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| Bisciotti had some choice words for that entire sequence: “It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that nobody wants to see two minutes of commercials, come back, kick the ball and then go to a minute-and-a-half of commercials,” Bisciotti said Tuesday. “I’ve thought that was absurd since I was 20 years old.” |
It's also important to remember that while most people are familiar with the big name Champions League clubs, they are the vast minority. While the health of the small clubs is improving as the TV money is lifting all boats, the difference between the haves and have nots is enormous.
I guess they have fewer players on teams vs NFL too.
But I'm also very interested in understanding how that business model works.. without commercials.. if anyone knows (since we all already knew the games are played continuously without stoppage, and just because its always been that way doesn't explain how certain players over there make so much money now)
Secondly, you have no cheerleaders, no jumbo trons, no idiotic between quarter hokey entertainment, no one screaming over a PA system, no tailgating and generally no fighting (in England anyway, eastern Europe/South America is another mess altogether) in the stands. You don't have 50 different camera angles, non stop replays, replay officials, sideline reporters, 400 extraneous people wandering the sideline doing God knows what, bloated coaching staffs, tons of media/PR on the sideline and the list goes on. You have a safer game with far less equipment, far less domestic travel costs, fewer massive injuries and two 45 minute halves with a 10 minute halftime. Essentially your costs are less so you're really paying the players and funding a stadium and coaching staff. Teams sell players for whopping sums too so the richer teams can buy what they want and the Premier LEague teams all split the TV/Broadcast money.
It's more soccer for longer and the games cost far less to run and show for the clubs. I'd say soccer is Hanukkah and Football is Christmas, instead of one giant day of junk you get 8 days of some stuff.
yikes
considering these players get fined for the wrong shoelaces I doubt they would be walking billboards.
Another weird footnote - the big player of the game for the German announcers was Domenik Hixon, having been born in Germany to a German mother. LOL.
Go look at EPL spending. ManC, ManU, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Tottenham all spend over the NFL salary cap, £121-225 million pounds on payroll. Teams 7-15 spend £55-83 million pounds. Teams 16-20 spend £25-41 million pounds.
So economically it's a lot closer to MLB, except on steroids because teams are at risk of relegation (being kicked to a lower league). Which is awesome, but potentially self-reinforcing because it makes investing in players and (in particular) facilities/stadiums much riskier for lower end clubs.
Another weird footnote - the big player of the game for the German announcers was Domenik Hixon, having been born in Germany to a German mother. LOL.
That is interesting, I remember reading another player, maybe Strahan, lived in Germany for a while with his father while was stationed in Germany with the military.
They have tried this during soccer, and in the NFL (early '90's maybe?)...they frame the entire picture, with live action going on, in an ad from Budweiser, for example.
The announcer will even say ".....this kickoff brought to you by Budweiser..." then after the kickoff resume normal viewing.
I'd much rather have this than the commercial break right after a kickoff (which was preceded by a commercial break).
The NFL doesn't collect TV ad revenue.
That is interesting, I remember reading another player, maybe Strahan, lived in Germany for a while with his father while was stationed in Germany with the military.
I know Andrew Luck spent some time in Germany and England, which they mentioned/marketed during the Colts-Jaguars game at Wembley this year. Is this who you are thinking of? His Dad apparently ran the World League and GM'd the Frankfurt team though, not military.
When even diehards have a difficult time sitting through a game, you've got a real problem.
Biscotti summed it up nicely but I'd add cramming a commercial in when a 30-second time-out is granted, and then quickly hurrying back to catch the snap, is equally ridiculous. Those time-outs usually happen in important sequences late in games and you lose that drama by cutting away.
Reminds me of the UFC on FOX, they skip the walk-outs and the between rounds chatter in the corners. You lose the magic the sport provides.
I understand what you're saying, but to say "every time they cut to a commercial is an opportunity to lose viewers" sort of misses the point. The viewers only matter as an opportunity to show them commercials.
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That is interesting, I remember reading another player, maybe Strahan, lived in Germany for a while with his father while was stationed in Germany with the military.
I know Andrew Luck spent some time in Germany and England, which they mentioned/marketed during the Colts-Jaguars game at Wembley this year. Is this who you are thinking of? His Dad apparently ran the World League and GM'd the Frankfurt team though, not military.
No, it was Strahan.
They have tried this during soccer, and in the NFL (early '90's maybe?)...they frame the entire picture, with live action going on, in an ad from Budweiser, for example.
The announcer will even say ".....this kickoff brought to you by Budweiser..." then after the kickoff resume normal viewing.
I'd much rather have this than the commercial break right after a kickoff (which was preceded by a commercial break).
I thought MLS does a version of that now. During the game they show the sponsor on screen.
Every time I watch a NFL game and there's a long drive, I know I'm in store for a bunch of commercials in short succession. I agree having sponsors on uniforms would be awful, but I don't see why the game couldn't include a logo of some company on the screen or a scroll at the bottom in exchange for fewer commercial breaks. People are so used to seeing the bottom scroll with the scores that a 10 second break here and there with sponsor info wouldn't really be that big of a deal.
1. The studios are populated with fewer people and usually have a random ex-NFL player (last I saw was Donald Driver). There is zero ESPN/FOX/CBS-type bullshit banter, with the focus being almost solely on what is happening on the field. The discussion is far more understated and subtle, basically reflecting what we Americans tend to like so much about English soccer announcers.
2. Commercial breaks are often entirely taken up by in-game studio analysis or random highlight packages. During a commercial this year I saw a clip from America's Game that had an anecdote about Larry Csonka being the only running back to ever be called for unnecessary roughness on a play in which he was tackled.
