nfl getting worried

[redsrback 30]

I read the NFL is worried by the empty seats at the 49ers and the Rams last Sunday.

[double tour 74]

I bet they are not worried in the big picture. But who knows?

 

One day they should move these teams to small town America, then each team should offer up local stock in the franchise. Ohhh, wait, that would turn a whole bunch of teams into Green Bay type fans. What a disaster that would be for the league....

[Drizzay 645]

Not everyone is interested in a worthless piece of paper.

[Runningriot1966 6]

Really, what did they expect by going to LA? They should have stayed in St. Louis or moved to a town that would have appreciated having them. The 49ers fans will be back when they put a decent product on the field again.

[Brutal Brutus 182]

I bet they are not worried in the big picture. But who knows?

 

One day they should move these teams to small town America, then each team should offer up local stock in the franchise. Ohhh, wait, that would turn a whole bunch of teams into Green Bay type fans. What a disaster that would be for the league....

Green Bay Packers fans are the worst. I would probably lose interest in football if all or even most fans were that annoying.

[MDC 5,891]

The NFL should be worried. As more CTE stuff comes out, the league is going to continue changing the rules to protect the players. Casual fans will love all the scoring but your football diehards are going to be turned off by the lack of hitting. Parents are going to steer their kids into safer sports, watering down the talent even further. Unlike there other major sports leagues there's no foreign pipeline of talent to draw from in Latin America, Eastern Europe and Asia.

 

Ten years from now you're going to see the Las Vegas Raiders beat the Toronto Bills 52-41 in a defensive struggle played at a neutral site in Mexico City on Tuesday Night Football. Does this sound like a league you want to keep following?

[weepaws 2,460]

No question.

[lesjroza 70]

The NFL should be worried. As more CTE stuff comes out, the league is going to continue changing the rules to protect the players. Casual fans will love all the scoring but your football diehards are going to be turned off by the lack of hitting. Parents are going to steer their kids into safer sports, watering down the talent even further. Unlike there other major sports leagues there's no foreign pipeline of talent to draw from in Latin America, Eastern Europe and Asia.

 

Ten years from now you're going to see the Las Vegas Raiders beat the Toronto Bills 52-41 in a defensive struggle played at a neutral site in Mexico City on Tuesday Night Football. Does this sound like a league you want to keep following?

 

 

I'm not saying you are totally wrong about this whole post but I have to ask, whose parents are going to steer them away?

 

Me with my kids, sure................you with yours, sure.............but if you think all the parents of kids from low income areas with less economic opportunity, poorer education, etc are going to think the same way, I have to disagree.

I go back to my uncle who never talked about 'Nam, one time having asked him what it was like, he summed it up as it hell, but one of the worst things was there were guys he came to know and liked signing back up for another stint. Why would they do that? He was surprised to find the answer more often than you would think was essentially, "Life is better here than where I'm from..." he just kept shaking his head, "How could it be better?"

For some of the parents of the kids who are literally built for the game and will never get the opportunity to develop other talents they may or may not have, the opportunity the NFL and the path to get there including college, provides for a potential future that may be better than an alternative of life on the streets and all that comes with it, despite the risks..........if they even think about, or believe, the risks exist. Look at how many smokers were in denial forever and maybe still are.

[Oriole8159 86]

 

 

I'm not saying you are totally wrong about this whole post but I have to ask, whose parents are going to steer them away?

 

Me with my kids, sure................you with yours, sure.............but if you think all the parents of kids from low income areas with less economic opportunity, poorer education, etc are going to think the same way, I have to disagree.

I go back to my uncle who never talked about 'Nam, one time having asked him what it was like, he summed it up as it hell, but one of the worst things was there were guys he came to know and liked signing back up for another stint. Why would they do that? He was surprised to find the answer more often than you would think was essentially, "Life is better here than where I'm from..." he just kept shaking his head, "How could it be better?"

For some of the parents of the kids who are literally built for the game and will never get the opportunity to develop other talents they may or may not have, the opportunity the NFL and the path to get there including college, provides for a potential future that may be better than an alternative of life on the streets and all that comes with it, despite the risks..........if they even think about, or believe, the risks exist. Look at how many smokers were in denial forever and maybe still are.

