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waterfield
the tv ratings have been continuing to decline over the years. But it has nothing to do with recent rules designed to protect the qb. It has more to do with an increasing younger audience far more comfortable with football being delivered through social platforms where the younger audience does not have to watch a complete game (i.e. tv). The problem is the NFL is based on a business model based on tv and they don't care about ratings as long as they continue year after year to make more money-which they are doing because compared to other mainstream sports (basketball, baseball, soccer-well there is no comparison. The NFL is still the top dog-even though the younger audiences prefer a far different way the game is delivered. But it isn't because of the very recent emphasis on protecting the skill players.

One of the problems is the very success of the NFL itself. That has meant more games to watch and as a result its not as enticing as it once was. In fact it can be downright boring-even the good games. There is just so much of it. But getting the owners to change the business model when they are making money hand over fist is next to impossible.

BTW do you have any idea how much it will cost you if you want to take your family to seen the Rams? You know who can afford it-besides the one percenters ? You guessed it-youngsters who have no families to pay for. They can spend their earnings without caring about their family.

Is it just "tv" ratings though? I mean, isn't it a little misleading to say tv ratings are down when each year there are so many more ways to watch a game without being there? Is it "ratings" are down or "tv" rating are down? Attendance seems to be down but again, is that because of a waning interest or because it's so much easier to watch a game in a variety of ways not to mention how much cheaper it is.

And the NFL, like all major sports IMO, is changing. While many are excited about Mahommes historic start I equate it to Cody Bellinger hitting all those HR's as a rookie last year. And the Yankees guy. Every offensive record in most major sports is being challenged or broken it seems. Mahommes has a better start than the 5 other guys on the list who took years to develop that far and are all HOF'ers. Ryan Fitzpatrick just became the first QB EVER to pass for 400 yards in 3 consecutive games. I love Fitzy but for him to sit alone atop that record is an indicator of something being wrong or different about today's game.

Just like in MLB where more HR's have ever been hit than EVER, now the NFL has more TD's scored than in the history of the game. I don't long for the days of '50's football and 3 yards and a cloud of dust but none of the current numbers hold any value IMO. They are all catered to the Playstation generation of course but there is a point of diminishing returns. Even those short attention span, instant gratification folks who are bored if there isn't a TD every few seconds will eventually get bored or have higher expectations of a lopsided, video game like product from the NFL.

For instance, how is last year's (laughable) Super Bowl going to be topped? Did they even need to bother putting defenses on the field? Are we really that far from 7-on-7 NFL games the way things are going? Keep hamstringing the defenses and tailoring the league to put up video game numbers and we're going to be left with Arena League football and Millennial's who will have lost interest anyway.