pf9 Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 The NFL's TV ratings have been down in recent years. One of the culprits is the playoff structure. The NFL has been at 12 playoff teams for nearly 3 decades. Since the last expansion of the playoffs in 1990, the other 2 major outdoor leagues in North America, MLB and MLS (the latter only starting in 1996) have expanded their playoffs a combined 4 times while the NFL has failed to keep up appearances. Let's put this in perspective. From 1992-2002, no team with at least 10 wins missed the playoffs. Since 2003 (but not last year) we've seen it happen several times. I'm proposing an expansion to 8 playoff teams in each conference because first round byes have proven to be just as bad for teams at times. In at least 2 cases where 10-win teams have missed the playoffs - the 2007 Browns and 2012 Bears - they have not recovered from the disappointment of winning so many games and still being on the outside looking in. The Browns have gone through numerous QBs and have had 5 coaching changes since their last winning season (in contrast, the last coaching change for any other AFC North team occurred after the 2007 Ravens season, despite numerous playoff disappointments by the Bengals in this time). I don't want this to happen to any other team, because as it stands, the NFL is the only big 4 league where it is failrly easy to win 60% of your games and still not make the playoffs. I've seen cases where first-round byes have gone south too, like the 2011 Packers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malfatron Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 8 minutes ago, pf9 said: 16 playoff teams in each conference So, everyone makes it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pf9 Posted October 18, 2017 Author Share Posted October 18, 2017 Typo meant to say 8 per conference fixed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pf9 Posted October 18, 2017 Author Share Posted October 18, 2017 Fixed opening post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
///mcompact Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 1 hour ago, MathMan said: So, everyone makes it? Socialized sports, Bro! Every gets a trophy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Nix Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 I think the ratings aren't as low as they seem with a lot of people moving to streaming options, not sure they are keeping track of that. But anywho, the playoff format doesn't need fixed in the NFL. If anything the college football playoff needs expanded hardcore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Ramster Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 No.. Streaming and piracy much like it did with music is killing ratings.. you dont even need a TV nor cable to watch perfect HD games.. Just stream it thru their app for free like they did many of years ago.. they will get their ratings back up again... Watch it when you go take a dump! Watch it wherever and whenever.. That yahoo crap was wack.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Small Town Values Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 I recommend do nothing... Instead, let's ride this bad boy until the wheels fall off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom cody Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 Like wrestling streaming is bringing down ratings. Overall the product is fine but could use a few tweaks. The playoff format is fine as is, no need to change it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter2_1 Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 wrong thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kip Smithers Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 11 hours ago, El ramster said: No.. Streaming and piracy much like it did with music is killing ratings.. you dont even need a TV nor cable to watch perfect HD games.. Just stream it thru their app for free like they did many of years ago.. they will get their ratings back up again... Watch it when you go take a dump! Watch it wherever and whenever.. That yahoo crap was wack.. I've always wondered how much percentage of viewers do that and if that's a reason. Though the people who think ratings are down due to protests are funny though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cddolphin Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 Nah, I think the playoff structure is fine. Besides, wouldn't adding more playoff games dilute the regular season product, and therefore make people less likely to watch? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mossburg Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 I don't think the ratings decline is in the NFL's control. There's just way too many other things that gained popularity that people watch watch/play/do, and more people are no longer prisoners of the standard television model which kept them circling a nice loop of shows and events that were always advertised on the networks they watched. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gnat Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 I'm always curious, how much are the ratings down in the NFL versus regular TV? If they are down a greater % in the NFL, then the NFL has to look at it and think about doing something to adjust. If they are done less then regular TV or the same amount, the NFL can't really do anything about it, because it's just a natural trend. I'll be curious to once better metrics come out for other streaming services, like Youtube TV, etc. that have the NFL on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
August4th Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 I think most of the ratings decline is out of the NFL's control cord cutting rise of streaming services like netflix, Hulu(people are no longer flicking through TV channels and maybe find a NFL game by accident out of boredom) rise of political talk and the national disasters that hit this county(believe news-cable is setting records in ratings) that prolly takes away views from the older crowd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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