New Information Sheds Light On Why Chicago Bears May Be Sold Soon

[IotaNet]

I know it's SportsMockery but this article does a really good job of connecting the dots around all of the recent machinations with the Bear's moves. It's a quickly digestible explanation that makes as much sense as anything I've read lately.

Here's the key quote ...

"Think about this. They have land for a new stadium. The legalized gambling money comes in. Then on top of it all? They happen to employ a franchise quarterback. Justin Fields has a chance to bring everything together if he’s the real deal ... The fact that the Chicago Bears might be able to hit the trifecta if Fields works out? Lord have mercy. The McCaskey family could be looking at a price well in excess of $10 billion."

Entire story here: https://www.sportsmockery.com/chicago-bears/new-information-sheds-light-on-why-chicago-bears-may-be-sold-soon/

[dll2000]

It doesn't sound like they are selling to me.   Sounds like they are digging in and planning for future.  I would be shocked if they sold.  

Selling now would be selling high though I think.   

Big TV deals still coming in now - may not be true in future as they may not have ratings to justify it.   Nor will they have cable subscriptions.   It will have to come from streaming and more people keep pouring into that game and competition will divide the pie.   

The next generation consumes things differently and is not nearly as into sports as previous generations.   

I have teenage kids and know lots of teenagers.   Very few of them are super into sports and even the ones that are don't sit and watch full games in real time.  Many, most of them are not into sports at all.   You can find more kids following e-gaming of different types than following NFL.

In my life I watch games by myself.   Nobody else cares to watch them with me.    

My generation nearly everyone watched football.  Even people who didn't play football watched it.   Everybody went to high school games, etc.  That isn't happening anymore outside the south.  

Football youth participation has been going down steadily since concussions became a big thing.   Youth football was attacked a lot over years, but that one stuck and made a difference.   Been going down more each year.     

NFL is becoming increasingly outspokenly political and falling in with left wing ideals and positions, which resonates strongly with media, social media, forums, etc. but there are still large swaths of people who don't agree with those positions.   I mean national elections are still close and cities are all blue and most everywhere else is red.

There are deep divides still that haven't gone away.   For example, I personally know about 20 police officers over 40 and not one will watch NFL ever again (they say).   17 of them or so were huge life long fans.   I believe them.  Not that I talk to them often, but if I bring up something about Bears they just say I don't watch or follow NFL.   

Most people will not abandon the NFL over politics, but a not insignificant number will continue to trickle away and will leave if it is an issue dear to them or they find something else as interesting.

In early 20th century boxing, baseball and horse racing were king.   Nobody at time thought that would change.   Now Bears can buy Arlington Race Course for pennies on dollar.

Will be interesting to see what it all looks like in 20 or 30 years if I am still around.  

[Nads786]

46 minutes ago, dll2000 said:

It doesn't sound like they are selling to me.   Sounds like they are digging in and planning for future.  I would be shocked if they sold.  

Selling now would be selling high though I think.   

Big TV deals still coming in now - may not be true in future as they may not have ratings to justify it.   Nor will they have cable subscriptions.   It will have to come from streaming and more people keep pouring into that game and competition will divide the pie.   

The next generation consumes things differently and is not nearly as into sports as previous generations.   

I have teenage kids and know lots of teenagers.   Very few of them are super into sports and even the ones that are don't sit and watch full games in real time.  Many, most of them are not into sports at all.   You can find more kids following e-gaming of different types than following NFL.

In my life I watch games by myself.   Nobody else cares to watch them with me.    

My generation nearly everyone watched football.  Even people who didn't play football watched it.   Everybody went to high school games, etc.  That isn't happening anymore outside the south.  

Football youth participation has been going down steadily since concussions became a big thing.   Youth football was attacked a lot over years, but that one stuck and made a difference.   Been going down more each year.     

NFL is becoming increasingly outspokenly political and falling in with left wing ideals and positions, which resonates strongly with media, social media, forums, etc. but there are still large swaths of people who don't agree with those positions.   I mean national elections are still close and cities are all blue and most everywhere else is red.

There are deep divides still that haven't gone away.   For example, I personally know about 20 police officers over 40 and not one will watch NFL ever again (they say).   17 of them or so were huge life long fans.   I believe them.  Not that I talk to them often, but if I bring up something about Bears they just say I don't watch or follow NFL.   

