NFL Draft NFL Excuses Run Out After Ratings Declines Continue - Page 14

Eleazar · 11-03-2017, 05:07 AM

NFL's Litany of Excuses Runs Out After Ratings Fall for Second Year

By Lucas Shaw
Bloomberg.com
November 2, 2017, 11:30 AM CDT

TV networks are running out of excuses for the dwindling popularity of the National Football League.

They blamed the election for ratings declines last year, and hurricanes for a soft week one in September. Protests during the national anthem, and President Donald Trump’s criticism of the league, have faded from the headlines.

Advertisers are starting to believe a different explanation: the viewers aren’t coming back. Audiences are down an average 7 percent from a year ago through the first eight weeks of the season, excluding last Monday. That’s on top of a decrease of about 8 percent last season that spurred numerous changes in the broadcasts, from shorter commercials to better matchups earlier in the year.

“There’s just not as many people watching TV the way they used to watch TV,” said Jeremy Carey, managing director of Optimum Sports, a sports marketing agency. “It’s going to be an issue for advertisers when they can’t reach a large-scale audience the way they have.”

With CBS Corp., 21st Century Fox Inc. and Walt Disney Co. set to report earnings in the next few days, analysts are bound to raise questions. These companies have used the popularity of the games to extract additional fees from cable operators, promote other shows on their networks and sell lots of commercials. Pro football games drew about $3.5 billion in ad spending last year, including the postseason, according to SMI Media Inc.

Media companies have spent billions of dollars on the right to air football games, which had been immune to the erosion of viewership for other TV programming. Audiences for TV networks have diminished for years as the growing popularity of online alternatives Netflix and YouTube and the availability of most shows on-demand have reduced the appeal of dramas and comedies. Live TV, like sports, was supposed to be immune, but that theory looks highly questionable now.

Ratings for the NFL suggest the same societal trends are now affecting the league, even if the declines aren’t as dramatic. The drop in game viewership ranges from 5 percent for NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” to 11 percent for the CBS Sunday package. “Monday Night Football,” on Disney’s ESPN, has attracted more fans this year than a year ago, but the numbers are still down from 2015.

Viewership of the four main broadcast networks fell 8.7 percent last year, and 12 percent among adults 18 to 49, an important demographic for advertisers.

CBS’s 11 percent slump for NFL games is the steepest of the networks. Its parent company, which reports earnings after the close Thursday, is more vulnerable than rivals to the trend because the vast majority of its earnings come from the broadcast network. The declines at CBS reinforce a complaint that has gotten louder and louder in recent weeks: The league got greedy in adding the Thursday night game on broadcast.

Reserving top games for Thursday night robbed other time periods of good match-ups. After a nosedive in ratings at “Monday Night Football” last season, the league has scheduled better games for that time period, further damaging Sunday afternoon.

“Ratings declines on both general entertainment and NFL programming could be the single biggest point of focus for investors this quarter, and we’re not sure what media companies can say about the health and tone of the ad market to assuage fears,” Steven Cahall, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets, wrote in a note last month.

Viewership is dropping fast among people under 54 -- a key demographic for advertisers -- and even faster among those 18 to 34. Audiences for games on CBS, NBC and Fox have slid at least 10 percent among that younger cohort.

Advertisers aren’t abandoning the NFL, one of the only places they can still reach more than 10 million people at once. But they are growing concerned. John Schnatter, who appears in TV spots on behalf of his Papa John’s Pizza International Inc., laid into the league on a conference call this week, blaming the ratings for his company’s slow revenue growth and calling for the league to put an end to player protests.

Networks and other advertisers identify a wide range of reasons for the NFL’s struggles. The league has overexposed itself by making highlights available on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Snapchat. Identifiable stars like Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers have either retired or gotten hurt. The quality of play has deteriorated. Player protests and concussions have driven away some fans.

Some executives argue viewership of the league has still improved over the long term while dropping for every other show. Yet the amount of time people have spent watching football this season is at the lowest point since 2011, back when there were fewer televised games, according to Mike Mulvihill, Fox Sports’ head of research.

