Are you losing interest in the NFL ?

[LeGOATski]

1 minute ago, Royale with Cheese said:

I haven't lost interest but I take Bills losses, even bad losses better.  I'll think about it after but go about my day like normal.

I didn't watch any of Conference Championships games because I was still feeling the loss in the divisional round.  
I'm glad that Ozarks just came out, along with Kobra Cai and Narcos in the last 2 months.  That got me through.

Yep. It's so nice to have confidence in the team and this staff's ability to build a consistent winner. We're finally able to watch a playoff caliber team every year.

 

When you have that hope, the losses are more palpable (unless you're a troubled person).

[Royale with Cheese]

43 minutes ago, LeGOATski said:

Yep. It's so nice to have confidence in the team and this staff's ability to build a consistent winner. We're finally able to watch a playoff caliber team every year.

 

When you have that hope, the losses are more palpable (unless you're a troubled person).

 

I feel better about this team than I ever had.  Mainly because I think Allen can still grow and get better.  

[jkeerie]

I haven't lost interest, although I was totally uninterested in this Superbowl.  Admittedly, I did not want to see the Chiefs, but I could not root for the Bengals because of the cockiness of Burrow.  I was largely unimpressed with the game, except for the defense of the Rams, aka Aaron Donald.  The man took over that game and willed his team to win.  He likely should have been the MVP.

 

I think I grew disenchanted with the Bills because of how the defense flamed out in that Chiefs game.   We can only hope that the coaches learned from the error of their ways, but we have to wait until next season to see if they did.  

 

Hoping to see some Beane magic to create the cap space we need as well as who he's targeting in the draft.

[quinnearlysghost88]

They’re definitely putting entertainment over competition. This was going to happen. The NFL wants to grow rapidly and the path to that growth is making the actual game just a piece of the puzzle. More player interviews, mic’d up segments, talking heads arguing on every station, podcasts, legalized gambling, prime time matchups, YouTube channels breaking down plays, players on social media, teams social media accounts/video production, extended coverage on releasing schedules. It’s an ecosystem of entertainment. It’s only going to continue to grow outside the boundaries of the actual game. As long as views, clicks, likes, jersey sales, ad revenue is up, they’re going to continue to back burner the actual game. 

[Old Coot]

For those disenchanted with the NFL there is always professional pillow fighting:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIxAzjNNLSA

[The Frankish Reich]

No.

1. The NFL has never been a better product in terms of sheer entertainment value. The playoffs and Super Bowl this year proved it. Close games, incredible individual athleticism, interesting matchups of team strategies. 

2. The NFL continues to dominate the full U.S. calendar year. Here we go in the "offseason" - free agency, the draft, etc., etc.

3. Competing sports are waning. College basketball and MLB spring training should own March-April; one is a shell of its former self, the other won't even happen this year (and is increasingly becoming a niche spectator sport, albeit a big niche). It's not until NBA playoffs come that there's real competition for the attention of sports fans (NHL too, but that has always been more of a niche)

 

Amazingly the NFL weathered COVID (including fanless games) and all sorts of other issues to emerge stronger than ever. I might not like how they do certain things, but I gotta hand it to them ... big picture, they sure as hell know what they're doing.

[In Summary]

I continue to lose interest in the NFL, but not necessarily in the actual game of football.  The NFL and the media that covers it has become more and more about everything but the game.  Hot takes, concussions, politics, who said what on twitter, activism, etc.  I watch sports to get away from these things but that's increasingly difficult.  The WGR/Bills radio does do a pretty good job of sticking to football compared to the national feed IMO.

 

 

[Greg S]

1 minute ago, The Frankish Reich said:

No.

1. The NFL has never been a better product in terms of sheer entertainment value. The playoffs and Super Bowl this year proved it. Close games, incredible individual athleticism, interesting matchups of team strategies. 

2. The NFL continues to dominate the full U.S. calendar year. Here we go in the "offseason" - free agency, the draft, etc., etc.

