NFL Network's Odd Reaction to Saints @ Vikings

[lancerman]

Anyways I think the best bet is probably Minnesota vs New England for ratings. 

Two big markets. Two historic teams. One team that is probably the greatest franchise to NOT win a Super Bowl trying to get their first in their home stadium (a first) against the most formidable dynasty and coach and QB in history. On the other end Brady and Belichick trying to get a historic 6th and put distance between themselves and the field by beating a very strong defense and doing it as effectively the first away team in a Super Bowl. 

[Kiwibrown]

I feel sorry for Marcus Williams that sucks for him. 

[BleedTheClock]

5 minutes ago, Darth Pees said:

Casual fans of football don't want to tune in to see Bortles or Keenum or Nick Foles play in the Superbowl. That's largely my biggest point. We'll all still tune in regardless because the 4 teams that are left are great teams and it'll probably be great games. But in overall revenue terms, I have a hard time believing the NFL (and it's network) are excited about the remaining field.

I really don't think star power matters. I know exactly zero people who would not watch the Super Bowl because of the teams playing. If it were two undefeated teams going at it or two small-market 8-8 teams that snuck into the playoffs, it wouldn't affect their decision. Most people watch the Super Bowl because it's the Super Bowl. My mom and sister, who couldn't name 5 players in the NFL outside of the Browns, watch the Super Bowl. My grandma watches the Super Bowl. I know girls that don't give a F about football. They won't watch, but they wouldn't watch if it were the freaking home team in the Super Bowl.

Maybe I'm being naive, but I don't think the amount of people that tune in to watch are affected by the teams playing in the game. Maybe in other sports, but not in the NFL (methinks).

[JAF-N72EX]

Just now, Kiwibrown said:

I feel sorry for Marcus Williams that sucks for him. 

Being a celebrity is tough as it is. But when your a celebrity for the wrong reasons.........I can't imagine.

[Jlowe22]

I know a lot of people that don't even care about the game, that watch just for the commercials.  SuperBowl commercials being a big deal helps their viewership more than anything.

[Ragnarok]

1 minute ago, lancerman said:

I think it's more a lack of star power. Patriots aside last year you had Ryan whose a known commodity, Jones whose an elite WR, and Freeman. The year before you had Cam Newton and Peyton Manning. The year before you had Richard Sherman and Marshawn Lynch and then again the year before that with Manning. The year before that you had Ray Lewis in his final run. The year before that it was Brady and Eli in a rematch of a historic game. The year before that it was Rodgers vs Ben. And so on. 

Assume the Patriots aren't there, of the three teams left is there a star player.

I think with Jax, you can play up the star power of Fournette as a rookie stud RB the same way they did Zeke.  And you obviously pump up the D.

With Minny, Keenum is really likable as is Thielen, you can sell Diggs as a new face of the NFL(I think he'd be a great guy to put in commercials), and once again, you pump up the D.

Philly without Wentz is the biggest problem because none of Ajayi, Agholor, Ertz, or Jeffrey have star power you can sell.  So you pump up the D.

You are right in that it isn't long established star power, but I think there are guys they can push for sure.  Fournette and Diggs would be the two I'd push first and hardest.  

[lancerman]

Just now, Jlowe22 said:

I know a lot of people that don't even care about the game, that watch just for the commercials.  SuperBowl commercials being a big deal helps their viewership more than anything.

It's more the fact that it's what everyone does that day. But yeah the Super Bowl generally has had a lot of star power in recent memory. Only one Super Bowl didn't have Brady/Manning/Ben since 2003 (when ratings exploded) and that game featured the most popular defensive player in the league who was retiring facing off against a team with a historic legacy.

[lancerman]

Just now, Ragnarok said:

I think with Jax, you can play up the star power of Fournette as a rookie stud RB the same way they did Zeke.  And you obviously pump up the D.

With Minny, Keenum is really likable as is Thielen, you can sell Diggs as a new face of the NFL(I think he'd be a great guy to put in commercials), and once again, you pump up the D.

Philly without Wentz is the biggest problem because none of Ajayi, Agholor, Ertz, or Jeffrey have star power you can sell.  So you pump up the D.

You are right in that it isn't long established star power, but I think there are guys they can push for sure.  Fournette and Diggs would be the two I'd push first and hardest.  

You're right in that with a creative mind you can sell anything. Eagles vs Patriots is a rematch where an Eagles team overcoming the loss of an MVP calibre QB is limping is trying to win their first Super Bowl by avenging their loss over a decade earlier. 

I already went over how great the Vikings vs Pats storyline is. 

Any game with the Vikings is good because the Vikings are the home team. Jags vs Eagles would be the tough one to sell imo. But that's it. But Philly is a good market so it shouldn't matter. 

[BleedTheClock]

6 minutes ago, lancerman said:

I think it's more a lack of star power. Patriots aside last year you had Ryan whose a known commodity, Jones whose an elite WR, and Freeman. The year before you had Cam Newton and Peyton Manning. The year before you had Richard Sherman and Marshawn Lynch and then again the year before that with Manning. The year before that you had Ray Lewis in his final run. The year before that it was Brady and Eli in a rematch of a historic game. The year before that it was Rodgers vs Ben. And so on. 

Assume the Patriots aren't there, of the three teams left is there a star player.