“The cumulative effect of everything happening in the world at large is having an impact on NFL viewership,” Mulvihill said. “ The league was defying the laws of gravity.”

**MahiMike** · 11-05-2017, 03:04 PM

Take away the ref's mics. And for God's sake, remove the "expert" refs from the booth.

GloryDayz · 11-05-2017, 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BryanBusby

You'll have to excuse me for not being a poor and having a real monitor.

JFC, how old are your monitors? Don't you have a laptop (or three) laying around? How about a smart phone?

You suck at computing like you do at weather!

BryanBusby · 11-05-2017, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GloryDayz

JFC, how old are your monitors? Don't you have a laptop (or three) laying around? How about a smart phone?

You suck at computing like you do at weather!

Shit, I need spinnerz for my tv's

cooper barrett · 11-05-2017, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BryanBusby

My butler doesn't work Sundays

Which ones your butler?

GloryDayz · 11-05-2017, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BryanBusby

Shit, I need spinnerz for my tv's

Let's start with a monitor that rotates.

BigCatDaddy · 12-22-2017, 10:29 PM

http://www.dailywire.com/news/25030/...ign=benshapiro

Baltimore now begging fans to come to games.

ThaVirus · 12-22-2017, 10:33 PM

Seems to me that's a natural progression..

Who wants to go to a stadium with 50,000 drunken assholes, pay $40 just to park and $12 per beer, freezing your ass off in 20 degree weather when you can watch from the comfort of your own home?

My couch>any stadium in the NFL.

Eleazar · 12-22-2017, 10:43 PM

I personally don't care about the protests, but I'm finding it shocking how many people out there do. I've seen a lot of people in my circle posting that they didn't buy any merch for Christmas this year, or that they haven't been to a game this year because of it. Generally these people are over 40 or 50, but I think generally the crowd at NFL games and especially season ticket holders is over 40. (Who else can afford it?)

It's surprised me how many posts I have seen from people who see kneeling for the anthem as disrespecting veterans and military personnel and the country in general, not just the stated aim of disrespecting police.

I guess I was in disbelief that it was the protests, and there are a variety of factors in play, causing attendance to be down league-wide, but maybe the protests are the biggest factor...?

GloryDayz · 12-22-2017, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigCatDaddy

http://www.dailywire.com/news/25030/...ign=benshapiro

Baltimore now begging fans to come to games.

I scored two tix to Sunday's Chiefs game for $30 each. The lower part of the upper deck, on the 50 yard line, so the view should be good. The parking pass was $25 from a FB friend. It'll be cold as a witch's tit, but we should have fun.

Plus, the Chiefs need me!

GloryDayz · 12-22-2017, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eleazar

I personally don't care about the protests, but I'm finding it shocking how many people out there do. I've seen a lot of people in my circle posting that they didn't buy any merch for Christmas this year, or that they haven't been to a game this year because of it. Generally these people are over 40 or 50, but I think generally the crowd at NFL games and especially season ticket holders is over 40. (Who else can afford it?)

It's surprised me how many posts I have seen from people who see kneeling for the anthem as disrespecting veterans and military personnel and the country in general, not just the stated aim of disrespecting police.

I guess I was in disbelief that it was the protests, and there are a variety of factors in play, causing attendance to be down league-wide, but maybe the protests are the biggest factor...?

The protests are a big deal to me. I support their right to do it, but I think it's very shitty of those who do it. That being said, it's not the only thing, the NFL becoming the the WWFL makes the game far less attractive than it was just 10 years ago.

But hey, I'm paying less for tix to a Chiefs game than I am for a Mavs ECHL game. That's telling.

BlackOp · 12-22-2017, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eleazar

I guess I was in disbelief that it was the protests, and there are a variety of factors in play, causing attendance to be down league-wide, but maybe the protests are the biggest factor...?

No...the overt price-gouging is the main factor. Going to a game is a freaking hassle let alone costing $400+ for two people.

