The “best” thing Tepper has done is unite what’s left of the fanbase.

[hepcat]

We all know who ruined our favorite team. It’s no secret. Ramming on the Pittsburgh billionaire who in no way shape or form should own this southern nfl team is the only joy we get out of the team anymore.

But I’ll give him this. I’ve never seen any one thing the fanbase has been more united behind. We all hate Tepper for what he has done to the team. 

[kungfoodude]

Shades of the Redskins fans. Snyder was universally loathed.

Unfortunately for them he also progressively reduced their broad fanbase to a much smaller group of diehards and local legacies.

Our fanbase has never been large but this owner will make it ever smaller. 

I fear that he will basically turn us into the Hornets. Essentially after all the ill will of Shinn, Bob Johnson/Michael Jordan torpedoed the fanbase from which it would probably take more than a decade to ever recover from the initial Hornets fanfare. That's assuming it ever does recover at all.

TBQH, I believe I have likely lived through the peak of the Panthers fanbase. I don't think it will recover because I think the NFL has a limited time as the premier sport in the US. 

 

[ickmule]

18 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

TBQH, I believe I have likely lived through the peak of the Panthers fanbase. I don't think it will recover because I think the NFL has a limited time as the premier sport in the US

This. ^^^

i have noticed more and more people that just don’t care any longer.   Not just Panther fans. 

Edited December 3, 2023 by ickmule

[kungfoodude]

8 minutes ago, ickmule said:

This. ^^^

i have noticed more and more people that just don’t care any longer.   Not just Panther fans. 

It's just the evolution of entertainment options and they ways that people consume them.

The younger crowd is just fine with free YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Twitch, etc. Or subscribe to a few streaming services. 

I have informally polled just about every 20something I meet or work with. I have yet to meet one that subscribes or knows one of their friends that subscribes to NFL Ticket. The writing is on the wall. They will be too late to see it. 

ESPN has been so slow to adapt that they will be in more trouble than they already are.

All these entities have pushed their model of ever increasing TV revenues when that house of cards is as fraudulent/fragile as the housing market was in the early 2000's. 

Edited December 3, 2023 by kungfoodude

[hepcat]

28 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

TBQH, I believe I have likely lived through the peak of the Panthers fanbase. I don't think it will recover because I think the NFL has a limited time as the premier sport in the US. 

 

Agreed. I’ve recently moved back to NC and 10-20 years ago, the panthers were considered cool to rep, kids were into the team and I’d see panthers garb all over the place. I was talking to some dads in the neighborhood I just moved into the other day, they’re all saying their kids don’t care about pro football at all. These dads are like some of us and probably grew up with the “new” panthers team and how cool it was early on and in the Jake Delhomme era. Then you had can grab a new generation. 
 

but that’s just the Panthers. As a whole, pro football has probably already started its decline. 

[kungfoodude]

2 minutes ago, hepcat said:

Agreed. I’ve recently moved back to NC and 10-20 years ago, the panthers were considered cool to rep, kids were into the team and I’d see panthers garb all over the place. I was talking to some dads in the neighborhood I just moved into the other day, they’re all saying their kids don’t care about pro football at all. These dads are like some of us and probably grew up with the “new” panthers team and how cool it was early on and in the Jake Delhomme era. Then you had can grab a new generation. 
 

but that’s just the Panthers. As a whole, pro football has probably already started its decline. 

Most young people do not care about pro sports. It is very obvious. 

Also the kings of the sport(college and pro football) have moved further and further towards making their products as hard and expensive to get as possible. That model will absolutely ruin them.

If you want fan engagement, you better be at the forefront of making your content easy and cheap to access. Otherwise, it's basically curtains for your future.

[Jackie Lee]

9 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

It's just the evolution of entertainment options and they ways that people consume them.

The younger crowd is just fine with free YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Twitch, etc. Or subscribe to a few streaming services. 

I have informally polled just about every 20something I meet or work with. I have yet to meet one that subscribes or knows one of their friends that subscribes to NFL Ticket. The writing is on the wall. They will be too late to see it. 

ESPN has been so slow to adapt that they will be in more trouble than they already are.

All these entities have pushed their model of ever increasing TV revenues when that house of cards is as fraudulent/fragile as the housing market was in the early 2000's. 

Yeah any segment or hot take clip worth watching on ESPN is trimmed and uploaded to Twitter and Youtube almost immediately for free for anyone that cares. I don't see how they sustain that business model. I'm fine with watching regular news or weather on Pluto tv if I feel like having some background noise on. People don't really watch tv like that anymore unless an actual game is on, unless they are 80 years old in which case they just watch soap operas and gameshows on basic cable

[Johnstonny]

39 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

TBQH, I believe I have likely lived through the peak of the Panthers fanbase. I don't think it will recover because I think the NFL has a limited time as the premier sport in the US. 

 

Sadly and unfortunately I think you are right.

[kungfoodude]

1 minute ago, Jackie Lee said:

Yeah any segment or hot take clip worth watching on ESPN is trimmed and uploaded to Twitter and Youtube almost immediately for free for anyone that cares. I don't see how they sustain that business model. I'm fine with watching regular news or weather on Pluto tv if I feel like having some background noise on. People don't really watch tv like that anymore unless an actual game is on, unless they are 80 years old in which case they just watch soap operas and gameshows on basic cable

The biggest ad revenues are from social media titans and content platforms. They aren't from TV. The paradigm has shifted and most of the sports world is behind the times. I see some movement by the NBA trying to make their content much more easy to access. They also benefit from having global appeal.

[stratocatter]

NFL has lost many people the last few years with Goodell being the face of that. 

When the ego of a bilkionaire (typo but I’m leaving it) runs wild and ruins everything you enjoyed about you own favorite team, and you get zero pleasure out of following them, welcome to today.

Yeah they have peaked for me for sure. 

[Gapanthersfan]

I live in GA and football is alive and well. It’s mainly high school and college. My local high schools send a bunch of talent to the NFL. Nick Chubb and Trevor Lawrence grew up 20 minutes away. Nick still comes to the high school to work out in the off-season. Nobody here follows NFl. 

 I’m a little over an hour from Atlanta, but there are probably 20 UGA fans to every 1 Falcons fan. College football if it hasn’t already, will surpass NFL. Kids in college football don’t take plays off.

The product as a whole when it comes to the NFL has decreased drastically. Fans don’t want to see opponents hugging it out at the end of the game. It’s a violent game, but the ability to play with violence is no longer allowed.  

[LegioX]

You know it’s bad when talking heads suggest us fans to find another team to cheer for because it’s that bad

[WarPanthers89]

We have sucked for 6 straight years, it’s definitely going to have an effect here in NC with fan interaction….but let’s not act like the NFL is doing bad and that people aren’t into the NFL anymore. They are killing tv ratings each week, even with some horribly matched games this year. 

[Mayor Qumiby]

Tepper trying to quietly eliminate or at least reduce the presence of the "Keep Pounding" mantra is what made me lose my respect for him. Although it was a short lived, failed attempt it still was a low move.  I seriously think he wanted to replace it with the dumbass chest beat and grunt from Wolf of Wall Street