I think with the amount of money that is open to pro baseball and basketball players (and the longer careers with less physical toll), that those two will start becoming more of a priority for parents of at risk youth like you're referring to. I found what Antwaan Randle-El said incredibly interesting about his experiences in football, and how if he had the choice again, he would have instead focused on baseball or basketball. Yeah he made about $20 million or so in his career and he got a SB ring, but but NBA role players these days are making $20 million in one or 2 years now. If you're not a star in the NFL, you don't actually make "that much" money. And factor that into the physical issues Randle-El is already feeling before he's even 40, and it's a scary prospect.

 

Randle-El is the type of athlete that will resonate with these youth, since he also grew up in a poor neighborhood and excelled at all 3 sports. If he's talking to a similar star athlete from a poor neighborhood that has options in multiple sports, I think they'll listen to him if he advises that you can have a longer career and make more money by choosing to specialize in basketball or baseball, and you won't have the same physical problems when you retire.

 

Now obviously this won't apply to big linemen as they wouldn't have NBA or MLB bodies most likely, but I think the fact that there's just not that much money in football ON TOP OF all the other issues the league is facing, will start to have some affect.

[lesjroza 70]

I think with the amount of money that is open to pro baseball and basketball players (and the longer careers with less physical toll), that those two will start becoming more of a priority for parents of at risk youth like you're referring to. I found what Antwaan Randle-El said incredibly interesting about his experiences in football, and how if he had the choice again, he would have instead focused on baseball or basketball. Yeah he made about $20 million or so in his career and he got a SB ring, but but NBA role players these days are making $20 million in one or 2 years now. If you're not a star in the NFL, you don't actually make "that much" money. And factor that into the physical issues Randle-El is already feeling before he's even 40, and it's a scary prospect.

 

Randle-El is the type of athlete that will resonate with these youth, since he also grew up in a poor neighborhood and excelled at all 3 sports. If he's talking to a similar star athlete from a poor neighborhood that has options in multiple sports, I think they'll listen to him if he advises that you can have a longer career and make more money by choosing to specialize in basketball or baseball, and you won't have the same physical problems when you retire.

 

Now obviously this won't apply to big linemen as they wouldn't have NBA or MLB bodies most likely, but I think the fact that there's just not that much money in football ON TOP OF all the other issues the league is facing, will start to have some affect.

 

 

Its an interesting speculation..............I suspect there may be a lot of disappointed young men though if it plays out that way for a generation. With all respect due to Randle El, who was a fantastic athlete, his chances of making an NBA squad would have been slim, as it is for all fantastic athletes now. The NBA draft has only 2 rounds and many of those players do not make NBA squads. Due to the smaller rosters and longer careers you mentioned not very many jobs open yearly and now there is significant competition from foreign players as well. Its probably not a coincidence that some of the best basketball athletes with size end up going the opposite direction and we are seeing them remake themselves as TEs in the NFL. I doubt it makes a dent but we shall see. Baseball perhaps, but the game and everything about it is slower, one isn't going to graduate college as a star player step onto a baseball field and play, let alone hope to sign a contract with Nike..........a career in MLB is process and the game in general does not resonate with some of the most highly athletic youth. I guess we will see how it all plays out.

[mobb_deep 917]

Really, what did they expect by going to LA? They should have stayed in St. Louis or moved to a town that would have appreciated having them. The 49ers fans will be back when they put a decent product on the field again.

 

So will LA fans. The entertainment capital of the world has too many other entertaining things to do, to be bothered watching a crappy football team.

[seafoam1 1,879]

Green Bay Packers fans are the worst. I would probably lose interest in football if all or even most fans were that annoying.

Most die hard fans are annoyingly annoying. This is one part of what makes this league awesome. Its the teams that dont have a following that make football suck.

[mobb_deep 917]

You can say that again.

[Oriole8159 86]

 

 

Its an interesting speculation..............I suspect there may be a lot of disappointed young men though if it plays out that way for a generation. With all respect due to Randle El, who was a fantastic athlete, his chances of making an NBA squad would have been slim, as it is for all fantastic athletes now. The NBA draft has only 2 rounds and many of those players do not make NBA squads. Due to the smaller rosters and longer careers you mentioned not very many jobs open yearly and now there is significant competition from foreign players as well. Its probably not a coincidence that some of the best basketball athletes with size end up going the opposite direction and we are seeing them remake themselves as TEs in the NFL. I doubt it makes a dent but we shall see. Baseball perhaps, but the game and everything about it is slower, one isn't going to graduate college as a star player step onto a baseball field and play, let alone hope to sign a contract with Nike..........a career in MLB is process and the game in general does not resonate with some of the most highly athletic youth. I guess we will see how it all plays out.