I had free tickets to the Eagles game...and was bored. I'm sure it was a lot more exciting before the internet and people had nothing else to do. Football is a better experience on TV...when recorded so you can FF through 1 1/2 hours of soul-sucking commercials.

NFL can blame the anthem...but the truth is it's not worth the money anymore. If you're into tailgating...then it becomes a social experience...like a Grateful Dead concert...but other than that I dont see the value.

Goodell tried to make this sport appear more important than it was...and banked on the fans being dumber than they thought.

GloryDayz · 12-22-2017, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackOp

No...the overt price-gouging is the main factor. Going to a game is a freaking hassle let alone costing $400+ for two people.

I had free tickets to the Eagles game...and was bored. I'm sure it was a lot more exciting before the internet and people had nothing else to do. Football is a better experience on TV...when recorded so you can FF through 1 1/2 hours of soul-sucking commercials.

NFL can blame the anthem...but the truth is it's not worth the money anymore. Goodell tried to make this sport bigger than it was...and banked on their fans being dumber than they thought.

This is a truthful post. I'll add that fans have become less loyal to their teams as player and teams have become less loyal to each other.

The bottom line is that it's no "one thing", it's many things..

BlackOp · 12-22-2017, 11:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GloryDayz

The bottom line is that it's no "one thing", it's many things..

True...and the anthem thing put off a lot of their older fans.

The NFL has a real problem on their hands...the digital babies dont care about football like we did. What they are seeing now...is just the beginning. They think building these giant, billion dollar coliseums are making the "fan experience" better...its not. It's just pricing out their loyal fans..

There has been a monumental shift in culture since the internet became fast...the NFL is stuck in the 90's. Football was never meant to be only affordable by upper-middle class....it's blue-collar entertainment.

Strongside · 12-22-2017, 11:36 PM

All this makes the Gooddell extension even more baffling to me.

jaa1025 · 12-22-2017, 11:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Strongside

All this makes the Gooddell extension even more baffling to me.

I can't, for any reason, understand the extension.

11-03-2017, 05:07 AM
Eleazar Beyond the Rapids Join Date: May 2003 Location: Langley, VA Casino cash: $-370000	NFL Excuses Run Out After Ratings Declines Continue NFL's Litany of Excuses Runs Out After Ratings Fall for Second Year By Lucas Shaw Bloomberg.com November 2, 2017, 11:30 AM CDT TV networks are running out of excuses for the dwindling popularity of the National Football League. They blamed the election for ratings declines last year, and hurricanes for a soft week one in September. Protests during the national anthem, and President Donald Trump’s criticism of the league, have faded from the headlines. Advertisers are starting to believe a different explanation: the viewers aren’t coming back. Audiences are down an average 7 percent from a year ago through the first eight weeks of the season, excluding last Monday. That’s on top of a decrease of about 8 percent last season that spurred numerous changes in the broadcasts, from shorter commercials to better matchups earlier in the year. “There’s just not as many people watching TV the way they used to watch TV,” said Jeremy Carey, managing director of Optimum Sports, a sports marketing agency. “It’s going to be an issue for advertisers when they can’t reach a large-scale audience the way they have.” With CBS Corp., 21st Century Fox Inc. and Walt Disney Co. set to report earnings in the next few days, analysts are bound to raise questions. These companies have used the popularity of the games to extract additional fees from cable operators, promote other shows on their networks and sell lots of commercials. Pro football games drew about $3.5 billion in ad spending last year, including the postseason, according to SMI Media Inc. Media companies have spent billions of dollars on the right to air football games, which had been immune to the erosion of viewership for other TV programming. Audiences for TV networks have diminished for years as the growing popularity of online alternatives Netflix and YouTube and the availability of most shows on-demand have reduced the appeal of dramas and comedies. Live TV, like sports, was supposed to be immune, but that theory looks highly questionable now. Ratings for the NFL suggest the same societal trends are now affecting the league, even if the declines aren’t as dramatic. The drop in game viewership ranges from 5 percent for NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” to 11 percent for the CBS Sunday package. “Monday Night Football,” on Disney’s ESPN, has attracted more fans this year than a year ago, but the numbers are still down from 2015. Viewership of the four main broadcast networks fell 8.7 percent last year, and 12 percent among adults 18 to 49, an important demographic for advertisers. CBS’s 11 percent slump for NFL games is the steepest of the networks. Its parent company, which reports earnings after the close Thursday, is more vulnerable than rivals to the trend because the vast majority of its earnings come from the broadcast network. The declines at CBS reinforce a complaint that has gotten louder and louder in recent weeks: The league got greedy in adding the Thursday night game on broadcast. Reserving top games for Thursday night robbed other time periods of good match-ups. After a nosedive in ratings at “Monday Night Football” last season, the league has scheduled better games for that time period, further damaging Sunday afternoon. “Ratings declines on both general entertainment and NFL programming could be the single biggest point of focus for investors this quarter, and we’re not sure what media companies can say about the health and tone of the ad market to assuage fears,” Steven Cahall, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets, wrote in a note last month. Viewership is dropping fast among people under 54 -- a key demographic for advertisers -- and even faster among those 18 to 34. Audiences for games on CBS, NBC and Fox have slid at least 10 percent among that younger cohort. Advertisers aren’t abandoning the NFL, one of the only places they can still reach more than 10 million people at once. But they are growing concerned. John Schnatter, who appears in TV spots on behalf of his Papa John’s Pizza International Inc., laid into the league on a conference call this week, blaming the ratings for his company’s slow revenue growth and calling for the league to put an end to player protests. Networks and other advertisers identify a wide range of reasons for the NFL’s struggles. The league has overexposed itself by making highlights available on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Snapchat. Identifiable stars like Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers have either retired or gotten hurt. The quality of play has deteriorated. Player protests and concussions have driven away some fans. Some executives argue viewership of the league has still improved over the long term while dropping for every other show. Yet the amount of time people have spent watching football this season is at the lowest point since 2011, back when there were fewer televised games, according to Mike Mulvihill, Fox Sports’ head of research. “The cumulative effect of everything happening in the world at large is having an impact on NFL viewership,” Mulvihill said. “ The league was defying the laws of gravity.”
Posts: 80,659

