Anyone else's interest for NFL football dwindling?

[SOJA]

i feel like the nfl is trying to make their product a reality show where they choose the stars

[Jangler]

3 minutes ago, Steve_Smith_Sr. said:

  I hate the way the NFL has become so PC and political - but it's still the best thing on TV to watch.

Ratings are down this season, and a lot of people thinks it's because of players kneeling for the anthem.

I think it more than than that. As Nasty said, it's over saturation. And tbh fantasy football has not helped.

[Mvp2014]

I don't watch any other games including the playoffs.  Really I havent watched any games since the refs hosed us in the 49er playoff so they could get their big money west coast NFC championship .  I'll turn on a primetime game for a second to watch a play or 2 but seriously.. fug the nfl.  I also used to watch NFLN programming.  Used to.  

There is no accountability and the whole NFL is run like a rich boy fraternity.  Zero transparency on referee punishments/reviews.  Until they clean up this trash and get quality referee talent that is accountable IDGAF about Nfl games.  If you totally fug a game up you should be judged and sat on the sideline for 4 weeks and the fans should know about it.    This also goes for the crews in New York that can review and stop games.  The whole thing is fake as fug

[MechaZain]

Yep. Player safety, arbitrary punishments, and the No Fun League crap has deteriorated my interest over time too. Most recently watching Cam getting blown up made rethinking things. I love football for the athleticism and strategy, I don't enjoy watching guys knock skulls and years off each other's life. I blame the league for creating this environment where players want to fight and injure each other instead of just playing ball.

I watch the Panthers and redzone everything else. Even then I had to turn off MIN game early and I never do that.

[RoaringRiot]

These refs are blowing it. It really takes the fun out of it to see them miss so many damn calls and with the inconsistency they're calling penalties. Its really time to reevaluate the way games are called. There's so much technology now they need to start using it and stop relying on these 60+ year old, parttime refs.

[csx]

Cuban talked about this a few years ago and got bashed for it. Hes a smart guy obviously.

[AceBoogie]

I watch for DraftKings purposes that about it

[davos]

They have fallen far from the days of Smitty and Ochocinco 

Norman got flagged for "shooting a bow and arrow" Like wtf?  

 

[Ricky Spanish]

10 minutes ago, Jangler said:

Ratings are down this season, and a lot of people thinks it's because of players kneeling for the anthem.

I think it more than than that. As Nasty said, it's over saturation. And tbh fantasy football has not helped.

I think it has a lot to do with the amount of people who have cut the cord in the past few years. I'm one of them. Last year I would tune in for the Panthers or if I had a fantasy matchup I needed to pull out a win. This year I just don't care. It's a hassle and not worth it. I find myself not missing the football like I thought I would in years past. I'm saving so much money it's worth it. 

I'm not the only one. You search the internet and you'll find a bunch of people who find dealing with Cable to be far worse than missing a football game. And the NFL has their mouth wrapped so tightly around the cable cock that they won't let go to breathe. I think it will be the league's downfall. ESPN is losing viewership year over year, and with that, so is the NFL. 

[TheRed]

Pretty much yeah.

I haven't watched one game other than the Panthers. Don't really plan to at this point honestly.

[Towelboy]

The OP captured my thoughts perfectly. I’m not interested in watching poor officiating and hypocrisy – not only with players, but with penalties. I don’t know what the rules are anymore. The refs are getting in their own way. I used to know what a penalty was. But if it’s called incorrectly now, the burden of proof is now relegated to what was captured on film. What? The refs seem to be making it up as they go along. Celebrating is now a fine? Turner hopping up and down warrants a 15 yard penalty? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? It just seems some teams get the calls and others don’t. If you want to set a precedent, then call it fair. It just seems that the “Mom from Tennessee” has gotten under Roger’s skin and now anything that could be construed as offensive, is out. The league encourages the free speech of a backup QB yet penalizes a player that spins the ball. How does that make sense? My interest started to wane last year when OBJ was allowed to stay in the game after trying to seriously injure our players. Then the targeting on Cam against Denver just exacerbated the fact that the refs haven’t a clue what is going on. The No Fun League has officially lost my interest. I will watch my Panthers every week, but I have minimal interest in the rest of the league. I don’t watch pre-game or post-game “commentary.” NFL is king for now, but if they continue chasing the dollar, they will start driving fans away like NASCAR did.

[Ricky Spanish]

14 minutes ago, MechaZain said:

Yep. Player safety, arbitrary punishments, and the No Fun League crap has deteriorated my interest over time too. Most recently watching Cam getting blown up made rethinking things. I love football for the athleticism and strategy, I don't enjoy watching guys knock skulls and years off each other's life. I blame the league for creating this environment where players want to fight and injure each other instead of just playing ball.

I watch the Panthers and redzone everything else. Even then I had to turn off MIN game early and I never do that.

For real though, that's something that has changed with me recently too. I remember watching all those "Jacked up" segments on the MNF countdown and how awesome I used to think it was. Watch one now on youtube. Half those hits you KNOW caused concussions and brain damage. Instead of getting hyped up, I just cringe seeing these guys do that to themselves. I'll always cheer for a great clean hard tackle (see Luke in the super bowl on Thomas), but the head hunting and big hits I see these days have me wincing. I don't really look at the football players as numbers anymore, I see them more as human beings which sounds really lame I know, I swear I'm not a hippy, but I am just concerned for them now. 

Watching Cam get blasted and having the refs do nothing hurt to watch. It was like "guys, do something, they're literally killing him out there." It was the same feeling I got with the Saints - Vikings game a few years back, accept with Cam it was more personal because he is our QB.  

[CarolinaJami']

I hate to be that guy but dang it sure feels like. "Panthers had way to much fun last year playing football" Must throw flag and stop that madness. I felt it was pretty ridiculous that so many people were upset about the way the team "behaved" last year. Football is a game. You should have fun.

[OneBadCat]

2 minutes ago, CarolinaJami' said:

I hate to be that guy but dang it sure feels like. "Panthers had way to much fun last year playing football" Must throw flag and stop that madness. I felt it was pretty ridiculous that so many people were upset about the way the team "behaved" last year. Football is a game. You should have fun.

Agree 

I wish our guys would find that pride again and not give a fug. We're losing? Getting a penalty? So what. We play the way we play. I think Rivera has the biggest role in us turning it around and part of that is getting our attitude back. Riverboat come on down.