passion in the stands as they both have terrific fan bases. Terry Francona is a genius for the moment but SU says keep an eye on Andrew Miller’s arm in 2017. Overuse sometimes doesn’t pop up until the following season.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
re: ratings, I’m repeating myself on this one but the NFL has diluted its product. They used to dominate Sunday afternoons. Sports fans spent 12-7PM on their couches or in bars watching games. They have moved the most compelling games out of that time slot. Some of the best games are on Sunday, Monday and Thursday nights. There are also games in London that are on Sunday morning and once college football wraps up we’ll have Saturday night games as well. This will leave the least Sunday afternoon with a handful of meaningless, unwatchable games. Sunday afternoon was once the core product and now it’s not being nurtured at all.
Also, somehow there has been criticism over the years that baseball is slow. Well, football is slower. Much slower. There’s something like 11 minutes of action spread over 3.5 hours. That’s a bad ratio.
Finally there have been rule changes to protect the players that have removed some of the types of hits and plays that used to define the league. This would be fine if it meant that the players were suffering fewer injuries but that doesn’t seem to be the case. We now have less exciting plays and the players we want to see are just as likely to be out with injuries.
Over-saturation. You use to get ready for football only televised on Sunday and for those able to stay up late to watch on Monday. Now you have Thursday, more and more games at 9:30am on Sunday and a double header on Monday. Get ready for 6 games in London next year. The novelty of having Sunday as your football day is wearing down. Toss in that more and more quality games in college are on the air as well… which now includes Friday night. Yes, there is over saturation. AND today’s kids are so much more focused on games on TV that I’m guessing many are not being prepped for taking in football and other TV sports in their lives at a young age. There are so many options for them besides watching sports.
I can’t talk about the Knicks until Game # 20. It will be too painful. I heard that last night with 5;30 to go in the game both Rose and Melo had no points… and neither did anyone else on our team. Oy.
GO RANGERS !!! ALWAYS A TEAM WHICH GIVES YOU ITS ALL.
Andy/Seth, seems like you are both coming from the same place. I get that although I generally ignore the Thursday night game. The NFL has one of the older demographics for their fan base among the various pro sports leagues. The NBA and MLS are younger while the NFL and MLB are older. Going forward, you won’t find Gen Y willing to sit for 3.5 hours to watch a game with so many commercial interruptions. Sure, the Fantasy players will be tuning in but increasingly people have other things to do and other interests. This may just be the new normal and all of the Leagues will need to adjust. And Andy, regarding the Knicks, I tuned in late first quarter and Melo shot the ball on 5 straight possessions. That was enough for me – turned it off. He only took 17 shots for the game – I must have hit a hot period.
D Rose is now up to 6 assists total over a span of 3 games
Great game 7 last night. It wasn’t flawless baseball but a lot of unpredictable momentum shifts kept it interesting for a long period of time. Grats to the Cubbies on getting rid of their curse. Maybe Bartman can show his face around Chi-town again.