Most people will not abandon the NFL over politics, but a not insignificant number will continue to trickle away and will leave if it is an issue dear to them or they find something else as interesting.

In early 20th century boxing, baseball and horse racing were king.   Nobody at time thought that would change.   Now Bears can buy Arlington Race Course for pennies on dollar.

Will be interesting to see what it all looks like in 20 or 30 years if I am still around.  

That point seems so insane to me. When I was 17 the Bears went 13-3 with **** Jauron and I became a diehard fan. I guess in 2001 there were way less options for entertainment. Now it's almost impossible to be bored. I will say my ability to watch a TV show or movie with commercials is nearly 0. The only time I will sit down and watch any commercials is during sports and it usually drives me crazy. Perhaps kids just cannot handle the barrage of commercials that sports has? 

[dll2000]

1 hour ago, Nads786 said:

That point seems so insane to me. When I was 17 the Bears went 13-3 with **** Jauron and I became a diehard fan. I guess in 2001 there were way less options for entertainment. Now it's almost impossible to be bored. I will say my ability to watch a TV show or movie with commercials is nearly 0. The only time I will sit down and watch any commercials is during sports and it usually drives me crazy. Perhaps kids just cannot handle the barrage of commercials that sports has? 

It's a lot of things, but bottom line is most teenage kids and younger aren't super into watching football. 

Some still are, but it is a growing minority to my observations (I help at youth group at church too).

And way less boys are playing tackle football.   I coached it locally in Illinois on and off for 20 years.   We had a large dropoff because of concussion concerns when that was hot in news, but lately I think kids would just rather not do it.   I stopped coaching 4 years ago or so. 

Playing fortnight or whatever latest cool online game with their buddies on their headsets is just more fun to them.   I still make my kids get out and get some exercise because they aren't going sit on a couch all day and get fat.   

My son does parkour classes at local gymnastics place and my daughter does aerial silks.     But I don't make him play football and he has no interest in it at all, which something I never imagined would happen.  

Actually all the local kids are still in pretty good shape for not being in football.   They still run around and play stuff.  None of them are obese, most are too skinny.    

Hockey to me looks super cool, but I never watch NHL because I never played.   Same is going to be true for a lot of people in future with football.  

 

[dll2000]

It's funny as long as we are on this topic and I am musing.  My 14 year old daughter asked me other day why I liked football when we were out for a walk.

A little background.   My daughter is very smart.  She doesn't personally realize it because she has a couple of close friends who are also very smart and one is a near genius.  She doesn't have a wide net of people she is close to for her to understand what people generally are like and where she ranks among them.  My wife is really smart too and she homeschools her.  So she just isn't used to interacting with people who aren't intelligent.

I try to tell her that I have coached/taught thousands of people and she is like top 1 or 2%, but I guess until you experience and have to rely on or teach a lot more humans you don't understand it.   Plus, few teenage girls think they are great.  They focus on their flaws.

I sarcastically joke with teenage boys that it is good when they tell girls or point out their physical flaws because they are probably not aware of them.   They will appreciate the insight.   Some of them nod.  Idiots. 

 But I explained to her how football is different from other sports in that there are more variables at play.   It is a game like chess, but instead of moving dead pieces you are dealing with humans and all their complexity.   Games like basketball are more about who has the best individual player or two since they mean so much.  They play offense and defense and are 1 of 5.   The player impacts the game much more than coaching does.  

Football has much more individual specialization.  Coaching and ancillary things matter much more in football than any other sport.   A well coached team as part of a well run organization can easily defeat a team with greater talent that doesn't have those features or has them to a lesser extent.

She is getting into learning various strategy games at moment so this really intrigued her.   She said she understands the appeal a lot more.

What that means I don't know.   It was a nice conversation on a nice walk.  If you ever have a daughter I would advise scheduling walks and just taking an hour or so to just walk and talk.  It's nice.  Been doing it awhile now.  

 

Edited July 1, 2021 by dll2000
double word

[beardown3231]

4 hours ago, dll2000 said:

It's funny as long as we are on this topic and I am musing.  My 14 year old daughter asked me other day why I liked football when we were out for a walk.

A little background.   My daughter is very smart.  She doesn't personally realize it because she has a couple of close friends who are also very smart and one is a near genius.  She doesn't have a wide net of people she is close to for her to understand what people generally are like and where she ranks among them.  My wife is really smart too and she homeschools her.  So she just isn't used to interacting with people who aren't intelligent.