I agree too that is the counter. It's a very speculative hypothesis, but I think its an interesting thing to ponder.

But don't forget also that you don't have to make it to the NBA to make money as a professional basketball player. You can play overseas and still make over a hundred grand per year even for average players, many teams pay for their players housing/transportation/meals, etc and some instances their income is fully tax free. Do that for 6-8 years and you're still a millionaire, with the ability to continue playing even further because your body won't be beat up. Plus the experience in living in most European cities isn't very different than most American cities, so they'll still enjoy a great lifestyle.

Compare that to the average NFL player, which is about 2-3 years at perhaps $400k per year but as taxed w/ no add'l benefits, and those guys don't walk away from the game millionaires, but they still may have life long health problems.

 

And I think you're getting to see more big time, black baseball players, which may signal a resurgence in youth baseball in these communities and a choice to a path in baseball. I remember that all black team in the Little League World Series a few years back was such a big deal, maybe more young black athletes see that and think that maybe baseball could be a reality.

 

Just something that caught my eye this past year that I'll be watching over these next few years.

[LunaTick 29]

is not the only league with this issue.

 

When the teams come in with low expectations, Is hard to be pumped to fill the seats.

 

Besides, did we not all suspect that LA may not be a NFL town. Especially for a team that 1) left town, 2) did so decades ago 3) moved to a different area code 4) comes back without hype and proceeds to piss the pot

[titans&bucs&bearsohmy! 2,745]

The NFL are idiots.

 

Let's move two sh!t teams to a market which has a history of not giving a Fock about football. We'll have one play in a decaying dump and the other in a tiny soccer stadium. And we will charge top dollar to see this garbage that you can see better, for free, at home.

 

Wonder why it isn't working.

[Ray_T 591]

is not the only league with this issue.

 

When the teams come in with low expectations, Is hard to be pumped to fill the seats.

 

Besides, did we not all suspect that LA may not be a NFL town. Especially for a team that 1) left town, 2) did so decades ago 3) moved to a different area code 4) comes back without hype and proceeds to piss the pot

yeah, the fans were so good that Two NFL teams bailed on LA and suddenly one year the league decides Hey, let's move two teams to LA!

 

Bad idea.

 

one might cut it, but I think with 2 teams the market is oversaturated,

[TBayXXXVII 2,117]

I think with the amount of money that is open to pro baseball and basketball players (and the longer careers with less physical toll), that those two will start becoming more of a priority for parents of at risk youth like you're referring to. I found what Antwaan Randle-El said incredibly interesting about his experiences in football, and how if he had the choice again, he would have instead focused on baseball or basketball. Yeah he made about $20 million or so in his career and he got a SB ring, but but NBA role players these days are making $20 million in one or 2 years now. If you're not a star in the NFL, you don't actually make "that much" money. And factor that into the physical issues Randle-El is already feeling before he's even 40, and it's a scary prospect.

 

Randle-El is the type of athlete that will resonate with these youth, since he also grew up in a poor neighborhood and excelled at all 3 sports. If he's talking to a similar star athlete from a poor neighborhood that has options in multiple sports, I think they'll listen to him if he advises that you can have a longer career and make more money by choosing to specialize in basketball or baseball, and you won't have the same physical problems when you retire.

 

Now obviously this won't apply to big linemen as they wouldn't have NBA or MLB bodies most likely, but I think the fact that there's just not that much money in football ON TOP OF all the other issues the league is facing, will start to have some affect.

 

Odds are that Randle-El would never have made it to the pros in those two sports. It's easy for him to say it now, that he would choose baseball and basketball if he could do it again... but tell him that if choose either of those two over football, his total income would have been less than $1M, I bet he'd pick football.

[Oriole8159 86]

 

Odds are that Randle-El would never have made it to the pros in those two sports. It's easy for him to say it now, that he would choose baseball and basketball if he could do it again... but tell him that if choose either of those two over football, his total income would have been less than $1M, I bet he'd pick football.

you never know what would have happened if he decided to change his focus when he was younger and had time on his side.

you have to take that into account here because this whole discussion comes back to what mothers of young, athletic boys, will decide to do with their son's time.

