This was noted in the MNF thread, but in case anyone didn't watch the game and hear this live, it was really something, in my opinion.
In the 3rd quarter, with Jerome Boger's inept officiating crew throwing flags left and right -- several of them unjustified -- the game became almost unbearable to watch.
And then, Sean McDonough, the
Monday Night Football play-by-play announcer, says this:
“If we’re looking for reasons why TV ratings for the NFL are down all over the place, this doesn’t help. The way this game has been officiated is not something anybody wants to watch.”
The NFL could not have been happy with this. Massive kudos to McDonough for not holding back. And even Gruden, who is not well-loved here for understandable reasons, got in on the criticism.
Enough with Tripplette and Boger. This league must fire both of them for good.
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Again, it's not the refs fault. It's the ridiculously large and overly complex rule book. The NFL must have used the US Tax code as its model for the rule book.
I think that's what people mean by that angle.
Weren't the debates during a SNF and MNF game respectively?
19 penalties, awful QB play, and Gruden = no chance I watch unless its the Giants.
The only remote way the election has an affect is when the debates are at the same time. Other than that there is no corrrelation.
It's just what you do now if you're a receiver and you can't haul in the pass.
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People are so depressed about it that they're deciding to forgo NFL games? That makes no sense.
Weren't the debates during a SNF and MNF game respectively?
It's not as if the ratings were any good on all the nights when there hasn't been a debate, either.
It's a league that doesn't take care of it's own, uses their athletes when necessary, and will vilify them if they even think the public is judging. And all of this doesn't even touch the terrible officiating, or the AWFUL rule changes that have damaged the game we all love in lieu of more points and more passing (amazing the concept of watering down your product never crossed their minds).
I hope it continues.
I agree, the election is so toxic that iot actually is turning people off. Look at the last Debates ratings, one of the worst in history
Not that there are penalties & flags, but inconsistencies in how games are officiated and having too much impact on the games. It's utterly ridiculous that I know any officials name and have to hear days in advance which crew is calling the next Giants game. I like the sport and I like watching the best players in the world compete at it and that's about it. The NFL as a product is pretty shit and has been for a while.
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I seriously doubt that its drawing fans away from live football. I think less people are watching. Young people do stuff. Whether its my sons or the young professionals that I work with: Football competes with activities. Its still big, but younger fans do not even have television packages. They stream if they are near their monitors. I think the product needs help and they are too many commercial breaks.
I agree, the election is so toxic that iot actually is turning people off. Look at the last Debates ratings, one of the worst in history
Didn't the first debate set a record?
Bad ratings due to officiating issues...i can see that as well to some degree.
I also think in today's world, people have less patience for 3 hours in a row of sports television without interruption.
Add in election year and probably have rough numbers...
And I'm one that used to watch every game available.
I the ads less tolerable, and the growing shame over watching young men sacrifice their physical and mental well being for my entertainment makes watching the game a lot less satisfying.
Also, the degree to which arbitrary factors like injuries and officiating "judgment" drive results is just frustrating. The game, and the discussions of it, feels more like this every day.
Too long
too many penalties
too many commercials
I agree, the election is so toxic that iot actually is turning people off. Look at the last Debates ratings, one of the worst in history
Didn't the first debate set a record?
It was the highest rated of all-time.
The inconsistent interpretation of rules one and off the field
The ramifications of the collective bargaining agreement (less practice time)
The mandate to overturn fewer calls during review
Penalizing celebrations but not teams that put players at risk by letting them play with head injuries
Global expansion and Thursday Night Football
The decision to forbid teams and news orgs from using GIFs
Even the website is a joke and is no-go zone unless you want to watch commercials while you're looking for a freaking score
The NFL is an organization more interested in selling its product than improving it. They better start focusing on the fans they have today before they decide to pull the plug.
Soccer has continuous action. No timeouts, no commericals. It has appeal to people.
Too long
too many penalties
too many commercials
Baseball is still worse. 4.5 hours game 5, Nats vs Dodgers. End debate. Won't comment on soccer, dont watch it enough.
They do need to make an example of some of these referees, no question about that. Even college suspends refs after bad calls & games... NFL should follow suit.
I dont think ratings are down because of the elections.. that was 1-2 games. I'm not sure how ratings are calculated, but i know personally i watch less live games and more red zone and other related... ratings were only up in the first place because of fantasy football. I dont think the concussion research has helped either.
And there are other things...penalty for not having enough players on the line...or too many...OL moves a finger and gets a penalty for false start...
It appears that there is a penalty call on every other play. There is no flow to the game. You know why a QB throws for 300 yards and they only scored 10 points? Because half of those yards were to make up for silly little penalties. And, I'm only exaggerating a little bit.
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quality of product is the worst of all the 4 major sports, and worse than Soccer as well.
Too long
too many penalties
too many commercials
Baseball is still worse. 4.5 hours game 5, Nats vs Dodgers. End debate. Won't comment on soccer, dont watch it enough.
They do need to make an example of some of these referees, no question about that. Even college suspends refs after bad calls & games... NFL should follow suit.
I dont think ratings are down because of the elections.. that was 1-2 games. I'm not sure how ratings are calculated, but i know personally i watch less live games and more red zone and other related... ratings were only up in the first place because of fantasy football. I dont think the concussion research has helped either.
playoff baseball should not be considered due to the fact that it is purposely stretched out.
The game has been "dumbed down" to appeal to the masses. Reasons I watch less and I'm less passionate:
1) Rule changes to take defense out of the game (I'm all for player safety changes though)
2) Consistently bad officiating
3) Fantasy football only fans who know little about the game
1) rules changes while at the same time inconsistency as to how they are applied
2) reviews taking forever and often getting the call wrong
3) the rise of hd streaming
4) the rise of gamepass, commercial free condensed game play
5) increased fines and penalties for celebration - it's supposed to be entertainment, not church. speaking of which, god bless Antonio Brown for pointing at the hypocrisy
6) people have lives, and since the sport is now seemingly played and replayed everywhere to your personal tasted - we're going to miss games here and there.
I'd rather watch anything than listen to him.
I really miss John Madden in his prime. He talked football.