(10-18-2017, 01:37 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: I haven't watched a non-Bengals game in 2 years at least, and I've been missing more Bengals games than ever.

Among the reasons:

1. The protests and demonizing of police
2. Constant promotion of political agendas, not just from players but especially sports media, which has swung heavily to the left recently
3. Constant rule changes
4. Double standards with certain teams
5. Roger Goodell fully embracing the Vince McMahon role

Oh yeah, Roger is a HUGE problem for this league right now. I can't believe it. Many NFL players seriously can't stand him.

(10-18-2017, 01:41 PM)thillan Wrote: Oh yeah, Roger is a HUGE problem for this league right now. I can't believe it. Many NFL players seriously can't stand him.

Everyone hates the guy. NFL's response? Gives the guy an extension.

Oversaturation...for long term health of the league, stay out of London and get rid of Thursday games.

(10-18-2017, 01:50 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: Everyone hates the guy. NFL's response? Gives the guy an extension.

Because they keep making more money. 
He's actually doing a good job as commissioner. 
He's not beholden to fans or players, but to the owners and the shield. 

And the Shield is as profitable as ever. 


When your commissioner is too player-friendly, you get MLB and it's boring. It's run by players and it almost is exclusively about big market teams and it starts to isolate fans of the mid-small teams who only watch when their team is winning. 

(10-18-2017, 10:32 AM)Bengalholic Wrote: MNF, SNF, CBS and Fox all saw their NFL ratings decline last year, and the trend has continued through this year.                            
When you combine the number of people abandoning cable and satellite (projected to be 22 million this year alone) with the steady rise in people watching games via streaming sites, it's easy to see why the NFL's numbers are taking a hit.

Then of course, there's the fact that many feel the game is becoming harder to watch, in general, for a number of different reasons - and they're simply tuning out more often.

Even after the whole protest thing has passed, the NFL will still has some very real challenges when it comes to retaining viewers going forward, especially considering the ever-evolving (and nontraditional) media trends and options.

I thought it was illegal to stream an NFL game without NFL consent so if I am correct, they can calculate streaming thus accounting for it.

I cancelled the NFL ticket. I DVR'd channel 701 (4 games at a time) and channel 702 (8 games at a time) + all local games. Since I cancelled the ticket, I only watch one early and lone late game at most. I quit watching Sunday, Monday and Thursday nights also so I watch a whole lot less due to disrespecting our flag and our country. Find another way to protest (which is your right), but my right to watch you less when I disagree with your actions.

(10-18-2017, 09:53 AM)grampahol Wrote: Perhaps enough people are beginning to see just how much the league is involved in tilting the favor to certain teams **cough cough squeelers cough cough** and having certain teams take a dive..
It doesn't have to be the entire team taking the dive either, just a few key players or mystery penalties and /or suspensions.. As far as the anthem thing that was just a piece of the age old strategy of the ruling class to divide and conquer and the public eats it up every f**king time like clockwork. Anyone who doesn't see how divide and conquer works has no business even commenting on public issues. It's worked since, well....forever. It works in the league as well. Ownership let it go on to see it work to perfection. Some players 'took a knee', some locked arms blah blah blah and the whole thing worked perfectly to divide the players union. We're sold the same old song and dance of patriotism, nationalism, religious rights and freedoms and the public gets split up into several factions while the ruling classes run off with all the money. Think about it for a second. If a city won't support team ownership the team always has the option of packing up and moving to another city that will fund the whole shebang, stadiums and all.  If the voters in Hamilton county decided that they were never going to give the Bengals another plug nickel Mike Brown and company would pack up and leave town before you could say MB sucks and you all know it. They'd find another town and crop of dummies to swear allegiance to Mikey and stripes if they even kept the name. Hell, the Browns moved to Baltimore to become the Ravens.. Of course Cleveland got a new team, but they've been run like a dumpster fire ever since.

You sound like my bat shit crazy uncle in Washington with some of his Kaczynskiesque Facebook posts.

Umm...





Ray?

