It's not about being monolithic or slow to change. The one time they went from one extreme to the next was by going from Tagliabue to Goodell. How'd that work out? The successful leagues who don't feel they need to change are the ones who don't face any real competition. The NFL is right there. It's no different than WWE fans who swear they'll stop watching wrestling if Cena wins the belt only to keep watching when he wins it for the 16th time.
The NFL is a runaway money making machine. If it don't make dollars it don't make sense, and the league is hands on to a fault there. They're not worried about your happiness because they know you'll tune in regardless. Even with this ratings scare, they just attributed it to a once in 4 year thing and things are back on track. As you saw I did agree with some of what you said, but other stuff is as pie in the sky as me saying the Jets must play in their own stadium that the NFL must fund. The NFL isn't about to be the league that fights for decriminalization of weed. They're lucky we look the other way when players get popped for PED's. They're not gonna hand more revenues to the players out of the goodness of their hearts or institute a soft cap that would damn near bury a team like your Steelers. Where's the financial sense in it?
I agree with you that a lot of my recommendations are pie in the sky - I'm just saying what I would like to see, not what I think is necessarily realistic to hope for.
And the NFL SHOULD be worried about my happiness, that's part of what I'm driving at. They are very much short-term thinkers in the league office. Whatever they can do to drive revenue today, they will do. They are not playing the long game. I will tune in this year regardless, but over time? I already watch way less games now than I used to, and I imagine the trend will continue until I only watch Steelers games. shyt, over the past few years, I've gone on vacations with my girl and completely ignored several Steelers games too because, fukk it. (Disclaimer: I'm using myself as an example but I know there are lots of diehard fans who think like that.) But college football? I usually find myself in a bar on Saturdays so I can watch 3, 4, 5, 6 games at once because there are so many that seem enticing going on at the same time. I have a totally different interest level and just a few short years ago, I would have told you the opposite - that I wanted to watch every NFL game and I'd take or leave college football outside of PSU.
And the weed thing? You know Goodell is a slave to public opinion when it comes to off-the-field stuff. I wouldn't be so sure they will not decriminalize weed in the league. Will they be at the forefront of the movement? Hell no, they are only reactive, not proactive, which is their problem. If they were proactive in this situation, I think it would look favorable on them. And it makes financial sense because I think fans will appreciate the change, they'll get a lot of exciting players back on the field. And I think PED's and weed are totally different discussions. True, they are definitely lucky we don't react the way baseball fans do to that PED shyt. But that is a cultural thing in baseball. Weed is a much more broadly discussed topic. It is a topic of cultural discussion NATIONALLY. What "financial" ramifications are they risking if they make it illegal? I think the fans who largely think it's petty and can't stand seeing their favorite players suspended for it will show appreciation and be more into the league. It has upside and I don't see the downside. And it's a simple change, it doesn't cost anything to implement.
As far as the soft cap goes, yes it will bury some teams, at least for stretches of time until they get their shyt together in the draft. That's the point. I think sports leagues are far more interesting when there is concentration at the top and bottom than having concentration in the middle. Just my personal opinion, but hypothetically I'd rather there be 13 interesting teams, 13 garbage teams, and 6 average teams than 4 interesting teams, 4 garbage teams, and 24 average teams (which, in this year's league tends to skew closer to the 'garbage' end than the 'interesting' end). And as far as the Steelers go, I do not think a soft cap cripples them. I'm not talking about a baseball free-for-all where the Yankees and Red Sox buy all the best players. The NFL draft is still of supreme importance, in fact, you are more likely to keep your draftees in my scenario. The Steelers tend to be a good drafting team, so I don't see how a 'soft' cap sinks them. Although I do see how 'no cap' would sink them because the Rooneys are cheap.
Hell man I'm just spitballing because I want to love the NFL, I always have, but they're losing me
lose to the lions brehs