But my point is, anyone that knows who Matt Ryan and Devonta Freeman are were going to watch the game anyways. They are obviously fans of the NFL if they can discern the difference between a star player and a mediocre player. Any fan of the NFL will be watching the Super Bowl. People that don't even watch football watch the Super Bowl. So obviously people that know the game...even a little bit...are going to tune in. If for nothing else, to see the commercials. So the people they need to sell the game to are people that don't care about football at all. People that don't care about football at all aren't going to say, "Oh, Tom Brady isn't in the Super Bowl? Well then I'm not watching. Case Keenum and Blake Bortles are terrible! That game will suck!" They don't know that Bortles and Keenum suck. They don't watch football.

[BleedTheClock]

7 minutes ago, Kiwibrown said:

I feel sorry for Marcus Williams that sucks for him. 

I kind of do too. Every player in the NFL has had an abomination play like this in their career. It just doesn't happen at the most inopportune time like this did. Sucks to be him, but he's a 20 year old kid that will have plenty of chances to redeem himself. He's a pretty good player that just sharted in his panties right before the big date.

[lancerman]

Just now, BleedTheClock said:

But my point is, anyone that knows who Matt Ryan and Devonta Freeman are were going to watch the game anyways. They are obviously fans of the NFL if they can discern the difference between a star player and a mediocre player. Any fan of the NFL will be watching the Super Bowl. People that don't even watch football watch the Super Bowl. So obviously people that know the game...even a little bit...are going to tune in. If for nothing else, to see the commercials. So the people they need to sell the game to are people that don't care about football at all. People that don't care about football at all aren't going to say, "Oh, Tom Brady isn't in the Super Bowl? Well then I'm not watching. Case Keenum and Blake Bortles are terrible! That game will suck!" They don't know that Bortles and Keenum suck. They don't watch football.

No but more people watched the Patriots vs Seahawks than any other Super Bowl and I think that was largely off the dynamic of the storyline and the star power involved. 

The star power being Brady, Gronkowski, Belichick, Sherman, Lynch, Wilson. Two big markets to draw from that have footholds on opposite sides of the country. 

The storyline being can the Seahawks become the next great dynasty and defense in the NFL by dethroning the current dynasty and proving their metal against Tom Brady after they dismantled the other great QB of the era in Peyton Manning the year before. Then you had deflategate and Lynch's shenanigans playing into. It will never get a bad rating, but it's more about getting as much as possible and getting the few that actually don't watch.

[JAF-N72EX]

1 minute ago, BleedTheClock said:

But my point is, anyone that knows who Matt Ryan and Devonta Freeman are were going to watch the game anyways. They are obviously fans of the NFL if they can discern the difference between a star player and a mediocre player. Any fan of the NFL will be watching the Super Bowl. People that don't even watch football watch the Super Bowl. So obviously people that know the game...even a little bit...are going to tune in. If for nothing else, to see the commercials. So the people they need to sell the game to are people that don't care about football at all. People that don't care about football at all aren't going to say, "Oh, Tom Brady isn't in the Super Bowl? Well then I'm not watching. Case Keenum and Blake Bortles are terrible! That game will suck!" They don't know that Bortles and Keenum suck. They don't watch football.

Exactly. Football fanatics are going to watch regardless because we love football. Casuals are going to watch because of other reasons and those "other reasons" don't change at all based on who's playing or who isn't. 

 

[Ragnarok]

Just now, lancerman said:

You're right in that with a creative mind you can sell anything. Eagles vs Patriots is a rematch where an Eagles team overcoming the loss of an MVP calibre QB is limping is trying to win their first Super Bowl by avenging their loss over a decade earlier. 

I already went over how great the Vikings vs Pats storyline is. 

Any game with the Vikings is good because the Vikings are the home team. Jags vs Eagles would be the tough one to sell imo. But that's it. But Philly is a good market so it shouldn't matter. 

I basically agree, except that I still think Jags v Eagles wouldn't be that difficult to sell because one franchise is guaranteed their first SB ever.  

We either get Jags v Phi/MN in a game where a franchise gets that first SB win, or we get NE v Phi/MN where a team going for its first SB win has to fight off the evil empire.

I believe people would find either of those situations very compelling.  But Phi/MN v NE would definitely be more compelling.

[lancerman]

1 minute ago, Ragnarok said:

I basically agree, except that I still think Jags v Eagles wouldn't be that difficult to sell because one franchise is guaranteed their first SB ever.  

We either get Jags v Phi/MN in a game where a franchise gets that first SB win, or we get NE v Phi/MN where a team going for its first SB win has to fight off the evil empire.

I believe people would find either of those situations very compelling.  But Phi/MN v NE would definitely be more compelling.

Do casual fans really care that much if a franchise gets it's first Super Bowl? I mean all things considered what's more appealing from a historic level Jags/Vikings/Eagles getting their first or the Patriots tying the Steelers to become the team with the most Super Bowls?

[Ragnarok]

2 minutes ago, lancerman said:

No but more people watched the Patriots vs Seahawks than any other Super Bowl and I think that was largely off the dynamic of the storyline and the star power involved. 

The star power being Brady, Gronkowski, Belichick, Sherman, Lynch, Wilson. Two big markets to draw from that have footholds on opposite sides of the country. 

The storyline being can the Seahawks become the next great dynasty and defense in the NFL by dethroning the current dynasty and proving their metal against Tom Brady after they dismantled the other great QB of the era in Peyton Manning the year before. Then you had deflategate and Lynch's shenanigans playing into. It will never get a bad rating, but it's more about getting as much as possible and getting the few that actually don't watch.

That said, I think that game that year was such an outlier that it's almost irrelevant.  I mean, that was a perfect storm of star power, Sherman getting in Brady's face after SEA beat NE in SEA, opposite coasts, ****talkers, Carroll having coached NE and being a massively well-known college coach, etc, etc, etc.

I dunno if we ever see that again.