What sport replaces the NFL?

[l33sco]

As a lifelong fan I would love to see soccer take off. It will not however happen until the federations crack down very hard on the flopping. It has pretty much destroyed the sport, has gotten worse over the years, and sadly is rewarded by the refs and has therefore made it a valid strategy. Until they start handing out red cards, reviewing games and levying massive fines for obvious flops and excessive writhing it won't take off.

That is mostly just in mens soccer right now however. Women's soccer is MUCH more appealing to watch right now because the skill level of many teams has skyrocketed in the last decade and they don't flop like the men do.

I wouldn't say it is destroying the sport as it only tends to happen at the top tiers of the big men's leagues. It's difficult, and you see it in basketball as well. They don't writhe around or react because they are "pussies" as some would call it, but because at the top level of the professional game they are hugely incentivized to win at all costs. I don't see fines working, such is the money involved, and retrospective points punishment for teams only works in league competitions.

How do you then police it? There are outright dives, "bought" fouls, legs left in tackles to create a trip... fine lines between them all. And we need to be careful with complicated rules, coach challenges, video replays etc that will all slow the game down. That constant tick of the game clock is crucial to the flow of the "beautiful game."

[tww1313]

I'm not interested in watching cars going in a circle. But then again, I'm not interested in football either. I can say with some degree of certainty that cricket will not be under consideration.

Watching people lift weights off the ground is much more entertaining 😉 Man and machine does have an appeal that other sports don't have. The demise of the NFL is just another nail in the coffin for sports. Between leftist making all sports non competitive, drugs both steroids and street, and people have many more options for entertainment. Sports just really are not that important to most people I know who were once sports fans. MMA does not stand a chance at doing what the NFL did. It's glory days were 8-10 years ago as far as the hype goes. Mayweather/Mcrgregor and Jon Jones recently helped make MMA a little less credible in the public eyes. This is at least my perspective from were I live.

[LimieJosh]

Several things are affecting the NFL adversely right now. They are both pissing off their fan base and diluting the game with rules changes, to the extent that viewership has declined and active distaste is developing. It may be temporary, as suggested by several posters. But things change over time -- maps, demographics, cultural preferences.

The NFL's current hegemony is only about ten years old or so. This growth from it being just one of the main American sports to THE American sport, has been built on the backs of people who are not actually football fans. They are people who started participating in the experience because of all the ancillary shit that surrounds game day, and status built on those sorts of consumers is a precarious thing. You go to any bar on a sunday to watch a game, and no one is actually watching a game. These fans are not economically worth the same to the league as the more traditional fans. They do not need to actually watch the game to get out of it what they want and I think that has led to the TV companies miscalculating the TV deals. That is likely to have to go through a correction sooner than later. When it does, the NFL will still be powerful, but it will be back amongst the pack rather than in its current position.

The issues with CTE and how the league handles it are relevant, but that's going to be a slow burn that will likely be difficult to identify that point at which it takes effect (although in 30 years we will probably realise that it's already well underway). The issues the NFL faces dealing with this is a bit like what we've seen with the GOP health bills - there are two distinct groups of people they need to win over, but those groups are diametrically opposed in the things they want and so to win one group you alienate the other. It has already led to youth participation being way down, and if that is translated into a different level of interest in the average kid of that age then the NFL will face an issue in 10-15 years. The more immediate issue is anything the league does to try and head off this ticking time bomb is likely to turn away established fans who will find themselves watching a game they do not recognize. What I think is likely is we end up with a much changed version of the game (a "pussyified" one) that somewhat appeals to the younger crowd and the current Fantasy people who dont really watch anyway, and the old fashioned die hards fall away. That will still be enough to make the NFL successful and economically viable, just not in this position of dominance it has had for the past 10-15 years.

[Crom]

I have little hope that bicycle racing would ever "replace the NFL", but last weekend Peter Sagan became the first rider in history to win the men's professional road championship for the third time ....and in three consecutive years!
Incredibly exciting stuff....but I admit that it takes a bit of knowledge of cycling and tactics before it looks like anything but "a bunch of guys in tight shorts pedaling around". Somehow Belgium and France have managed to make it a major national sport.

[Mark Rippetoe]

How come you're not interested in football, Rip?

Have you ever watched rugby?

I've just never been a fan of watching other people play football, or any other team sport. Rugby is impenetrable to me. I like Sumo, and fencing, and weightlifting, and a few other Olympic sports that we are not permitted to watch here. But I could care less about football. The shame of that is that I can't boycott it.

I have little hope that bicycle racing would ever "replace the NFL", but last weekend Peter Sagan became the first rider in history to win the men's professional road championship for the third time ....and in three consecutive years!
Incredibly exciting stuff.

Absolutely. I'm excited just reading about it.

[Maties Hofstede]

thoughts on motorsports as a possibility?

F1, nascar, indy??

andddd he's making a left turnnn

[Mark Rippetoe]

"Look how fast he's going, Al."

"Yeah, Bob, and here comes another left turn."

"Imagine that concentration, Al."

"Here he comes again, Bob. He's really going fast."

[spangler]

I wouldn't say it is destroying the sport as it only tends to happen at the top tiers of the big men's leagues. It's difficult, and you see it in basketball as well. They don't writhe around or react because they are "pussies" as some would call it, but because at the top level of the professional game they are hugely incentivized to win at all costs. I don't see fines working, such is the money involved, and retrospective points punishment for teams only works in league competitions.

How do you then police it? There are outright dives, "bought" fouls, legs left in tackles to create a trip... fine lines between them all. And we need to be careful with complicated rules, coach challenges, video replays etc that will all slow the game down. That constant tick of the game clock is crucial to the flow of the "beautiful game."

I never called them pussies. Please read back where I said they are rewarded by the refs for flopping and that makes it a valid strategy. I think that is a shame. It is straight up unsportsmanlike conduct and a direct violation of the laws of the game.

I agree about replay and challenges and such I wouldn't want to slow down the clock. I would like the refs to call unsportsmanlike conduct fouls and book players if they see an obvious flop. I know they technically can now, but they rarely do. In addition, at the top tiers (I see it at all levels of play BTW, not just the top) I would like to see video review of each game and post-game bookings which affect the availability for the next match in addition to fines for obvious flops.

Is it a perfect system? No, would it perhaps help stop the egregious unsportsmanlike conduct which is so distasteful and ruining the sport (I still maintain)? Perhaps. I think it is worth a try.

[Maties Hofstede]

"Look how fast he's going, Al."

"Yeah, Bob, and here comes another left turn."

"Imagine that concentration, Al."

"Here he comes again, Bob. He's really going fast."

Shit. The accuracy. Just made my day.

[Satch12879]

Why do you even have the national anthem at local games? Seems to just cause a bunch of issues that are easily avoided by just dropping it.

Because the state pays them to make a spectacle out of it:

Stop Wrapping the Flag Around Pro Sports | Mises Wire