 

it's not when he's at Indiana and he's already become a big time QB, or even when he's all state in high school in 3 sports...it's all the way back to when he's even younger and his mother starts to see that he can be something special. when he's got a path to stardom potentially in 3 separate sports when he's in grade school, what do they collectively decide to specialize in?

That's when they start to look at the economics of baseball and basketball as possibilities, and start seeing the potential bigger paydays, with less physical toll. I only brought up the overseas salaries because most of these dreamers won't become professional athletes anyway and even if they can stick in the league even a few years, the perennial back of the bench NFL guys that only last a few years have very little actually to show for it when they walk away.

 

But if Matthew Dellavedova can make $30 million out of a lifetime of sheer effort, imagine what a super athlete like Randle-El could have done if he decided to specialize on basketball instead of football in sixth grade. All the time he spent becoming a better football player was time away from becoming a better basketball player, and with basketball now being so focused on shooting, athleticism, and defense, a young kid that has Randle-El type options could easily see basketball as a more viable option. And even if he doesn't make it to the NBA, he can still make more overseas playing basketball than he could as an average NFL guy that flames out in 2 years.

 

I get that its all speculative at this point, so I acknowledge the logic on your side. I'm just trying to think abstractly here because we're trying to forecast a generation into the future, but I see this as someone that could resonate with these athletes from poor families moreso than a guy like Chris Borland or John Uerschel who walked away from football because they had other options that those kids wouldn't.

[jgcrawfish 232]

The NFL are idiots.

 

Let's move two sh!t teams to a market which has a history of not giving a Fock about football. We'll have one play in a decaying dump and the other in a tiny soccer stadium. And we will charge top dollar to see this garbage that you can see better, for free, at home.

 

Wonder why it isn't working.

This is a good point. The NFL wanted SO DESPERATELY to have football in LA, they never bothered to ask if LA really wanted football. The Raiders could pull it off to a certain extent, but hell, they're the RAIDERS! They're like the bad-boys of the NFL and the thug life loves that sh!t. But the Rams and the Chargers? Honestly, I can't name one person who's Rams fan...why is that? Oh yeah, because they're a freaking vagabond team that seemingly moves every 10 years. And anybody that was a Chargers fan probably isn't anymore because they left. This isn't like the Supersonics moving to OKC to become the Thunder, there's NOTHING else to do in OKC! This is LA, and people don't give a FOCK about football there.

[Ray_T 591]

This is a good point. The NFL wanted SO DESPERATELY to have football in LA, they never bothered to ask if LA really wanted football. The Raiders could pull it off to a certain extent, but hell, they're the RAIDERS! They're like the bad-boys of the NFL and the thug life loves that sh!t. But the Rams and the Chargers? Honestly, I can't name one person who's Rams fan...why is that? Oh yeah, because they're a freaking vagabond team that seemingly moves every 10 years. And anybody that was a Chargers fan probably isn't anymore because they left. This isn't like the Supersonics moving to OKC to become the Thunder, there's NOTHING else to do in OKC! This is LA, and people don't give a FOCK about football there.

I liked the Chargers (note the past tense)

 

Not sure I'll be a fan now that they are in LA.

[jgcrawfish 232]

I liked the Chargers (note the past tense)

 

Not sure I'll be a fan now that they are in LA.

You have people in cities like San Antonio that are DYING for an NFL team, and the league in it's infinite wisdom lets the best LA team leave for Vegas and replaces it with not one, but TWO, sh!tty teams that nobody cares much for. The NFL keeps playing games in London, wants to play them in Mexico...what better way to increase the presence than having a team 3 hours from the border in the 7th biggest city in America that is rabid about football. Way short sighted. Keep the Raiders in LA, relocate the Rams and Chargers to places that actually want them. 3 strikes.

[TBayXXXVII 2,117]

you never know what would have happened if he decided to change his focus when he was younger and had time on his side.

you have to take that into account here because this whole discussion comes back to what mothers of young, athletic boys, will decide to do with their son's time.

 

it's not when he's at Indiana and he's already become a big time QB, or even when he's all state in high school in 3 sports...it's all the way back to when he's even younger and his mother starts to see that he can be something special. when he's got a path to stardom potentially in 3 separate sports when he's in grade school, what do they collectively decide to specialize in?