3. Competing sports are waning. College basketball and MLB spring training should own March-April; one is a shell of its former self, the other won't even happen this year (and is increasingly becoming a niche spectator sport, albeit a big niche). It's not until NBA playoffs come that there's real competition for the attention of sports fans (NHL too, but that has always been more of a niche)

 

Amazingly the NFL weathered COVID (including fanless games) and all sorts of other issues to emerge stronger than ever. I might not like how they do certain things, but I gotta hand it to them ... big picture, they sure as hell know what they're doing.

 

It will be interesting to see how the USFL does this spring especially if there is no baseball. It will never get to the level of the NFL or CFB but maybe it draws enough interest to where we get football each spring. At the very least it would provide a nice football fix until the NFL starts up again.

[The Frankish Reich]

1 minute ago, Greg S said:

 

It will be interesting to see how the USFL does this spring especially if there is no baseball. It will never get to the level of the NFL or CFB but maybe it draws enough interest to where we get football each spring. At the very least it would provide a nice football fix until the NFL starts up again.

I'd be more interested if NFL teams were involved, lending players to the spring league like we see with 2-way NBA contracts or MLB affiliate contracts. Will I watch a minor league football game this spring without some kind of Bills connection? No. Would I watch if (assume a slightly different world here) Jake Fromm was starting for the Jr. Bills, handing off to Christian Wade? Yeah. Well, at least for a little while.

[BADOLBILZ]

 

I'm convinced this is either a cleverly disguised "dome" or "am I getting old or is it just everything" thread.

 

 

[Mat68]

Lol.  2 days after the Superbowl.  Talking about how they dont like football anymore, on a football teams message board.  They played Rap welcome to 1990……. NFL has never been better.  The Bills have never been better.  Allen, Mahomes, Burrow, Herbert and Jackson have the game in good hands for years to come.

[TheFunPolice]

Not at all, still love it!

 

In fact, now that Brady isn't ruining every other super Bowl, it's a lot more fun for me. 

 

People say the Bills being in the SB would be stressful, but I don't see it that way. To me, that's fun. Rooting for your team is enjoyable and positive.

 

With Brady and his time with the Patriots especially, it was just negative: wanting someone to lose, which is nowhere near as fun. 

[LABILLBACKER]

5 hours ago, SoCal Deek said:

I’m not losing interest but the Thursday night games are a bit too much. I prefer Sunday and Monday night…and that’s it. 

Well then you're going to hate Wednesday night football which is being discussed. 

[TheFunPolice]

6 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:

Well then you're going to hate Wednesday night football which is being discussed. 

 

Not really? That is a terrible idea!

[Buftex]

29 minutes ago, quinnearlysghost88 said:

They’re definitely putting entertainment over competition. This was going to happen. The NFL wants to grow rapidly and the path to that growth is making the actual game just a piece of the puzzle. More player interviews, mic’d up segments, talking heads arguing on every station, podcasts, legalized gambling, prime time matchups, YouTube channels breaking down plays, players on social media, teams social media accounts/video production, extended coverage on releasing schedules. It’s an ecosystem of entertainment. It’s only going to continue to grow outside the boundaries of the actual game. As long as views, clicks, likes, jersey sales, ad revenue is up, they’re going to continue to back burner the actual game. 

I am not opposed to gambling, I have bet on a few sports in my day, and I love playing Fantasy Football (which basically keeps me in touch with teams other than the Bills), but I have to say, the NFL embracing gambling is something that could turn me off from watching non-Bills games altogether.  As an avid Fantasy Football player, I hate the constant barrage of fantasy football stats...and I really hate that sports talk radio en masse,  is basically transforming itself into one of those degenerate gamblers shows you would normally here early Saturday or Sunday morning.  I do think it has the potential to turn a lot of people off.

[Malazan]

1 minute ago, TheFunPolice said:

Not really? That is a terrible idea!

 

I'm curious if you think someone offering to back up drumptrucks full of money to your house is a bad idea too? I think the NFL would be ok with football 5-6 days a week. 

