I am gradually losing interest in the NFL, and from what I recall having read, I might not be alone. TV ratings for the National Football League (NFL) are down. I still watch the NFL some, but I don't watch it nearly so much as I did twenty or thirty years ago. My watching of NFL games has slowly, gradually dwindled since then to the point that I probably watch the NFL only about a quarter as much as I used to.
I expect there are many reasons I watch less. Here are a few:
- I'm old. I no longer suffer from (as much) testosterone poisoning, and so I don't get so excited by blood sports.
If so, and if others are like me, then NFL viewership will almost surely trend downward as the North American population continues to age. All of us older men will have less interest in the violent blood sports we were glued to in our youth.
However, I'm not sure how strong this effect might be. I stopped watching the NHL (hockey, for the non-sports-enthusiasts) when I was about thirty years old. I had loved watching the hits and the fights when I was 18, but I grew to dislike that aspect of the game, and I still do. Maybe my testosterone levels began to dwindle way back then, but the point I'm hoping to make here is that while I suspect we older males are less enthused about the NFL for this reason, the loss of testosterone probably doesn't explain everything.
- The pre-game and post-game shows. I used to be glued to the pre-game shows. I loved the assessments of the players and teams, the analysis of plays, and the predictions about outcomes. Nowadays the pre-game shows have too many talking heads, too much yelling, too many pointless interviews, too much loud music, too many in-jokes, and too many people interrupting each other. I don't know who likes that nonsense. The only show I like is the Sunday evening show, which is calm and analytical.
- The violence. I really don't think the game or the players are any more violent than they were 50-60-70 years ago. Further, I realize there are some rule changes that were designed to ameliorate the effects of the violence. At the same time, the use of helmets and pads as offensive weapons, not defensive tools, seems to have become increasingly prevalent. And the recent evidence about the preponderance of concussions and head injuries among NFL players really bothers me. I used to love the hard-hitting nature of football but now it concerns me. ... not so much that I don't watch, but some.
- The announcers. There are some who are great. They focus on the game and the plays and the players and the coaches. Others (e.g. John Gruden [sp?]) seem much more bully-ish (a la Don Cherry?) and full of themselves. They turn me off, and I switch away from games they are involved with. My Facebook friend Otis adds, " ... just too much hype and political commentary about things off the field and/or not germane to the game at hand."
- Other options. We had fewer television viewing options 20-30 years ago. Nowadays many people (not me) reserve Sundays to binge-watch something on Netflix. But even without Netflix, we have hundreds of channels to choose from. Where I might have stuck with an NFL game in the past, now I might channel-surf and end up watching a movie, a science show, or some other sporting event.
- Over-saturation? Is it possible there are too many NFL games on television too many different nights? When there were at most two games on Sunday, the advent of Monday Night Football seemed really special. But now there are often two games on Monday, games on Thursday, and games on Sunday night. I lose track of who is playing whom when, and as a result I lose interest.
- Lack of a home-town team? Many of us grew up cheering for a local or nearby team. That was the team we saw on television, and we knew it's players well. Now, however, I can watch nearly any game that is being televised. I don't have the forced loyalty from local television that I used to have. As a result I seem to care less about any particular team.
- Despite my intense interest 20-30 years ago, I wasn't very good at predicting winners. Maybe I lost interest in the games as a result?