That's when they start to look at the economics of baseball and basketball as possibilities, and start seeing the potential bigger paydays, with less physical toll. I only brought up the overseas salaries because most of these dreamers won't become professional athletes anyway and even if they can stick in the league even a few years, the perennial back of the bench NFL guys that only last a few years have very little actually to show for it when they walk away.

 

But if Matthew Dellavedova can make $30 million out of a lifetime of sheer effort, imagine what a super athlete like Randle-El could have done if he decided to specialize on basketball instead of football in sixth grade. All the time he spent becoming a better football player was time away from becoming a better basketball player, and with basketball now being so focused on shooting, athleticism, and defense, a young kid that has Randle-El type options could easily see basketball as a more viable option. And even if he doesn't make it to the NBA, he can still make more overseas playing basketball than he could as an average NFL guy that flames out in 2 years.

 

I get that its all speculative at this point, so I acknowledge the logic on your side. I'm just trying to think abstractly here because we're trying to forecast a generation into the future, but I see this as someone that could resonate with these athletes from poor families moreso than a guy like Chris Borland or John Uerschel who walked away from football because they had other options that those kids wouldn't.

 

No, I don't have to take it back to what mother's.... Randle-El, said that "he would have...". Meaning, he was making a logical decision at a turning point, i.e., college. At that time, it was too late to change his mind. I'm simply calling bull crap on him. I'm willing to bet that he still would have chosen football if the money wasn't there in the other sports... and it wouldn't have because by the time he'd have had to make the educated decision, it would have been too late.

[SaintsInDome2006 128]

Bad teams have gotten bad crowds for the whole history of the NFL.

[LunaTick 29]

Bad teams have gotten bad crowds for the whole history of the NFL.

that is the whole history of pro sports.

 

With rare exceptions, such as Chicago Cubs.

[LunaTick 29]

Raiders have always been wanting to find a better facility to play in.

But were not interested in sharing Levi, or was in the Niners were no interested.

Couple with the late owners political quirkiness

 

Their move is almost exclusively about facility and gate. Raiders Oakland fans seem to have stuck with the team, even after their move to LA and return.

NFL fans tend to stick with their team. But often is set based upon geography. So it will be interesting to see 10 years down the road, how this move to Vegas impacts their merch.

 

Vegas is seen to be a sports tourist destination. Gambling, shows and now pro sports. Gate has potential to be $$$$ and near guaranteed for Comps.

 

Rams, originally left LA due to facility issues. Collesiem not being a good pro sports venue. Taking up residence in a town that had lost the Cardinals to Phoenix. Moving into digs built on spec.

return to LA is in part due to private development of a CA stadium. Due note, you cannot get state money to build in CA.

 

Charger have been for some time, and Rams more recently, been looking for a new dig in their community.

 

But the thing to realize, and is tempting of LA is you have a very large population. You have a very sizable affluent population. You have the opportunity to make more at the gate, merch and media ad buys direct and indirect than one can in San Deigo, St Louis or San Antonio.

[DentFan 0]

No, I don't have to take it back to what mother's.... Randle-El, said that "he would have...". Meaning, he was making a logical decision at a turning point, i.e., college. At that time, it was too late to change his mind. I'm simply calling bull crap on him. I'm willing to bet that he still would have chosen football if the money wasn't there in the other sports... and it wouldn't have because by the time he'd have had to make the educated decision, it would have been too late.

 

 

I don't know why people are all saying that they don't want their sons to play football. I will put my son in youth football right away. It's the safest level to play and if he likes it, he will get the coaching necessary to avoid injury for whatever he wants his career to be. We all played football growing up. Sore knees, the ability to tell when it's going to rain with our joints, and war stories dot our youth. It's all good.

 

As far as the move to LA. It could have been just a bit of too much too fast and with too high expectations.

[redsrback 30]

I think its just a different world nowadays. Get some money and off to women, champaign, video games, cars, and a cell phone for a pacifier. No working out every year during off-season to keep your job. Use politics to negotiate everything and ends up swirling downward. When I was a kid for Christmas I got like a shirt for school, toy metal truck, and the thing that made all of us excited was a basketball for all of us to share. We had nothing else to do but go outside and play. Sure Atari came out sometime in the 70s but wasn't many people able to afford them. Oddly we seem to be living in a society that younger people cant even carry on a conversation without the aide of a cell-phone to tell them how to think. Just my 2 cents, and I suffered no concussions, or sore toes.