[SoCal Deek]

10 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:

Well then you're going to hate Wednesday night football which is being discussed. 

Yep…I’d hate that 

I’ve always said they should align Thursday with teams bye weeks 

[TheFunPolice]

1 minute ago, Malazan said:

 

I'm curious if you think someone offering to back up drumptrucks full of money to your house is a bad idea too? I think the NFL would be ok with football 5-6 days a week. 

 

I think a big part of the NFL's popularity is that most games are on Sundays. It allows for things like fantasy football, Sunday Ticket, Red Zone, etc. to dreally thrive because it OWNS the day and you've got fans glued to the action all day long. 

 

The more you dilute that the more it get spread out. Suddenly Sunday Ticket and Red Zone (both of which make the NFL big $$) are less meaningful because a good number of that week's games are on national TV anyway. 

 

Other sports can play all nights of the week because there are a gazillion games each season. NFL teams only play 17 games, so it's tougher to spread out without Sundays feeling light. 

[Greg S]

12 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:

Well then you're going to hate Wednesday night football which is being discussed. 

 

I can't see the players going for that. They already hate playing on Thursdays. I get it that the league doesn't care but that is an extremely short week from Sunday to Wednesday. On the top on the injuries playing games in such a short time span, is that really enough time for coaches to game plan, practice etc etc etc

[CaptnCoke11]

I’m still a huge Bills fan but i have to admit the rules, officials and some other things have lessened my interest to a degree

[BarleyNY]

7 hours ago, HOUSE said:

I wrote this long thread naming over 30 reasons why I am losing interest in the NFL but I deleted the entire non coherent mess because the issues are all to obvious.

 

Should we find out that an NFL owner truly attempted to pay a coach to lose then all credibility is lost. IMO

 

Are you losing interest and what are your issues with the NFL ?

 

Rants are welcome here...

 

 

 

 

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Yup.  I absolutely love football, but the mess the NFL has become only slightly resembles it.  With the money now involved and knowing what we know about CTE I doubt we will ever see the game I loved again.  Those who love the current iteration are welcome to it. 

[Niagara Bill]

After 17 yrs a season ticket holder, I swore during the Jauron era J was finished. Fans were 100% more passionate than that wet blanket. 

Slowly I was dragged back in, but never never ever will I allow myself the full passion I once felt. 

Josh has given me opportunity for hope and enjoyment loses still hurt but nothing like pre Jauron. 

[ControllerOfPlanetX]

Not for the Bills..

But when it was just games on Sunday at 1:00 and 4:00 and Monday night, it was more “must watch”.

Now with games on Thursday and Sunday night...there is always another game so I just pick and choose now.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

39 minutes ago, BarleyNY said:

Yup.  I absolutely love football, but the mess the NFL has become only slightly resembles it.  With the money now involved and knowing what we know about CTE I doubt we will ever see the game I loved again.  Those who love the current iteration are welcome to it. 

Player safety as a reason to not want to watch the NFL is pretty selfish.  There are lots of reasons to dislike the NFL, but player safety rules shouldn't be one of them. I have issues with the variability in which the player safety rules are enforced, but that is an officiating issue. Next time Josh gets nailed in the head or below the knee ask yourself if that is truly the game you loved?

[nedboy7]

1 hour ago, LABILLBACKER said:

Well then you're going to hate Wednesday night football which is being discussed. 

hows that even possible?  Will both team have bye weeks prior? 

[TheFunPolice]

I have no need to see head smashing Steve Atwater type hits.

 

I want to see the best players playing in the league. Football is still plenty physical, and there are ways to play the game with physicality that don't involve purposely inflicting head trauma to your opponent. 

 

I'm already looking forward to the NFL free agency period, draft, etc. 

[nedboy7]

2 hours ago, RyanC883 said:

 

I think you may be completely overboard here.  What you are suggesting is that all these games are fixed.  That seems odd given the blatant PI non-call on Higgins when the Bengals scored a TD.  True, the refs only found their whistles in the last 2 minutes of the game, and that's maddening, but the Rams still had to get the ball into the redzone to draw the questionable PI call, which could have been a makeup for the non-call on Higgins.  

