NFL getting what it deserves

Secondly, after a fan stops hearing from their favorite players and teams, their passion wanes. It’s difficult to be ‘as invested’ in a team when you know little to nothing about the players on the team. Raise your hand if you truly have any idea about the background of Jaye Howard, or perhaps Mitch Morse. What about Mitchell Schwartz, anyone know what he’s about? During the glory years of the National Football League, fans got to know the players, their passions and what they were about. Players became part of the community, and passion followed.

A disastrous run of the end of the Carl Peterson era  coupled with the nightmare of the Pioli regime, (Anyone remember the Arrowhead blackout?) and this organization has really turned bunch of avid fans into casual fans. To many, especially the 30 somethings with young families, have turned their attention towards outside with family, or as Bob Fescoe of 61oam in Kansas City says, Family time at the Pumpkin Patch. Fans have found outlets.

Thirdly, the pace of [FLAG] play with [COMMERCIAL BREAK] all the interruptions and [COMMERCIAL BREAK] stops in [TIME OUT] play have made it [FLAG] almost impossible to [CHALLENGE ON THE PLAY] watch a game, especially for a team you [COMMERCIAL] don’t have anything invested in. Ratings in home market are still obviously really strong, but out of market ratings are suffering because people don’t care because, again [FLAG] they have better things to do with their time. The league has to find a way to move games along far quicker, as fans are losing interest with all the [COMMERCIAL] stops in the [FLAG] game.

If the NFL truly wants to capture the fans again, to bring ratings back, to bring fans back, they have to embrace their fans. We know more now then we EVER did before. Information is so readily available some fans (and teams for that matter) suffer from information over load.

Fans have been turned into junior draftnicks, with  guys like Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) (Bleacher Report) and Daniel Jeremiah (@movethesticks) (NFL Network) work almost year-round providing information, insights and scouting reports on dozens of players for the upcoming NFL Draft, as well as a slew of websites and personalities detailing what our team right or wrong on Twitter, such as Ross Tucker (@RossTuckerNFL) and Andy Benoit (@Andy_Benoit).

Society no longer is satisfied simply with the ‘finished product.’ Just as we care about the manner and methods a steak is brought to our plate, so to do we care about the manner and events that lead up to game day. Fans are showing the league they care in that they are changing the channel. They are going outside. They are taking their business elsewhere.