One main reason is that some people think quantity equates to quality.NFL sets ratings record: 21M viewers per game
The NFL averaged 21.0 million viewers per game during the league's opening week, making it the most-watched Week 1 on record.www.espn.com
I understand why so many people hate what the NFL and FBS have become but the sport is honestly as strong, if not stronger, than ever.
From an artistic standpoint you're right (although that's subjective). From a business standpoint, quantity generally means success.
Quality is determined by the customer, and the customer is consuming the product in record numbers. I’ve seen here on this message board and elsewhere out there that the NFL and college football are on the decline or will be on the decline soon, and I just don’t think that’s true at all based on the actual data.
Agreed. I suspect that most fans will always watch the best football available to them, even if that football is not what some of us would consider "high quality,"
The quality in terms of actual nfl gameplay as judged by a professional coach or former player is probably down in terms of technique and such, but that doesn’t matter to the average fan like you said. I do fear the quality will decrease in college more rapidly with transfer portal. Many of these portal kids are not getting consistent development over time. This is probably why we see transfer portal constructed Colorado and FSU failing miserably this season despite the raw talent that exists on those teams. Again, like I said, the fan interest is as high as ever, and it probably won’t mean anything to the average cfb fan. You even see this disease in high school with kids bouncing between schools year-to-year. But I attend high school games locally and they are certainly as popular as ever in terms of attendance and interest.
But is it still the highest quality available?
I agree that the social aspect of the sport propels it at every level. Even at a high school level it’s a huge social event for the students and people in general in the region. I do think the sport still has good legs going forward because kids still love watching and playing the sport. I know in some areas of the country high school football participation is down a bit because of safety concerns, but flag football has really taken off and captures every age group. Even the girls are pretty damn good at it.
The NFL’s biggest advantage is competition. It’s biggest threat is the continuation of its employee (players) pipeline. College football faces multiple threats and, while it may not be easily measurable yet, I believe is already on the decline.
At this point, it does not appear that the TV ratings show a real decline in college football overall. I do believe there is some regional weakness on the West Coast over the last several years with reduced attendances and TV ratings, but the interest is very strong elsewhere. It will be interesting to see if the decline of the PAC 12 impacts West Coast interest one way or another. I personally think the biggest threat to college football is the B1G/SEC superconference being discussed. That would dramatically decrease interest in the sport outside of those 40 or so schools.
Yeah right up there with Bridge over Troubled Water and Mike Reid’s I Can’t Make You Love Me.
Would it though? I'm not convinced the Big XII/ACC/Pac XII/MWC/AAC merger for a second tier would kill it in ratings. They'll still have quality players. Betting for the league would remain high. Brands are still relevant and they actually get to compete for a title rather than knowing Georgia Bama or Ohio State is probably going to win. Maybe add Oregon due to Nike.
If the SEC/BIG super conference has its own championship, it would absolutely have a negative impact on overall interest outside that conference. A separate super conference essentially means two different sports. That’s not good for interest, ratings, attendance, etc.
I think things will be calmer over the next couple years as that ACC lawsuit will drag on and the ringleader, FSU, is developing a reputation of a troublemaker and somewhat incompetent at the moment. The only action is the PAC12 rebuilding.
The MWC may collapse of they'll need to convince Montana, Montana and the Dakota schools to go up to FBS
