Troy Aikman: NFL May Not Remain No. 1 Sport

[Senser81]

For the NFL to dip below college right now, there would have to be a death on the field, murder, league wide scandal, losing television, or something else that won't happen.

Yeah, I've never heard of Sam Hurd, either (pun).

[EmpireWF]

Yeah, I've never heard of Sam Hurd, either (pun).

Until he starts dropping names...

[BigHouseUSA]

Its overexposed, but no moreso than the MLB or the NBA. It will still be the #1 sport for a long time.

This is pretty much the main reason the NFL will stay number one for a while, very few people could make an argument for NHL, MLB, MMA, soccer, etc. to overcome it. The NFL is definitely overexposed, I find myself getting less interested in the league (minus the Lions) from season to season. The talent is just not there on about 60% of the teams to, maybe more, and the more of that shit I have to watch the less interested I am in it. There was a point when I wanted to watch as many games as I could, but that clearly has not improved anything.

[Derrville]

Cant see it ever happening nor do I ever think any college sport will ever take its place. I love football but I could care less about College ball and maybe its because Dallas doesnt really have a powerhouse campus but I just never been able to cheer for a team whose best player or players might only be around for a season or 2 and without a playoff format I dont see any reason to get emotionally invested into a team when one loss can kill the whole season.

[Bigpapa42]

I just think the mentality that many people have of "wanting to watch the best" would keep college ball from ever really surpassing the NFL on a national basis. In places, maybe. But as a whole, I just can't see it. Not without sweeping changes to the sporting landscape.

[ZoneBlitz]

Aikman's argument is extremely stupid & wrong in so many ways. Lets break it down.

The NFL is not on 4 days a week. They only play on Saturdays for 2 weeks of the season. Thurday games dont begin until halfway through the season. So half the season is still 2 days per week, like the "good old days"

This theory of "over-exposure" is bullshit. People crave NFL football, the demand is high. Giving people more of what they want isnt going to make it less popular. There is zero tangible reason to believe NFL popularity is going downhill anytime soon.

The primetime matchups this year were horrid, but that doesnt mean people wont care about NFL football. Put good primetime matchups and people will watch.

Even if NFL football somehow became less popular, that doesnt mean another sport will become more popular. Fans dont flock from one sport to another.

And complete LMAO @ someone saying soccer is going to be the #1 sport in 20 years.

[ZoneBlitz]

They start Week 3 this year.

Even better.

More football = good.

[BigBucs]

No way the NFL is overexposed when you take into account the amount of games that come on in comparison to MLB, NBA etc... Each team is only guaranteed 16 games, why not put as many on as you can? Complaining about more NFL is ridiculous.

[ZoneBlitz]

No way the NFL is overexposed when you take into account the amount of games that come on in comparison to MLB, NBA etc... Each team is only guaranteed 16 games, why not put as many on as you can?

Exactly.

Its completely ridiculous to claim the NFL will lose popularity for being on 3 days a week...when most other sports are on EVERY DAY.

[BigBucs]

Lemme add, I can see complaints about an 18 game season though. When they start adding more games to the schedule thats when it starts feeling cheapened but more games on TV from a 16 game scheduled is always welcomed. I just wish there was a way to choose on a week to week basis, after week 6-8, which games are gonna be on TV. Nobody wanted to watch the Colts without Manning and we generally get some terrible prime time games on MNF. Who the hell wants to watch the Rams/Seahawks when they both are in a race to last place in their division in week 13?

[killgod]

Exactly.

Its completely ridiculous to claim the NFL will lose popularity for being on 3 days a week...when most other sports are on EVERY DAY.

So by changing from a 2 day a week format to being more like the LESS popular leagues who play every day, the NFL is not hurting itself.

Is that what you're saying?

[BigBucs]

I saw the chestless one play this year as well.

ESPNU runs 24/7 recruting coverage leading up to signing day.

I can type a recruits name into google and have 4 sites pop up with info.

This is today...I can't imagine the exposire will go backwards from here.

It wont but when you look deeper into it, it all comes down to the NFL. The more exposure these kids get on an amateur level the bigger their brand will be once they get to the NFL.

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

Aikman's argument is extremely stupid & wrong in so many ways. Lets break it down.

The NFL is not on 4 days a week. They only play on Saturdays for 2 weeks of the season. Thurday games dont begin until halfway through the season. So half the season is still 2 days per week, like the "good old days"

This theory of "over-exposure" is bullshit. People crave NFL football, the demand is high. Giving people more of what they want isnt going to make it less popular. There is zero tangible reason to believe NFL popularity is going downhill anytime soon.

The primetime matchups this year were horrid, but that doesnt mean people wont care about NFL football. Put good primetime matchups and people will watch.

Even if NFL football somehow became less popular, that doesnt mean another sport will become more popular. Fans dont flock from one sport to another.

And complete LMAO @ someone saying soccer is going to be the #1 sport in 20 years.

I think Aikmans is stupendous and yours is horrible.:wildthing:
The bolded is just so fundamentally wrong Im not even sure where to begin correcting it.

Keep in mind what his timeline is and it makes more and more sense. I (and apparently Nhaste) have been saying this for years.

Just random thoughts..

- You guys are SERIOUSLY underestimating other sports ability to build product. Listen, to be blunt I dont know what exactly makes NFL no.1 revenue,ratings ,water cooler chat , popularity polls etc ..I dont know.
What I do know is that it doesnt take much to knock a sport off its high horse and get peoples attention on something else.

-Are you guys really truly sure that NFL is incapable of any scandals ? Collusion,lockout,PED scandals,gambling, etc in the next few decades ?
Are you SURE MLB/NBA are in capable of producing some new era of magnetic personalities and superstars ?

- You guys arent paying attention to the product and Goodell. This isnt Rozelles , and Tagliabues NFL. Roger isnt anywhere near the football loving guy they were. He was hired for and is strictly a business minded guy.
Expansion and longer seasons will likely be paired with drastic new rules in coming years as more and more concussion start pouring in. Football wont see a "hey day" anytime soon.

- Influx of talent. The money is there and primary. But dont ever lose sight that the NFL is what it is because it draws the best athletes. Pansy moms terrified of concussions , young men choosing MMA or NBA because its the "cool" sport , or worse guys cutting there career short before even reaching NFL because there only sophomores but are showing signs of PCS.

-Fantasy Football ??
NFL will always be no1 or close because of gambling. Lets make that clear. But F.Football is breeding a generation of people who know nothing of the sport outside of individual numbers. So long as these people get mobile alerts about "there" team they dont need to watch the games. FF can be as detrimental as it is good.


-Theres alot of things that factor into a sports popularity.I can easily see the NFL not being the golden TV child it is now especially giving a 20 year timeline. Youre also ignoring the direction of TV in general. Live TV numbers will dwindle as the 40+ crowd ages and croaks.Sustained viewership is what keeps the NFL $ rolling in... Those numbers go down so does the tv $$$ when that lightens up the talent topic above becomes more relevant.

As for what else can take its place ? You guys are clearly not up on your sci fi.

[ZoneBlitz]

So by changing from a 2 day a week format to being more like the LESS popular leagues who play every day, the NFL is not hurting itself.

Is that what you're saying?

That is correct, because 3 days a week is still far from 7 days a week.

[BigHouseUSA]

The key to expanding to more days a week is putting quality matchups for those games. The NFL is popular, but not popular enough for people to turn into a shitty game just because it's the only one/thing on.