This morning I spent some time thinking about the National Football League (NFL). Viewership for the NFL in 2016 is down. This is a slide that will either have to be corrected or things are going to get far worse. We have the NFL RedZone channel. It is a channel we watch in our household throughout most Sundays. The commercial free aspects of the channel are fantastic. Every week I set my fantasy football library lineup. Even with access to every scoring play my enthusiasm for the NFL has been diminished. The games are not fluid to watch anymore. Something has changed. I’m not sure what exactly was the tipping point, but we are clearing on the other side of it.
Back in 2014 Mark Cuban correctly noted problems with NFL oversaturation. I would support a move back to Sunday only games. The Sunday schedule should be broken into four time slots with a late game being featured on the west coast. The games should reasonably follow the sun. Something needs to be done, but change may not come very quickly. The coverage and discussions related to the NFL have been dominated by off the field problems vs. on field content. Social media and the 24 hour news cycle have fueled a year long discussion. The discussion will always last longer than the season.
Over the years, I have collected football trading cards and paid close attention to statistics. That is a part of the game I have cared about for years. Recently, even picking up sports trading cards does not seem to hold my attention. Maybe I am alone in having diminished enthusiasm for the NFL. It is also possible that the NFL has a problem.
