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Football insurers continue to get out of the market...


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3 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

There are still a bunch of school programs that cover football. It is certainly an expense for the schools to insure football (cheerleading and soccer). I don’t see a situation where it disappears, there will just be less companies writing it which will raise premiums. 

This is the wild card. 

 

Outside a few southern states - the sport is losing ground. When school systems see rates go up with the high risk and less competition, school planners will look to save money.  I live in one of the wealthiest counties in the country with overcrowded schools and one of our 12 high schools could not field a varsity team this year (1600 kids in the school). 

 

Football as we know it is a dead man walking. 

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6 hours ago, MJS said:

This is overblown. Even if tons of schools stop having a football program, do you think any of those southern schools will stop? In many of those areas high school football is bigger than any other sport, including college and NFL football. They'll pay what it takes to keep the programs going, and have plenty of boosters and doners to ensure it.

Until they dont....

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2 hours ago, Bill from NYC said:

What about MMA? How can this even exist? In 10 years there is going to be an entire species of dangerous, brain damaged people from taking elbows to the head, and everything else they do.

 

Youre not accounting for size. How many kids at your average HS play football. JV and Varsity, about 40-60 each. About 100 per school. Conservatively 20 high school teams alone in the region. Plus middle school and pee wee teams. There are probably 2500 to 3000 kids in Buffalo alone, running into each other head first for two hours everyday plus Friday/Saturday games. 

 

There are much fewer kids in MMA. Tournaments are far less than sparring and training. None have an affiliation with a school or municipality. 

 

Apples to oranges. 

 

 

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7 hours ago, Mango said:

 

 

I have been beating this drum for a while. Football will drastically diminish or go away entirely because it becomes too expensive to insure for schools and municipalities. Sure there will be some drop because more parents won't want their kids to play given the CTE issue. But eventually there will be hugely won court cases, and insurance companies will make it so expensive for middle america and below, that football won't even be an option for a lot of kids. Not without a hefty price tag at least. Even so, those white collar areas will have to heavily compete with sports like row/crew, hockey, lacrosse, etc. 

 

People won't stop playing the sport in large numbers because people are running from the head injury risk. Insurance companies will make that decision for them in a lot of places. I am fairly confident in saying that my grand kids most likely won't grow up playing football or even with the NFL. I am in my early 30's and no kids. Probably 40 years at least from being a grandpa. 

After seeing the toll that football has taken on his father Thurman Thomas's son decided not play football. Parents are steering their kids away from football to other sports because of the risks associated with the game. Thurman's son is a very good baseball player. 

 

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/07/09/thurman-thomas-open-about-memory-loss-other-issues-related-to-concussions/

 

 

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7 hours ago, gjv001 said:

Why southern schools? Do you know of a difference that people in the south have about their children vs other parts of the country?

 

Yes. High school football is huge in the south. Nobody cares about it most places in the US.

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8 minutes ago, SDS said:

 

1000 colleges and the NFL are not going to survive on Texas high school football. 

We’ve kind of seen it for the last 15-20 years already. The best college teams are loaded with kids from Georgia, Florida, Texas, Louisiana and Alabama. The talent is down here because they are still playing the game. You’ve seen a massive drop off out west. The best players out west are now heading east and there aren’t enough guys playing for USC to be relevant. 

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So why aren't we talking about hockey and soccer being at risk?  

 

Solution.  Plastic bubbles.  

 

Also,

 

"Last April, researchers at the Veterans Administration Boston Healthcare System and Boston University reported that participating in tackle football before age 12 "appears to increase vulnerability to the effects of CTE and other brain disease or conditions."

 

 

That's red flag b.s. city to me.  Has anyone seen an 8/9 or 10/11 yo park and rec football practice?  I've been coaching them for 7 years.  I guess its bc I have a functional brain, the 2 or 3 times we practice a week actual "head contact" is a limited practice (because THEY DONT REALLY KNOW HOW TO HIT AND MOST WANT NO PART OF CONTACT and old school garbage like bull in the ring is extinct....I protect the kids while still playing the game the right way); so to just say playing under 12 puts you at risk.....wth does that even mean?  What positions?  How frequently the contact?  

 

I'm still not 100 percent in on this.  Still can only see it in the deceased who may very well had a lot of things going on perhaps wired to be more susceptible.....I dont know....and dont misunderstand...I'm not blowing it off either. 

I have a 13 and 10 year old that play.  I have ZERO reservations.  They love the game.  It is not a case of Dad makes me play. 

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2 hours ago, JohnC said:

After seeing the toll that football has taken on his father Thurman Thomas's son decided not play football. Parents are steering their kids away from football to other sports because of the risks associated with the game. Thurman's son is a very good baseball player. 