Generally, my impression is that people watching on Sky Sports have a far more relaxed, ad-free, and intelligent viewing experience than we do here in the US. You get the game...not a sales pitch.
Two things have changed:
1) The games are lasting longer. Two reasons: increased massing results in more clock stoppages. And replay reviews are slowing the game down.
2) DVRs and commercial free streaming has made viewers more sensitive to commercial breaks.
1. The studios are populated with fewer people and usually have a random ex-NFL player (last I saw was Donald Driver). There is zero ESPN/FOX/CBS-type bullshit banter, with the focus being almost solely on what is happening on the field. The discussion is far more understated and subtle, basically reflecting what we Americans tend to like so much about English soccer announcers.
2. Commercial breaks are often entirely taken up by in-game studio analysis or random highlight packages. During a commercial this year I saw a clip from America's Game that had an anecdote about Larry Csonka being the only running back to ever be called for unnecessary roughness on a play in which he was tackled.
Generally, my impression is that people watching on Sky Sports have a far more relaxed, ad-free, and intelligent viewing experience than we do here in the US. You get the game...not a sales pitch.
That sounds heavenly. Will have to give that a try in the future.
2) There are a number of ways that the NFL could cut back on the number and duration of commercial breaks. The problem is most entail charging more for fewer commercials, or something like that. It would only be a matter of time before the # of commercials crept back up again. Because:
3) I don't think there's a way to save the NFL from itself. There's no broadcasting entity ready to say "Hey, your games are too long, have too many interruptions, and they're getting boring. Make changes or we'll dump you." Because NFL games are a ratings hit on every network where they appear. The broadcasters want the league, and the league wants the broadcasters. Any broadcaster that says tries to impose sanity, as CBS did when Fox snatched away the NFC, pays a big price -- and any network that gets the NFL is suddenly a must-carry network for cable carriers and local affiliates.
NFL-watchers have said that basically the only thing that could stop the NFL is its own greed. Some of the off-the-field stuff has been damaging, but that's still basically true, and the league knows it. They're always trying to figure out how much money they can wring out of us before we lose interest and tune out.
A modest proposal: You can get ads in by interrupting the game, or by running them during game action. They do a lot of the former and little of the latter. Cut some commercial breaks and in stead shrink the size of the game image to something like 50% of the screen, and put an ad on the rest of the screen. Do it after incomplete passes, substitutions, huddles, etc., so the game is still on your TV, but ads take over some of your screen real-estate until the players break the huddle.
1. The studios are populated with fewer people and usually have a random ex-NFL player (last I saw was Donald Driver). There is zero ESPN/FOX/CBS-type bullshit banter, with the focus being almost solely on what is happening on the field. The discussion is far more understated and subtle, basically reflecting what we Americans tend to like so much about English soccer announcers.
2. Commercial breaks are often entirely taken up by in-game studio analysis or random highlight packages. During a commercial this year I saw a clip from America's Game that had an anecdote about Larry Csonka being the only running back to ever be called for unnecessary roughness on a play in which he was tackled.
Generally, my impression is that people watching on Sky Sports have a far more relaxed, ad-free, and intelligent viewing experience than we do here in the US. You get the game...not a sales pitch.
+1 - working in Amsterdam for a year, outside the time offset which was a PITA, the viewing experience was so, so, so much better.
Even so, I couldn't get my British co-workers to join me watching games because as they said "too many f**king adverts".
Now, almost all booth-reviews go straight to commercial.
absolutely agree about the 2 minute warning, what the hell are they warning us about. College football doesn't have a 2 minute warning, this 2 minute warning crap never made any sense to me and now that games are over 3 hours long for fans to see a 60 minute football game it makes even less sense, these games are now all about greed and less about football.
I wish the NFL would develop a product that allows me to purchase a live video feed of the game without any ads or commentary. I would be like being at the game without the travel or the drunken morons in the seats. Pure football viewing enjoyment. What would I pay for that? A lot. Not PSL/season ticket money, but I'd still pay a lot for this sort of season pass to the Giants. In the olde times of early pro football the teams needed the networks to get the games out with broadcast and produced product for the masses. There's still a need and money to be made in that segment but the more sophisticated NFL would love a high def live action video feed on game day.
Interesting idea. You'd think there would be a market for something like this by now. I'd be interested for sure. Some kind of delux viewing ppv option that fans could purchase every Sunday.
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Eliminating the ads between kickoffs and less frequently running ads between change of possession is an obvious fix. The ads are annoying but like many others have mentioned, except for with the Giants, on NFL Sunday I'm either time shifting with TiVo or watching Redzone.
I wish the NFL would develop a product that allows me to purchase a live video feed of the game without any ads or commentary. I would be like being at the game without the travel or the drunken morons in the seats. Pure football viewing enjoyment. What would I pay for that? A lot. Not PSL/season ticket money, but I'd still pay a lot for this sort of season pass to the Giants. In the olde times of early pro football the teams needed the networks to get the games out with broadcast and produced product for the masses. There's still a need and money to be made in that segment but the more sophisticated NFL would love a high def live action video feed on game day.
Interesting idea. You'd think there would be a market for something like this by now. I'd be interested for sure. Some kind of delux viewing ppv option that fans could purchase every Sunday.
I watched an NFL game in my cabin on a cruise ship and there were no commercials just breaks where players stood around on the field until the break was over but there were no commercial ads, so I think it would be a hard thing to do to not have anything. I think the answer is simply to cut down on the amount but the owners and players both share and thats what will make that almost impossible...like taking candy away from a baby.