(10-18-2017, 02:13 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: I thought it was illegal to stream an NFL game without NFL consent so if I am correct, they can calculate streaming thus accounting for it.

I cancelled the NFL ticket. I DVR'd channel 701 (4 games at a time) and channel 702 (8 games at a time) + all local games. Since I cancelled the ticket, I only watch one early and lone late game at most. I quit watching Sunday, Monday and Thursday nights also so I watch a whole lot less due to disrespecting our flag and our country. Find another way to protest (which is your right), but my right to watch you less when I disagree with your actions.

Oh streaming on those sites definitely isn't 'legal' per se.

(10-18-2017, 10:41 AM)Nately120 Wrote: Yep, the NFL is part of that pay-TV realm that has been losing traction for years.  When your options for watching football are either pay for an entire cable package or look it up on a pirated internet site...well, it's not a hard decision for many.  I'm 35 and a lot of people I know who all have real jobs and homes and lives don't have cable.  The concept of not having cable used to be insane...it was just for people who lived in the boonies and/or were dirt poor, but it's just not something people have for the sake of having anymore.

It's pretty similar to what happened to the music industry.  People didn't abandon music, but a loss of overall revenue for the common american and the availability of things for free via the internet (plus a mix of corporate greed and consumer greed) changed the entire music-making business model.  No longer do people have to wait in line and pay $18 for a new CD, so revenue streams needed to change in order to keep money flowing.

Honestly, the only reason I keep cable is in case of emergency broadcasts.  I still watch it, but not really enough to justify the cost.  Unfortunately, I have an older house that I can't get a digital antenna signal inside of.  

The music industry really changed because illegal downloading made it easier to steal music than buy it, and alot of people find it easier to rationalize illegal downloading/streaming vs pirating cable/shoplifting.  Fortunately, digital recording is dropping the cost of making an album, so artists don't have to go into as much debt, but it's still a big issue.  Pro wrestling still has massive issues with illegal streams, and WWE's ppv prices basically dropped from $60 to $10 with their streaming service.  A lot of people simply won't pay for something they can easily get for free, especially if there's pretty much no chance of repercussions.

Personally, I haven't watched as much because with the Bengals seemingly out of the playoff hunt, there's not much incentive for me to keep up on potential playoff competitors.  Several friends have cited protests, officiating and their teams sucking as reason for tuning out.  

(10-18-2017, 02:04 PM)RoyleRedlegs Wrote: Because they keep making more money. 
He's actually doing a good job as commissioner. 
He's not beholden to fans or players, but to the owners and the shield. 

And the Shield is as profitable as ever. 


When your commissioner is too player-friendly, you get MLB and it's boring. It's run by players and it almost is exclusively about big market teams and it starts to isolate fans of the mid-small teams who only watch when their team is winning. 

This is a common response to those bashing Goodell, and I'd respond by saying the owners are fools for taking their customers for granted. 

Eventually the chickens will come to roost and the owners will come to regret forgetting about the thing that makes it all go. The fans.

We're already starting to see some issues with ratings down across the board. Keep biting the hand that feeds and eventually people will turn the channel and spend their dollars elsewhere.

(10-18-2017, 02:39 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: This is a common response to those bashing Goodell, and I'd respond by saying the owners are fools for taking their customers for granted. 

Eventually the chickens will come to roost and the owners will come to regret forgetting about the thing that makes it all go. The fans.

We're already starting to see some issues with ratings down across the board. Keep biting the hand that feeds and eventually people will turn the channel and spend their dollars elsewhere.

There's nothing he could do to make fans like him. People are siding with millionaires over billionaires as if it's some sort of big badge of honor like they're fighting for the little guy. 
He's a boss. People would naturally hate him. We have too much access to like him.

What is he, specifically, doing to make fans mad other than his job? 

(10-18-2017, 02:19 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: You sound like my bat shit crazy uncle in Washington with some of his Kaczynskiesque Facebook posts.

Umm...





Ray?

That's Uncle Ray to you.