 

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/07/09/thurman-thomas-open-about-memory-loss-other-issues-related-to-concussions/

 

 

 

Oh I totally agree with you. Just touching on the insurance issue in the thread. I do think the “end” or drastic decline in the sport will come from

availability due to insurance, not that kids will just stop playing. 

 

Doesn't mean it’s not happening. It’s just a much slower burn. 

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5 minutes ago, Mango said:

 

Oh I totally agree with you. Just touching on the insurance issue in the thread. I do think the “end” or drastic decline in the sport will come from

availability due to insurance, not that kids will just stop playing. 

 

Doesn't mean it’s not happening. It’s just a much slower burn. 

Imagine a scenario where only well to do kids/schools can even afford football. That would certainly alter the landscape. 

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8 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said:

The NFL handles the work comp (I think for all teams). So the umbrella is sitting over the employers liability portion of the comp (as well as the GL and auto). 

 

We write the GL, cyber, crime, $75m umbrella, employment practices (tough placement for that too), auto and some property for the Saints. It’s about $1.1M in premium which really is quite cheap. 

 

I think he’s talking about more so, how much will it cost in 10 years for the town of Tonawanda to insure KAT, TTFA, and high school football teams. Filled with underaged kids, not adults making millions. 

 

Do most townships have it in the budget to fit that bill down the road/is it worth it? 

 

I coached a kid in a different sport with 5 concussions from football. It’s been about 6 years since he played football. It took him an extra two years to graduate high school because he can’t sit through class, read, or sleep through the night for that matter. 

 

What happens when that kid comes from a very well off family and ties up the district in costly litigation? What happens if that family happens to win a large settlement because of negligence from the district employed head coach? 

 

Do other townships take note and bow out of the sport because premiums go up through the roof? 

2 minutes ago, LSHMEAB said:

Imagine a scenario where only well to do kids/schools can even afford football. That would certainly alter the landscape. 

Absolutely! And they compete with more “white bread” sports like hockey, rowing, and lacrosse? 

 

(Not that there isn’t serious risk in any of those)

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10 hours ago, gjv001 said:

Why southern schools? Do you know of a difference that people in the south have about their children vs other parts of the country?

 

 I am pretty sure he is talking about the culture. I have coached down south and up here and he is right. The turn out for highshool and LL football down south is phenomenal. Locally I think we have some show on Saturday that covers high-school ball. Down there they are talking about it all week during prime time.

 

Its just a different animal

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16 hours ago, papazoid said:

self insure

 

hold harmless clauses

 

In general, you can't contract away freedom from the consequences of your own negligence and self insurance is not a financially viable option for most organizations. 

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16 hours ago, Buffalo Barbarian said:

Thats because insurance agency's are nothing but crooks. All they want is to take your money and then not cover what they are supposed to . Nothing but legalized extortion forced on us by our worthless government.

 

 

 

Hmmm...and yet, when I had kidney cancer back in the late '90's, my insurance company footed the bill for the meds, the surgery, the hospital and so on. Saved my life and prevented my family from going bankrupt. And then there was the time that a hunk of ice the size of a small boat fell off the roof and obliterated my mini-van and my insurance company paid for a rental while I shopped for a new car which they also paid for. And boy was I glad I had insurance when my house was robbed by thieves who took everything, including my guitar "collection" (my primary security system, a very large dog, had passed away earlier that week).

 

People get insurance because it is monumentally stupid not to and because, things happen. And yes, insurance companies are crooks but there are laws and regulations (issued by the big bad government hiding under your bed) which limit their crookery and force them to pay valid claims. So when they tried to cheat my wife us when the bill came due for my wife's maternal care when our first daughter was born, I filed a complaint with the State and within 10 days the insurer sent me a check and an apology.  And when my neighbor's son lost his arm in a hunting accident and the insurance company wouldn't pay for a prosthetic that would help him keep his job, we filed an outside appeal, as provided by the "worthless government" of the state of NY and he got his prosthetic. 

 

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13 hours ago, BubbaT said:

They make enough money they could self insure this risk and just purchase excess liability coverage, if possible, thru specialty markets

 

The cost of the suit the NFL settled is around a billion dollars. The article found 29 such suits now pending in 18 different sports. I don't see the high schools in my local district being capable of self insuring losses that large. There are 18 school districts in Onondaga County, most have at least one varsity and one JV football team though a couple don't have football teams at all. That is nearly as many teams in the NFL and those players are certainly vulnerable to concussions and CTE. No way they can handle being self insured. 

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