Update: I’ve done an analysis of a playoff game, it’s certainly worse than expected. Take a look at the findings…
I recognize that football, particularly the National Football League (NFL,) is a for profit organization. But, there comes a time when the commercialization surpasses the product. Congratulations NFL, you’ve made it to that promised land. I’ve never been a big pro football fan, but would tend to watch it when the college game is in hiatus. I simply cannot do it anymore. It used to be a game with periodic breaks for advertisements. It’s now a very long series of advertisements with some breaks for football.
Combine that with a bunch of multi-millionaire snot nosed brats vying for attention, announcers attempting to be entertaining (they’re not,) sloppy play, low effort, and pedestrian officiating and you get an unwatchable product. Even with digital video technology to advance through the ads and a mute button, it’s still bad. Maybe I’d feel differently if I really cared about a team in particular, but I don’t think so. The frightening part of this is that the college game isn’t far behind in reaching this threshold…
The blog cawsnjaws has done a great job breaking down the commercial to content mix for NASCAR races. I’m inspired and will attempt this sort of analysis on an NFL game and college bowl game over the holidays.
After that little experiment, goodbye NFL. Perhaps I’ll check out a game again in a few years. I have to believe I’m not the only one who feels this way and that can’t be good for business.
20 days until OSU plays for the national championship
Ohio State’s 2006 record: 12-0 Next up: Florida 1/8/2007
Tune: Stuck in a Moment by U2
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Unwatchable
12.19.06 | 7 Comments
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Finally, someone has written about this.
I stopped watching the game and have two teams I really like (Bears/Cowboys) but can’t make it through the telecasts.
Watch a soccer game sometime and you can’t believe a sport is actually played without commercials.
NFL has gone too far.
Play challenges must have added another 15 minutes a game as well.
Yeah, Alex, it’s pretty bad. But it’s going to take people tuning out to change the trend. Reviews are a joke at this point. The average fan can watch the replay 2 or 3 times and make the right call. A clue would be, if you have to watch more than 3 times, there isn’t indisputable evidence and the call stands. Just a little common sense would go a long way…
I’m with you on this one. The ads are not as objectionable to me (I just ignore them) as is the mediocrity of all the teams, the horrible officiating, and the lousy announcers. I haven’t been able to watch one MNF game all season. And this from a middle-aged guy who grew up (and still remains) a NY Giants fan.
A buddy of mine owns a very well known sports bar here in NYC and his business on NFL Sundays is way down. Three years ago, you couldn’t get a seat at the bar unless you were there at noon sharp when they opened up. Now, you can walk in anytime during the game and the bar is half empty.
I think it will take a few years — until the next TV contract is being negotiated and the networks won’t pony up because they’re not getting the ratings — but maybe the sports can be saved.
Let’s hope you’re right about that Buck. I love football – but I hate what it’s becoming.
[…] Is holding still a penalty? As I watched two defensive linemen being blatantly held while the Wisconsin quarterback completed a big play, I have to wonder, what are refs enforcing in terms of holding? Admittedly, if they hadn’t held, Wisconsin wouldn’t have scored and the game wouldn’t have been interesting. Also worth noting is that even with blatant holding, their quarterback was sacked 10 times during the game. Perhaps the refs decided to save the quarterback’s life by ignoring the infraction? I watched a few minutes of the Patriots vs. the Colts yesterday, different league, same problem with holding, though to a lesser extent. And what’s with the penalties on pass interference? A ticky-tack call yields over 50 yards on a single play? That ought to be reexamined by the league… Oh, and the NFL is still unwatchable. […]
[…] posted an entry in the past couple of weeks stating that NFL Football games were now unwatchable product due to the over commercialization witne… and that over the course of the holidays I would view a pro game and college game with an eye […]
[…] and enjoyed so I thought I’d follow it up with an NFL version. This was all kicked off by my assertion that the NFL has become unwatchable product. Disclaimer, due to a service interruption in my video, I missed the final one minute 31 seconds […]