Crisis? NFL Considering Reducing Commercial Time During Games

When an organization proposes reducing the amount of money it's taking in in order to buy back some goodwill, you can take that as a sign they're really worried about having lost all that goodwill.

As Ratings Plummet, N.F.L. Considers Reducing Ads and Length of Games

By KEN BELSONNOV. 10, 2016

N.F.L. Commissioner Roger Goodell said on Thursday that the league was looking at a variety of ways to shorten game broadcasts, including trimming some advertising, to keep the action moving.

The league has seen its television ratings plunge this season, something that Goodell has said is related to a number of factors, including the intense interest in the presidential election, as well as shifts in the way fans have been watching games.

...

Goodell noted, though, that the pace of games could also be a factor in the ratings decline. Fans have complained for years that games are too long, and they frequently express annoyance at the number of commercial breaks and video reviews. Last season, the average length of regular-season games, from kickoff to final whistle, was 3 hours 8 minutes, six minutes longer than in 2008.

NFL viewership is down double digits this year. Goodell called the falling ratings a "cyclical" phenomenon.

In related news, Joe Thiesman has only minor permanent impairment to his leg due to the "cyclical" leg-break Laurence Taylor inflicted on him.

Goodell is also saying that Trump's election has made things difficult for him at home.

Asked whether his job was harder with Trump's ascension, at a DealBook conference in New York, Goodell pivoted to how it challenged his home life.

"It makes my job harder at home, too," Goodell said. "I have twin daughters and a wife, so I have to explain that to them. So, that's yes on that front."

Please let me give you money in the form of direct access to my brain and precious hours of my short life.

posted by Ace at 03:34 PM

| Access Comments