Is the NFL...
Purposely driving older viewers and fans away?
This year all the Thursday night games have been on some subscription service.
Yesterday, Christmas day, there were two games, neither of which was on TV other than very limited market. Oh, you could get them, IF you streamed them on Netflix or NFL+
But the problem for me, and I'm sure for other older folks, is that we don't have the spare $$$ to subscribe, nor the desire to...
Granted they need the $ to pay all those huge contracts, but how many older fans are they willing to sacrifice to get them, and how much loss in viewership are they willing to accept?
I've watched this trend for a few years, as more and more 'things' go behind paywalls, channels disappear from cable packages, and access becomes 'subscription' only as print media disappears from the mainstream. Older folks tend to pull back from the pay sites, getting more and more information from the internet, and less from the media. Additionally, they tend to 'drop' things like sports and hobbies they once enjoyed.
Personally, I think this is a bad thing, as those folks become more isolated and withdrawn, which is not good for either their mental or physical health. Older folks tend to get out less as they lose friends and lose mobility. For many, sports is the 'escape' for their home life. I have friends my age who are still able to travel and can afford to go to events, so they drive over to Dallas to see football and baseball games a couple of times a year for each sport, but they are the 'lucky' ones.
If there is a bright spot, at least college sports haven't gone that way (yet). And honestly, those games seem to be more 'entertaining' today than most professional sports.
What say you?
I was never much into sports but the "take a knee" and "alternate anthem" things did it for me, especially football. That told me loud and clear they didn't care what I thought and didn't need my money.
I'm done.
The NFL lost me as a fan sometime around 2012 because I watched way too many games rigged by the refs, questionable performance and them forgetting they were supposed to be a sport showcasing the wonder of meritous human achievement in a challenge, not a F*****G social rights NGO! I could no longer stand watching games in November because of all the pink virtueless signalling and preaching, posturing and social commentary on how they thought that made them better than everyone. Before that, I was a life long die hard Packer fan. I'd been to the infamous "Asterisk Game" and seen 4 other games in Lambeau, even in -20 weather.
But since it's only one step shy of the WWE now with DIE/ESG bullshit slathered over everything, police state stadiums and providing minimally viable spectacle, I can't scrape together enough effs to make a pile for them.
If they wanted my fandom back, they'd have to deal with the scripting, official interference, juicing and obvious throwing of games. Till then this is the only way I will come close to enjoying the NFL, for at least it's honest about it and is funny:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFC9hqTrlE0