Posted on 04/26/2024 6:39:53 AM PDT by Starman417
I learned a few days ago that tonight is the start of the NFL Draft. For many years this date was marked on my calendar months out, and today I don't even now in which city it will be held. That was then; this is now.
It's hard to believe that it's been almost four years since I got tired of being insulted by the NFL and walked away from decades of fandom. Then two years later the league was kind enough to offer several reasons to affirm my decision. So now we check in at 2024, and the league is going to improve play by... having the referees throw more penalty flags for... (checks notes) tackling? Yes, it looks like the NFL is doing all that it can to alienate the kind of fans who turned the league into an empire. And yet, with all of these bad moves in the last few years, the league is getting more viewers than ever. Why? No, it's not thanks to Taylor Swift, although this has helped the league in the all important 13 year old girl demographic. The answer is far simpler: gambling.
For those unfamiliar, fantasy football (FF) is a game that allows a group of friends (or strangers) to pick various players for their fantasy team and compete based on how those player perform each week. Although FF has been around since the 1980s, it really took off around Y2K with the rise of the internet - the perfect tool for tracking and communicating in real time. But the NFL's Great Leap Forward in popularity had its roots in the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. Short explanation: a law written to regulate online gambling left a carveout for fantasy sports. Fast forward a few years and outfits like Draft Kings launched fantasy based sports gambling. It didn't take long to jump from professional sports leagues giving a coy wink and nod to the notion of gambling, punishing the occasional player who got caught up in it (for which Philadelphia Phillies great Pete Rose has become the poster child) to where now the NHL and NFL have franchises in Las Vegas.
I won't recap the legacy of Colon Kaepernick and the BLM protests, but viewership took a dip as a result of the NFL endorsing the Marxists. The league dialed back glorifying them, but never left it behind. They continue to sing the "Black National Anthem" before certain games (while not answering the question of where that "nation" resides), while continuing to plaster Marxist slogans in their end zones. Many forgave and returned, and I'm not among them. As a result of openly embracing gambling, the league found a way to replace the fans who loved the game with fans of gambling on the game. It was while watching this video from the always great Jason Whitlock that I finally pieced together that the changes that the league has been making over the last few years (I read the occasional news story on the league and my Eagles fandom rubbed off onto Sister Babe and she regularly watches their games when they broadcast here) have been all in the name of expanding gambling tied viewership. Hell, Commissioner Goodell has gotten arrogant enough to not unequivocally rule out ever having the Super Bowl in London. As the post concluded, "Probably, but only when the money is right".
The NFL has set itself up quite well for short term gain, but long term ruin.
(Excerpt) Read more at floppingaces.net...
I can understand that, it’s a common theme for many, I love to look at statistics, so I’m someone who watches the NFL on Sunday, I don’t sit down at 1pm and get up that night, I generally watch the early game if it involves the local team and watch the statistics of the other game to see how my fantasy teams are doing, I play on Draftkings for small amounts of money, usually 8-10$ per week.
Pretty much now with all sports, I just go on YouTube and watch highlights without knowing the score going in.
There’s more. The national anthem (+the black one) was played before the draft. Wait a minute. Is this a sporting event where the anthem is required? Then there’s the military element. No call for that. Families of dead soldiers? Somethings goin’ on.
Question: Do they play the national anthem before Dancing With The Stars?
The 12? team NFL I knew died when Brown and Greer retired.
I'm just going to do fantasy football but I'll give up on following the teams otherwise.
Usually, I'm a big fan of college football. But it's ruined thanks to NIL. Even though I do support the whole thing about NIL. But now we are dealing with the unintended consequences.
Pete Rose violated the number one rule of baseball in the 70s. And he’s not a Philadelphia Phillies Great.
And I watched very little of the NCAA Basketball tournament, but I was shocked at how many of the players have already played for 2 or 3 other schools. It’s totally ruining it.
The NFL slowly died for me in the 1990’s with unrestricted free agency. I found it hard to continue to care about my franchise when my guys were increasingly playing for other teams.
It's no longer about TEAM, it's about INDIVIDUAL.
“There no ‘I’ in ‘Team’”
“But there’s ‘Me’!”
The spell checker was wise with this update.
Philadelphia Phillies great Pete Rose
Other great players:
Johnny Unitas – San Diego Chargedrs
Joe Namath – Los Angeles Rams
Willie Mays and Yogi Berra – New York Mets
Franco Harris – Seattle Seahawks
They’ve achieved WWF status.
Well the anthem isn’t actually required at a sporting event. It’s just a tradition. As for why the NFL did it for the draft: they love to put on a show, with pomp, and ceremony. Heck that’s why they moved the draft out of the theater it had always been in and are “touring” it around the NFL stadiums. Make it a show, make it bigger.
Indeed. We were living in St. Louis when the Cardinals football team was sold to Arizona. I was shocked.
Later, we moved to Alabama. We lived there many years and began rooting for the Alabama college teams. Sabin led a BLM run through the campus. That was disappointing.
I think I will disengage. I've gone from annual HULU to semiannual FUBO or Sling. I think I will downsize to semiannual Paramount/CBS to pick up the odd Alabama football game on CBS. It's true that they pushed me away. On the other hand, I expect to get more benefit doing something else. Really, it's just a waste of time.
Vick brutally, sadistically tortured and murdered dogs and they excused and supported him.
Do not care if the whole thing fails.
Good.
WTF? Big Red Machine? The Cincinnati Kid? Charley Hustle? PHILLIES?
I have friends who are in their 70’s who just can’t let go. I think it is to escape reality around them.
Apologies, I meant NFL. I switched over to watching the NHL
Our entire society is becoming more and more corrupt, degraded and criminal. Why would pro sports be different?
The NFL still dominates TV ratings
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