People are watching less and less tv so it only makes sense for NFL ratings to take a dip. I would assume it's like that with all sports.

(10-18-2017, 01:50 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: Everyone hates the guy. NFL's response? Gives the guy an extension.

IF everyone hates you   you gotta be doing something right

(10-18-2017, 02:39 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: This is a common response to those bashing Goodell, and I'd respond by saying the owners are fools for taking their customers for granted. 

Eventually the chickens will come to roost and the owners will come to regret forgetting about the thing that makes it all go. The fans.

We're already starting to see some issues with ratings down across the board. Keep biting the hand that feeds and eventually people will turn the channel and spend their dollars elsewhere.

I believe sponsors are starting to turn on the NFL.

I watch less than I used to. Probably flip it away more. Still enjoy the game but a lot has changed over the past 30 years or so. And I really don’t like politics in it.

I still watch Bengals games, although I've turned some off before the end when we're getting blown out or look like a clown show. The complacency in the Bengals makes it tough to get hyped up. I don't watch much non-Bengals NFL football since my wife is a Seahawks fan. We watch each other's games and then call it a day.

Constant rule changes, inconsistent refereeing, so many commercial breaks, overall declining talent are my main reasons. As for protests, it doesn't affect me at all. I'm not offended in the slightest with the kneeling for racial equality.

Also, college football is just much more enjoyable to me. Probably because of the atmosphere around it.

(10-18-2017, 02:48 PM)RoyleRedlegs Wrote: 1. There's nothing he could do to make fans like him. People are siding with millionaires over billionaires as if it's some sort of big badge of honor like they're fighting for the little guy. 
He's a boss. People would naturally hate him. We have too much access to like him.

2. What is he, specifically, doing to make fans mad other than his job? 

1. People did not hate Paul Tagliabue like they do Goodell. If you want to blame social media or the internet, then I would respond by saying that people don't hate Rob Manfred or Adam Silver. It's a Goodell thing, and a Goodell thing only. People have legitimate gripes with the man.

2. Specifically, rule changes being far more frequent and drastic under his watch, the witch hunts for New Orleans, Brady, Burfict, etc, how he handled the Ray Rice situation, how he handled Josh Brown, his inconsistencies in player discipline...which seem completely arbitrary, and clown show stuff like this:





Are just some of the long list of reasons people hate Goodell. Sure, he's just "doing his job", but for some reason he runs things in a much more controversial manner than his predecessor.

People are watching the games on ilegal streams instead of regular TV. It is the NFLs fault for just giving direct TV the package and making it harder for people to get the games.

(10-18-2017, 01:33 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: Honestly a lot of the players are unlikeable and as a league...it's lucky to go a week without a guy getting arrested too.

I see some parallels with where the NFL may be heading and the Premier League soccer here in England....this point should not be underestimated.

-I loathe the fake passion and loyalty players have for their club (before they then sign with the next highest bidding team)
-the role of greedy agents trying to create dischord between the player and clubs to justify going getting a deal elsewhere
-  players being well paid for basically one season then showing no desire to improve / maintain that effort as they're already paid
- so little sportsmanship and loads of trying to fake a foul/penalty

.....you used to be able to associate somewhat with players but they're on another planet now and there is not a whole lot of integrity and admirable characters out there.  There are course good guys who do work in the community but there also seem to be a lot of man-childs who you don't exactly root for

Remember that the 7.5% number is versus 2016 which itself went way down and yes the downturn correlated with the kneeling. And especially with the kneeling being allowed right after the Cowboys were not allowed to commemorate the police officers murdered in Dallas. Add in Kapernick wearing "police pig" socks and Che shirts and the NFL succeeded on offending over half its fan base.

Racial equality and indeed equality of everyone before the law are good and righteous things. However the kneeling has been perceived (and the players involved have done almost nothing to correct this) as dissing America and dissing veterans. And when the bulk of your fans are both patriotic and vocal supporters of the military the drop in both attendance and viewership is unsurprising.

And yes this in part goes back to Goodell and his arbitrary and hypocritical way of running things.