Pats/Giants game will be on the NFL Network.  The ‘Network’ folly began Thursday and it was bound to happen - games that we care to watch are out of the ‘free’ (because we do pay cable bills) TV’s sphere of influence.  If it was on regular TV, the Pats’ last game of the season, the Giants game, (if their season continues on its current path) would likely break viewership records for in-season, and some postseason, football games.

They are cutting out the casual fan in an attempt to convert them to zealous fans.  They may not be cutting off their nose, but they are appearing pretty ugly, with a shaved eyebrow or two.  In this ADHD world of a million different media outlets, I’m saying their strategy will have the opposite effect and they will lose more than they gain (although, possibly increasing bar & pub attendance on these gamedays).  This will in effect cut out literally millions of the casual fans.  130 million watch the Superbowl - 20 million watch in-season games. 

It seems, the NFL would make more money with all its future contracts (TV, licensing, etc.) if it could show the increase in viewership for in-season games; now two of the mostly likely games to help that cause have been taken away. 

It’s all marketing and numbers of impressions for the companies connecting themselves to the game, and now the number of people watching - at the perfect time to market to the widest audience - will dwindle.  If the NFL isn’t careful, that may not be the only thing that diminishes.

There may be some NFL dollar-in/dollar-out formula that steels itself against this argument, but for longevity, between absolute dollars and absolute people numbers, I’ll always take the fans.  Everything else will follow.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 30th, 2007 at 12:17 pm and is filed under Vigilante Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.