Is Roger Goodell Good For the NFL?

[celts32]

Originally Posted by Mattyk

Ratings were up about 30% if I recall, that's a pretty big boost

The 30% figure is the thursday night 1st round. I never saw anything reported about how they did on Friday starting it during rush hour and without the lure of the 1st round prospects to attract the average fan. The stretching out to 3 days and the rediculously early start on Friday is really my biggest problem. I can accept that the primetime first round is here to stay but why not a Friday night 1st round and then rounds 2-7 on Saturday? That way they get the 1st round in Primetime but the draft diehards who are responsible for making it an event in the first place still get their full Saturday of draft coverage. The 3 day setup now just infuriates me...

[MTK]

The big draw is obviously the first round, beyond that I'm sure the ratings fall off no matter what day it's on.

[skinsguy]

I personally don't have the patience to sit there for hours watching the draft. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE football, but I don't feel the need to watch the draft past the first round.

[Jontrem]

Originally Posted by celts32

The 30% figure is the thursday night 1st round. I never saw anything reported about how they did on Friday starting it during rush hour and without the lure of the 1st round prospects to attract the average fan. The stretching out to 3 days and the rediculously early start on Friday is really my biggest problem. I can accept that the primetime first round is here to stay but why not a Friday night 1st round and then rounds 2-7 on Saturday? That way they get the 1st round in Primetime but the draft diehards who are responsible for making it an event in the first place still get their full Saturday of draft coverage. The 3 day setup now just infuriates me...

This sounds even better than the old system to me. Instead of 1 full day of the draft we would get Firday night plus Saturday all day. Why would they not want to do this?

[MTK]

Originally Posted by skinsguy

I personally don't have the patience to sit there for hours watching the draft. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE football, but I don't feel the need to watch the draft past the first round.

I think a lot of people share that view, and I'm sure the ratings support that too.

Beyond the first round I'll check in here and there but I definitely don't park in front of the TV for hours on end. Not when it's so easy to just log on and get whatever info you need.

[Ruhskins]

Originally Posted by Mattyk

I think a lot of people share that view, and I'm sure the ratings support that too.

Beyond the first round I'll check in here and there but I definitely don't park in front of the TV for hours on end. Not when it's so easy to just log on and get whatever info you need.

I must say, Twitter has sort of killed the "suspense" from the NFL draft. I think last year the sports outlets would tweet the pick about 5 mins before it was announced on TV.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by Ruhskins

I must say, Twitter has sort of killed the "suspense" from the NFL draft. I think last year the sports outlets would tweet the pick about 5 mins before it was announced on TV.

Yeah, I wonder if the NFL will squash that this year

[redsk1]

This a good article, Tinkering With a Longer Season, from my new favorite blog, besides this one, The Fifth Down.

Tinkering With a Longer N.F.L. Season - NYTimes.com

A couple of options:

17 Game season
18 Game season w/ players playing a maximum of 16 games
17 games w/ a nuetral site game

The best thing I took from the article: Fans don't want 18 games, they just don't want to pay full price for a preseason game.

[mlmpetert]

I really really don’t like goodell and I think hes bad for the NFL. The dude just doesn’t get it.

Same as Suh: Jags’ Mike Lockley fined $20,000 | ProFootballTalk

Both Suh and Lockley were called for personal fouls after engaging in the kinds of dangerous hits that the NFL is trying to reduce. So it makes sense that they were both fined.

But the NFL fining Suh and Lockley the same amount is, frankly, ridiculous. Lockley is an undrafted rookie just hoping to make the Jaguars’ regular-season roster at the league-minimum salary of $375,000, which comes out to $22,000 a week for the 17 weeks of the regular season. The league has effectively docked Lockley a full game check.

Suh, on the other hand, will make $60 million over the five-year contract he signed with the Lions last year. The total value of Suh’s contract works out to more than $700,000 a week, so a $20,000 fine is chump change to him.

[MTK]

I've got no problem with Suh getting fined.

[celts32]

He completely destroyed the NFL Draft holiday and I will always hold that against him. Aside from that I like the job Roger has done.

[MTK]

I think he made the draft even better. Two thumbs up to prime time drafts.

[sportscurmudgeon]

Originally Posted by mattyk

i think he made the draft even better. Two thumbs up to prime time drafts.

amen!!!

[celts32]

Originally Posted by Mattyk

I think he made the draft even better. Two thumbs up to prime time drafts.

It's terrible. Draft saturday used to be a holiday for football fans to get together. The prime time format took that away from the diehards in exchange for a couple more casual viewers in primetime.

[MTK]

A couple more viewers? Ratings are significantly higher.