Has The NFL Jumped The Shark?.....

Today is Super Bowl Sunday. Billions will watch the game tonight. Some won't even care about the game. They just want to see some creative commercials. Lady Gaga will entertain us at halftime. It is a national spectacle. It seems a strange time for me to talk about a perceived fading popularity of the NFL. Is trouble on the horizon?

Plenty of good seats available!

Not from a revenue standpoint. The NFL is a money machine. The league makes an obscene amount of money.The TV contracts are huge. Licensing fees on products are high. Most of the tickets are sold, although not everybody shows up. However, many smart people are saying that the NFL has reached it's peak. When the league made Thursday night football part of the package, NBA owner, and shark, Mark Cuban predicted the greedy NFL will soon fade. "Pigs get fat. Hogs get slaughtered". he said.

For those not familiar with the "jump the shark" reference, the TV show Happy Days had been a hit for years. But when an episode aired where Fonzie went water skiing and jumped over a shark, the show had peaked and faded in popularity. Maybe the NFL has become a parody of itself and trouble is looming. Consider the following:

• TV ratings are down. Way down. The present TV contract is based on ratings. So will the next

  

  So many games - but not enough viewers.

  one. It has been reported that Monday Night Football ratings are down 24% from 2015, Sunday night down 19%, and Thursday night is down 18%. Some of that may be due to poor team match ups. But that's another problem if there are not enough attractive teams.
• There are plenty of empty seats at games. The seats may actually be sold, but the games may not be attractive enough to sit out in the cold. Plus the greedy NFL forces ticket plan holders to purchase meaningless pre-season games as well.
• Despite the attempts by the NFL, American football is not an international game like baseball or basketball. The NFL lost millions trying to establish a league in Europe. The NFL seems to still be forcing a annual game or two into London. Bloody hell.
• Perhaps the most serious issue may be the physical toll that the game takes on highly trained, and highly paid players. Concussions and a condition called CTE may eventually be a serious part of the popularity problem. Concussions are closely monitored now. Parents are having second thoughts about encouraging their children to participate in football. While presently CTE can only be diagnosed post mortem, there is no question the effects of the game can lead to dementia and an early death. (For more information, watch the Will Smith movie - Concussion.)

NY Times - Deceased Football players diagnosed with CTE: 

Mike Webster (CENTER, PITTSBURGH STEELERS),  Junior Seau (LINEBACKER, SAN DIEGO CHARGERS), Ken Stabler (QUARTERBACK, OAKLAND RAIDERS), Dave Duerson (SAFETY, CHICAGO BEARS), Frank Gifford (RUNNING BACK, NEW YORK GIANTS),  Andre Waters (SAFETY, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES),  Chris Henry (RECEIVER, CINCINNATI BENGALS), Justin Strzelczyk, (TACKLE, PITTSBURGH STEELERS), Tom McHale (GUARD, TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS), Ray Easterling (SAFETY, ATLANTA FALCONS), Ralph Wenzel (GUARD, PITTSBURGH STEELERS), Tyler Sash (SAFETY, NEW YORK GIANTS) 

And …

In a 2012 study, 85 people who had histories of repeated mild traumatic brain injury, showed 68, nearly all of whom played sports, showed evidence of C.T.E. Fifty were football players, including 33 who played in the N.F.L. Among them were Ollie Matson, Cookie Gilchrist and John Mackey.

But perhaps my issue with the NFL just stems from where I live. My town boasts the NBA Champions, and the American League Champs in baseball. The NFL team is so historically bad here it's beyond description.

Will I watch the Super Bowl? Sure. I just hope it's a good game. I don't really care who wins. I hope some commercials make me laugh. Lady Gaga? Perhaps a wardrobe malfunction or some political comment, You need something for TMZ as well as Sportscenter.