 

 

the call on Higgins was to make the game close.  Then IMO they gave the game to LA.  Maybe I’m wrong. I hope so. 
 

they don’t “fix” games. They gently manipulate them at key moments.  And not every game.  It’s very subtle and intelligent the way they do it. 

Edited February 15, 2022 by nedboy7

[Malazan]

1 hour ago, TheFunPolice said:

 

I think a big part of the NFL's popularity is that most games are on Sundays. It allows for things like fantasy football, Sunday Ticket, Red Zone, etc. to dreally thrive because it OWNS the day and you've got fans glued to the action all day long. 

 

The more you dilute that the more it get spread out. Suddenly Sunday Ticket and Red Zone (both of which make the NFL big $$) are less meaningful because a good number of that week's games are on national TV anyway. 

 

Other sports can play all nights of the week because there are a gazillion games each season. NFL teams only play 17 games, so it's tougher to spread out without Sundays feeling light. 

 

We'll see. People have been predicting the NFL over-reaching for like 50 years now and their revenue just keeps going up. Maybe if people predict it long enough, the Earth will blow up and they can then proclaim they were right. 

[wjag]

Just the opposite.  This year's playoffs were the BEST EVER.  The SB was a bit anticlimactic for a Bills fan, but it still went down to the wire.  

[boater]

8 hours ago, colin said:

im still a die hard bills fan, but outside of the bills (and like the odd playoff game, but that's even slipping) i don't care too much.  3 hours a week to watch the bills is all i like to spend watching.  i browse this board, but that's cuz im at my desk at work.

I want your job. I work in a call center. They work us like slave dogs.

[MAJBobby]

Yep has been gone long ago. 
 

Watch the Bills. That is it. 
 

SuperBowl ignored the entire game except for the Halftime show. 
 

I have become more interested in the Offseason, Draft, Cap etc. that all fascinates me. Maybe because of 2 decades of Suck that is what I looked forward too so became passionate about it. 
 

but watching other games besides the Bills nope couldn’t care less 

Edited February 15, 2022 by MAJBobby

[Big Blitz]

No.

 

And soon football - camp, preseason games, regular season games, playoffs - will take up 27 weeks of our time (18 reg season games 2 pre season and the SB ending Presidents Day weekend.  

 

Add to those 27 weeks:

 

Beginning of free agency 

The draft 

OTAs

 

NFL Football will occupy a roughly solid 35 weeks of the year.  

 

Goodell turning every part of the off season into WWE like events has been genius.  The NFL is a well oiled money making machine. 

 

 

That said, from weeks 1 thru 10 the officiating was an abomination.  Whatever they did in December and January - do that all the time.  That's the solution.  

 

It's never going to be perfect but as they put the flags away you'll have heinous non calls like the Higgins TD.  I'm perfectly good if after that play the following logical discussion happens...

 

Officials get together after seeing replay and hearing from NY:  Fellas, bad non call.  When the Rams need it, if it's even remotely egregious and in a big spot - gotta call it.

 

You get the holding call on Kupp.

 

Totally good with this.  Becomes kinda like officiating in playoff hockey.  

Edited February 15, 2022 by Big Blitz

[transplantbillsfan]

Not at all.  The NFL is more exciting than it ever was... as proven throughout the playoffs and Super Bowl and especially in the Bills game in the divisional round.

 

Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Kyler Murray, Lamar Jackson, and Joe Buffow are some of the most exciting QBs to watch in decades... the NFL is in good hands.

 

I just wish we could come out on the winning end of these important games.

[TampaBillsJunkie]

It's a weird combo. My interest in the NFL is waning due to the politicizing, pandering and general attitude of the NFL's top brass and the idiots who broadcast it. If I never hear Collinsworth speak again, it wouldn't bother me.  And please keep "The Rock" away from any microphone. 

