can we fix NFL ratings

So…the NFL is seeing a ratings decline and they can’t seem to figure out why. They say that they aren’t concerned because they believe that the political coverage this year is taking away viewers and once that is over, the ratings will return.

Really? It’s not the product, it is the presidential campaign taking away the valuable eyeballs? I believe that I know a few other reasons for their fall in viewership, and potentially have the solutions. In no particular order: Rules, referees, protests, ego, matchups/coverage/hyperbole.

Let’s start with rules. Why do I believe rules are a major source of the decline? There are too many of them, they are in some cases so complex as to be unexplainable, and they take away the fun from the fans. Example: What constitutes a legal catch? Can you tell me? It used to be  a receiver made a catch when he had control of the ball and both feet (or elbow, knee, etc…) had made contact with the ground inbounds. Pretty simple. Now? Here is the actual rule:

A player who makes a catch may advance the ball. A forward pass is complete (by the offense) or intercepted (by the defense) if a player, who is inbounds:

(a) secures control of the ball in his hands or arms prior to the ball touching the ground; and

(b) touches the ground inbounds with both feet or with any part of his body other than his hands; and

(c) maintains control of the ball after (a) and (b) have been fulfilled, until he has the ball long enough to clearly become a runner. A player has the ball long enough to become a runner when, after his second foot is on the ground, he is capable of avoiding or warding off impending contact of an opponent, tucking the ball away, turning up field, or taking additional steps (see 3-2-7-Item 2).

Note: If a player has control of the ball, a slight movement of the ball will not be considered a loss of possession. He must lose control of the ball in order to rule that there has been a loss of possession.

If the player loses the ball while simultaneously touching both feet or any part of his body to the ground, it is not a catch.

What about those that go to the ground and can’t run?

Here is what the rule now says: “[He] must maintain control of the ball until after his initial contact with the ground, whether in the field of play or the end zone. If he loses control of the ball, and the ball touches the ground before he regains control, the pass is incomplete. If he regains control prior to the ball touching the ground, the pass is complete.”

Simple, right? How about we scrub the rulebook back to a simple time when the rules were obvious. Now that we have hi-def, instant, slow motion replay, judging a catch should be a quick yes/no that could be called by anyone. Control? In bounds? Answer yes to both and you have yourself a catch.

Which leads me to the refs. I get it, you have some corporate attorney or something whose weekend job is to ref a game being played by some of the fastest athletes in the world. They are going to miss things…but that’s ok (see instant replay description above). However, they seem to be growing more susceptible to players calling for flags. Watch a game and see how many times the receiver jumps up after not catching the ball, makes the flag throwing motion, and a flag suddenly comes flying in. That shouldn’t happen ever. Call it or don’t, but the ref can’t appear wishy-washy.

Stop calling random holding penalties. Every play you can zoom in and see a lineman holding by the definition of the rule. They can’t call every one, so why call any? My feeling is that if I can hold out one arm and hold you back, you need to get stronger. Save the holding for the egregious incidents and leave the little ones alone.

Hands to the face, in the grasp, or any other rule protecting the QB. The NFL has a discrimination problem…QB’s get preferential treatment. If a defender’s hand even moves near the QB’s helmet…whistle, flag, penalty! Yet the instinct of the QB when about to get hit is to duck his head…ducking puts his head near the general region of the defender’s hands…how is this a good rule again? I get it…they are high value and, as you will see later, the good ones are hard to come by so they are protecting an investment. Why not put a big red vest on them and not allow any one to hit them at all? Just kidding…please do not do this.

Protests. Like or hate Kaepernick, he has his right to an opinion and since his employer didn’t have a rule in place for something like this, he can keep on keepin’ on. They could have easily avoided this. How…not airing it. Stop panning the camera on the players…or they could play the anthem while the players are in the locker rooms. Don’t tell everyone who stood and who didn’t. Also, I find it odd that people are up in arms about players not standing motionless with respect, while thousands in the service areas go about serving, or being served, beers and the cameramen roam the field looking for people to film. Hey cameraman, stop being disrespectful and stand still.

Vulgar displays of ego (makes you think Pantera, yes?)…I will sum that up by describing something I saw in a game recently. Team X is down by a good 30+ points and it is late in the game…no chance of a come back, and a receiver from team X makes a routine catch and gets a first down. Play over, this self-aggrandizing receiver runs forward five more yards and makes an exaggerated version of the referee’s motion for first down to celebrate his accomplishment. Are we supposed to be impressed that you finally moved the ball 10 yards? Look, I get celebrating big things in a game. But every first down? Tackles? There are about 65-70 tackles in a game…that is your job. I don’t celebrate every email I respond to…though I may start, that does sound fun….imagine it now…”YES! I just hit send! Woohoo! Sent that email! Next email about to get written!”

Matchup/coverage/hyperbole issues. Open message to John Gruden (and most other announcers as well)…every game can’t have “the best in the game” at something. As soon as you open your mouth about a player, I know I will hear those magic words. Ease up a bit, there are some good players to be sure, but find a new way to describe them.

Coverage…People used to ask me if I was unhappy that LA lost the Rams all those years back. Other than an opportunity to see teams I may like come to town, I (and much of LA) was happy without a team because it gave us many more options and games. Now, we get a limited supply of games again. The station carrying the game opposite the Rams game, will instead shower us with infomercials for copper/ceramic pots in which you can burn up a quart of milk and it won’t stick. Act now and you’ll knock off a payment? How can I refuse?

Hey NFL, if I wanted to watch the Rams, I would…but if there were a more interesting matchup available, why shouldn’t I get that option?

Speaking of matchups, and yes, the NFL is partly to blame for this, Jets-Arizona on a Monday night? Who wants to see that except Jets fans and, since the Cardinals were 2-3 before that game, AZ fans? How can the NFL fix this? Drop some teams. There are 32 teams, which means you need 32 starting QB’s, 32 back up QB’s, and few other people with arms to fill in here and there. There is a rating scale for NFL QB’s based on many stats and the best possible rating is 158.3.  Using 70% as a passing grade how many of the QB’s playing today pass? Guess…15? 10? Oh no no no….only 1. Matt Ryan with a 117.9 (74.4% ) is the only QB in the league even playing at a C level. We have 11 that have a D, and the rest of the 20 starters…fail. What kind of football can we expect to watch with that sort of QB play? Exactly…who tunes in to watch QB’s play poorly?  Note: ESPN has a total QBR which they say takes into account more than stats and includes far more details including distance thrown (not total yards of the play), team contribution (did a receiver drop some passes), etc…based on this efficiency rating on a scale of 1-100, we have 2 B QBs, 4 C QBs, and 8 D QBs. Meaning with this scale we go from 12 not failing to 14…not much better.

Cut out 4 teams. Least valuable, least revenue, least attended (percentage of available seats used), worst record last decade…any of these and improve the standards of play. Yes, some fans will be upset, but the overall product will be better. Problem is, that is a big cut for a corporation that brings in over $10 B per year…drop 4 teams and theoretically they drop about $1.2 B in revenues…I can’t imagine that is in the cards…so I guess we just watch bad product…or we don’t as much, which is what is happening now.

Who knows, maybe the NFL will use one of these ideas and kick me back 1% of the increase revenue…then I wouldn’t have to celebrate my work emails any more…

 

If all else fails, maybe people will finally start watching Australian rules football. If you miss the NFL of old, set your DVR to find it on Fox Sports late one night. You will be hooked. No helmets, very few rules, no stopping between plays…