I try to tell her that I have coached/taught thousands of people and she is like top 1 or 2%, but I guess until you experience and have to rely on or teach a lot more humans you don't understand it.   Plus, few teenage girls think they are great.  They focus on their flaws.

I sarcastically joke with teenage boys that it is good when they tell girls or point out their physical flaws because they are probably not aware of them.   They will appreciate the insight.   Some of them nod.  Idiots. 

 But I explained to her how football is different from other sports in that there are more variables at play.   It is a game like chess, but instead of moving dead pieces you are dealing with humans and all their complexity.   Games like basketball are more about who has the best individual player or two since they mean so much.  They play offense and defense and are 1 of 5.   The player impacts the game much more than coaching does.  

Football has much more individual specialization.  Coaching and ancillary things matter much more in football than any other sport.   A well coached team as part of a well run organization can easily defeat a team with greater talent that doesn't have those features or has them to a lesser extent.

She is getting into learning various strategy games at moment so this really intrigued her.   She said she understands the appeal a lot more.

What that means I don't know.   It was a nice conversation on a nice walk.  If you ever have a daughter I would advise scheduling walks and just taking an hour or so to just walk and talk.  It's nice.  Been doing it awhile now.  

 

DLL is up in my feels now 🥲

[dll2000]

16 minutes ago, beardown3231 said:

DLL is up in my feels now 🥲

That post needs piano music I think.  

[beardown3231]

5 hours ago, dll2000 said:

That post needs piano music I think.  

I have a 1 year old- if you recall she was born right before last year's draft and I was posting about it- and it's my first, so any advice is appreciated

[dll2000]

12 hours ago, beardown3231 said:

I have a 1 year old- if you recall she was born right before last year's draft and I was posting about it- and it's my first, so any advice is appreciated

When you have a baby you are a baby as a parent as well and you grow together.  

I can say most men would rather have a son when they imagine having children, but you will find that daughters are a tremendous blessing from God and have a relationship with dad that is very special.

 

 

 

 

 

[blkwdw13]

2 hours ago, dll2000 said:

When you have a baby you are a baby as a parent as well and you grow together.  

I can say most men would rather have a son when they imagine having children, but you will find that daughters are a tremendous blessing from God and have a relationship with dad that is very special.

 

 

 

 

 

Until they become teenagers and try to think they are adults. 

[dll2000]

40 minutes ago, blkwdw13 said:

Until they become teenagers and try to think they are adults. 

“When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”

― Mark Twain

[Heinz D.]

On 6/30/2021 at 10:54 AM, dll2000 said:

My generation nearly everyone watched football.  Even people who didn't play football watched it.   Everybody went to high school games, etc.  That isn't happening anymore outside the south.  

The ratings for the NFL broadcasts are still staggeringly good. Which means...it ain't just in the South.

What are you referring to? 🤔

On 6/30/2021 at 10:54 AM, dll2000 said:

NFL is becoming increasingly outspokenly political and falling in with left wing ideals and positions, which resonates strongly with media, social media, forums, etc. but there are still large swaths of people who don't agree with those positions.   I mean national elections are still close and cities are all blue and most everywhere else is red.

How are they "becoming increasingly outspokenly political and falling in with left wing ideals and positions"? 

Edited July 2, 2021 by Heinz D.

[dll2000]

16 hours ago, Heinz D. said:

The ratings for the NFL broadcasts are still staggeringly good. Which means...it ain't just in the South.

I am talking about future not now.  Obviously, NFL is king of entertainment at moment.  With gambling they may stay that way for far longer than they otherwise would.  

16 hours ago, Heinz D. said:

What are you referring to? 🤔

How are they "becoming increasingly outspokenly political and falling in with left wing ideals and positions"? 

I have to explain this?   You can agree with their positions.  But it is what it is.

Not everyone agrees with it.  That is point I was making.  

 

 

[Heinz D.]

3 hours ago, dll2000 said:

I have to explain this?   You can agree with their positions.  But it is what it is.

I guess? Are you referring to the league acknowledging the Black Lives Matter movement? Or is there something else? 

[Sugashane]

Eh. Let's back off the political talk please.

Go ahead and PM it if you want to have the discussion.