My interest in the Bills is as strong as ever because of the qualities, leadership and team first mentality that has been fostered here. The Bills are at an all-time high while the NFL is at an all-time low. I just hope we win a Super Bowl before it all implodes.

[TheBrownBear]

Yes, but not because of the product, player safety or any of third rail political or social issues that are often brought up.  I'm just older and busier with kids/family/work and other hobbies, so I limit my sports intake to Bills games and sports involving my alma mater.  

[TBBills]

I am on here all the time so that is a no

[WhoTom]

NFL football is still the most popular sport overall, but it looks like the younger generation is more inclined toward basketball.

 

https://www.statista.com/chart/15869/favrotie-sports-league/

 

Quote

According to recent findings from Statista's Global Consumer Survey, the NFL remains the number 1 among major professional sports leagues in the U.S., at least for now. While 52 percent of self-declared sports fans follow the National Football League, compared to 42 percent for the NBA and 31 percent who follow the MLB, looking at the youngest group of respondents reveals a worrying trend for NFL executives. Among 16- to 25-year-olds, the NFL only plays second fiddle to the NBA, with just 33 percent of young sports fans following the league. The NBA reaches 40 percent of Gen X fans, who are overall less likely to follow any professional sports leagues than their older compatriots.

 

Edited February 15, 2022 by WhoTom

[Paup 1995MVP]

8 hours ago, DallasBillsFan1 said:

No, now that the Bills have JOsh and are good, I am hooked.  But I did think that the Superbowl as really just a boring Sunday 4pm game.  I do feel the real action was on the AFC side.  Those games were exciting and gave fans what they are looking for ... high scoring games, intrigue, 13 second comebacks, etc ...  This years Superbowl was a polished turd.  But I still watched it.

I said the same thing about the Super Bowl.  It seemed like just another mediocre 4pm mid season game.  Nothing special.  

 

I do love the game of football.  I love the Bills.  But college football on the whole is more exciting then the NFL.  Not being able to pound the QB has taken some of the steam out of the game.  I don't think D Lineman attack with nearly the ferocity they used to for fear of being penalized.  The NFL does not promote its violence like they used to.  And that is what made football special.  A softer game in a much softer world.  (Can you see Ronnie Lott playing in today's NFL?  LOL) Thanks to Roger for that.  But I will always watch it.  Football and Nascar.  That's where I am in my sports love in my mid 50's.  Baseball and basketball who cares.  Hockey is a nice diversion at times.  But the Sabres are still terrible.  (Watching the Blues win the Cup a few years back was cool.)

1 hour ago, TheFunPolice said:

I have no need to see head smashing Steve Atwater type hits.

 

I want to see the best players playing in the league. Football is still plenty physical, and there are ways to play the game with physicality that don't involve purposely inflicting head trauma to your opponent. 

 

I'm already looking forward to the NFL free agency period, draft, etc. 

I could not agree w you less.  Steve Atwater hits were what made football so dam popular.  Sure its great to see guys making big plays running down the field.  But I sure would not have minded seeing someone close line Cooper Kupp.  

[Nitro]

No.  There better be real evidence on the attempt to tank.  

[BarleyNY]

1 hour ago, Ethan in Portland said:

Player safety as a reason to not want to watch the NFL is pretty selfish.  There are lots of reasons to dislike the NFL, but player safety rules shouldn't be one of them. I have issues with the variability in which the player safety rules are enforced, but that is an officiating issue. Next time Josh gets nailed in the head or below the knee ask yourself if that is truly the game you loved?

You misunderstand me.  I am not saying that at all.  I guess I wasn’t clear.  Football used to be a game played by big, tough men.  Then it grew into a game played by physical freaks.  Advances in fitness and nutrition (and pharmaceuticals) coupled with the economics involved led to what we have today.  The physical damage done by NFL players to each other has necessitated changes in the game.  The combination of those very prudent rule changes along with the still very brutal game are both reasons I like it a lot less than I used to.  Also maybe because I’m older I know what that punishment leads to down the road.