11-05-2017, 03:04 PM	#196
MahiMike He's Mahomie! Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Jax, FL Casino cash: $10023443	Take away the ref's mics. And for God's sake, remove the "expert" refs from the booth. __________________ 99.9%
Posts: 17,387

12-22-2017, 10:29 PM	#201
BigCatDaddy The Beast Inside Your Head Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Parts Unknown Casino cash: $1989122	http://www.dailywire.com/news/25030/...ign=benshapiro Baltimore now begging fans to come to games.
Posts: 25,868

12-22-2017, 10:33 PM	#202
ThaVirus 20 Menthol KOOLs Join Date: Sep 2007 Casino cash: $2052369	Seems to me that's a natural progression.. Who wants to go to a stadium with 50,000 drunken assholes, pay $40 just to park and $12 per beer, freezing your ass off in 20 degree weather when you can watch from the comfort of your own home? My couch>any stadium in the NFL.
Posts: 44,300

12-22-2017, 10:43 PM	#203
Eleazar Beyond the Rapids Join Date: May 2003 Location: Langley, VA Casino cash: $-370000	I personally don't care about the protests, but I'm finding it shocking how many people out there do. I've seen a lot of people in my circle posting that they didn't buy any merch for Christmas this year, or that they haven't been to a game this year because of it. Generally these people are over 40 or 50, but I think generally the crowd at NFL games and especially season ticket holders is over 40. (Who else can afford it?) It's surprised me how many posts I have seen from people who see kneeling for the anthem as disrespecting veterans and military personnel and the country in general, not just the stated aim of disrespecting police. I guess I was in disbelief that it was the protests, and there are a variety of factors in play, causing attendance to be down league-wide, but maybe the protests are the biggest factor...?
Posts: 80,659

12-22-2017, 11:36 PM	#209
Strongside Mahomes or GTFO Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: KC Casino cash: $6084282	All this makes the Gooddell extension even more baffling to me. __________________
Posts: 13,195