Troy Aikman: NFL May Not Remain No. 1 Sport

[ram29jackson]

if the sport falters,its because of all the stupid parity....football is a short season,getting it 4 nights a week is a plus,not a minus

[f16harm]

For those thinking that College Football has a chance of overtaking the NFL anytime soon....stop.

This past January's NCAA Championship game was the lowest rated in BCS history. To go one further, and to show it just isn't the BCS thing. This rating, the lowest ever, was still higher than the regular season matchup between Alabama & LSU. All of the BCS games combined, were down 10% from the year before, and 21% from two years ago. The biggest college football game is pulling numbers that could be beat by American Idol up until this season's edition.

The NFL is banging out home runs every week, on multiple games. Maybe not 20 million viewers, but multiple games a week around 15 million and solid demos, which would beat a majority of ALL shows on TV

[cynismus]

For those of you that say the NFL dilutes its product by being on Thursdays, Sundays, and Mondays - what do you think college football is? It's seemingly on every day of the week...except Sunday. Wanna know why? There are plenty of people that are fans of BOTH, and how pissed off do you think they would be if they had to choose between the two?

Example: I was born and raised in Houston and went to UT. Therefore, I'm a fan of the Texans and Longhorns. I would absolutely HATE to have to pick between the two. I wouldn't give a damn if college football became more "popular" than the NFL; I'd be pissed. Regardless, I doubt this will ever be an issue because of the traveling constraints for college players.

Carry on, sluts.

[EmpireWF]

Dana White says MMA will soon be the most popular sport in the WORLD.

Just throwing that into the conversation, too.

[wr50l]

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 totally agree with everything you said but regarding the bolded, I believe by 2040 whites aren't projected to be the majority anymore. If USA is 40% Hispanic or something who knows what sports will be popular.

[Raidersabc123]

Baseball is boring all year around and basketball really doesn't get interesting until playoffs start.
NFL football almost wins by default. Until college football has playoffs it will stay that way

[Goober]

I enjoy watching the Broncos play but other then that the NFL is useless to me. Give me baseball any day.

I would rather watch an exhibition game between the A's and Astros instead of the lousy shit the NFL puts out most Sundays.

[EmpireWF]

Baseball is boring all year around

Don't start that crap again. :verlander:

[Len B]

Let's see...


NBA - Officiating scandals, super teams and overall poor play have the sport down.

MLB - 162 game season, once steroids hit the scene less fans cared about the sport. Big market teams usually dominate the sport. Kids nowadays think its boring and turn to lacrosse or year round basketball.

NHL - Could be on the rise, lack of household names and the sport doesn't appeal to every area (warm climate areas couldn't care less about hockey, I feel)

NCAAB - Really only thrives in March, but one could argue it's America's favorite "event".

NCAAF - If there is ever a playoff system, maybe. No one gives a rats ass about post season play in NCAAF.

NFL - Fantasy football, gambling and the sheer fact that your team plays once a week makes every game a "must see" for local teams. Maybe if they stop putting Jacksonville vs. San Diego on primetime and start selecting intra division matchups more, having football three times a week wouldn't be bad.

If I could have football seven nights a week, and was guaranteed Cowboys/Eagles, Patriots/Jets, Steelers/Ravens, etc. I'd be in heaven. I don't think it's about having too many games, it's more about having too many absolutely shitastic games.

[EmpireWF]

The NBA saw a resurgence in popularity last year that has been hurt by the lockout shortened season this year.

Lacrosse? Seriously?

The NHL is not on the rise as long as they have their current TV structure. Well, I should classify that....on the rise in terms of national prominence? No.

[Len B]

The NBA saw a resurgence in popularity last year that has been hurt by the lockout shortened season this year.

Lacrosse? Seriously?

The NHL is not on the rise as long as they have their current TV structure. Well, I should classify that....on the rise in terms of national prominence? No.

Do you have kids/are around kids? Ask them what sport they play, and they'll tell you baseball is boring and that they either play travel lacrosse/basketball/soccer.

Baseball is too boring for kids. They stand still for 95% of the game. These same kids are going to be the ones who are the prime audience viewers 20 years from now.

[Len B]

Empire.. read up here near the bottom if you want to brush up on the sport:

http://www.uslacrosse.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=c5qBu0wv0WQ%3D&tabid=2463

I've never played it, but I hear it mentioned a lot more in the coaching circles than baseball.

US Lacrosse reports suggested that in 2009, total lacrosse participation included more than 520,000 players, an increase of 8.4 percent from 2008 and more than double the 2001 number.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Kids have been playing soccer in droves since he 1970's, and it's now 2012 and still nobody gives a single fuck about professional soccer as a spectator/television sport.

The most popular participation sport among adults in this country since, well, forever, is bowling. Bowling is a niche spectator/television sport, and has been for decades.

What people like to play has nothing to do with what people like to watch.

[Len B]

Kids have been playing soccer in droves since he 1970's, and it's now 2012 and still nobody gives a single fuck about professional soccer as a spectator/television sport.

The most popular participation sport among adults in this country since, well, forever, is bowling. Bowling is a niche spectator/television sport, and has been for decades.

What people like to play has nothing to do with what people like to watch.

I'm not arguing lacrosse will be more famous than baseball on television. I'm saying people don't play baseball anymore, and when they get older they'll be less likely to watch it. The argument is simply that baseball will dip in views once the new generation gets older. They won't know how to play, and they won't teach their kids either.

If they find it boring to play, why would they want to sit on a couch for three hours and watch slow pitch after slow pitch? The new generation isn't built for that, they need action so they turn to alternative sports and lacrosse, and then for television they turn to NFL and whatever else is fast paced and exciting.

[EmpireWF]

Do you have kids/are around kids? Ask them what sport they play, and they'll tell you baseball is boring and that they either play travel lacrosse/basketball/soccer.

Baseball is too boring for kids. They stand still for 95% of the game. These same kids are going to be the ones who are the prime audience viewers 20 years from now.

Baseball not being popular with certain groups because it's "slow" is as old as the game itself probably.

With all this talk about baseball not being so exciting for certain demographics, MLB doesn't have a problem in getting people to the ballpark, do they? I'm assuming not.