my pledge if games are missed.

[Wolfpack]

1) how so? what am I paying to watch the game?

TV ratings. The networks aren't paying the NFL billions of dollars for a product no one's watching.

2) its easy, in fact

Yeah, it's pretty easy if you put your mind to it. You going to hold to it if the Patriots win another Super Bowl? Or are you going to want a t-shirt or two?

3) not really......there's only a couple of things.

I honestly don't think you've really thought this one through. To do a long term boycott of all NFL sponsors would be impossible for any functioning member of society. Tell me, what kind of computers are you going to use? You can't use Apple and you can't use Windows. What cell phone plan you going to use? What are you going to drink? How you gonna shave? What are you going to drive? Does your boycott include networks who advertise their own TV shows during NFL programming? Actually that doesn't matter because you can't watch cable and you can't watch satellite. In fact, I doubt you'd have any TV equipment to watch any of those on. And you certainly can't go to the movies anymore. And there's an awful lot of major banks and financial services you won't be able to use.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

We fans don't run anything. We're an audience with lots of divergent views aside from football, in case in posting here you haven't noticed. We watch the game, and most of us will continue to do that provided there are any to watch. Otherwise we will watch something else or (god forbid) do something else with our time until we can watch them again...at which time most of us will. We are creatures of habit. We enjoy what we enjoy and aren't truly inclined to cut off our own noses to spite our own faces. Although we like to talk as if we absolutely are...

Football may even find it has more casual fans than ever, given the nature of audiences these days, especially if any of this ever makes it onto Court TV...

I think that's an overly pessimistic view. It's true that fans don't have any direct control over the situation. And even if we boycott games on TV, it won't impact the league until at least 2013 because the contracts are negotiated up until that point.

But things can change very quickly. The NHL saw their viewership drop over 20% when they went on strike, and they still have not fully recovered. MLB was king before the NFL, but continues to drop in popularity. Consumer actions have forced global giants like Nike, KFC, and McDonald's to implement changes they otherwise wouldn't have. All 3 are also larger than the NFL in terms of annual revenue.

A significant drop in viewership would hit the NFL when the contracts come up for renewal. While NBC, CBS, and Fox did pretty good, reports are that advertising revenues finally climbed back to pre-recession levels, and the lockout will now drop that down. And I wonder if ESPN will be willing to spend another $1.1B a year to generate $175M in ad revenue like last year.

I'm not suggesting people have to go to extremes like throw away their season tickets or light themselves on fire in the parking lots. But even stabilizing revenues without significant increases would cause discomfort for both owners and players. Simply consuming at existing levels, with slight cutbacks, would make a world of difference by the time the next TV contracts, and eventually CBA, are negotiated. And at that point, perhaps the owners and players will take it more seriously than they did this time.

 

[Wolfpack]

But things can change very quickly. The NHL saw their viewership drop over 20% when they went on strike, and they still have not fully recovered. MLB was king before the NFL, but continues to drop in popularity.

The NHL is a bad example because prior to the lockout of 6 years ago, it was a dying league. Then when they came back, they made a move from ESPN to OLN/Versus. So yeah, nobody's watching anymore - but it's not like anybody ever really was in the first place.

MLB was dethroned as king of sports probably sometime in the 80's. The strike of 1994 definitely did some short term damage, but MLB has bounced back from that.

The NFL will not suffer significantly from a temporary work stoppage. Casual fans will still be casual fans, and all these "I'm going to BOYCOTT!" people we see and hear now are simply suffering from jilted lover syndrome, and will gladly embrace the NFL once they're back.

 

[Frezo]

I think that's an overly pessimistic view. It's true that fans don't have any direct control over the situation. And even if we boycott games on TV, it won't impact the league until at least 2013 because the contracts are negotiated up until that point.

But things can change very quickly. The NHL saw their viewership drop over 20% when they went on strike, and they still have not fully recovered. MLB was king before the NFL, but continues to drop in popularity. Consumer actions have forced global giants like Nike, KFC, and McDonald's to implement changes they otherwise wouldn't have. All 3 are also larger than the NFL in terms of annual revenue.

A significant drop in viewership would hit the NFL when the contracts come up for renewal. While NBC, CBS, and Fox did pretty good, reports are that advertising revenues finally climbed back to pre-recession levels, and the lockout will now drop that down. And I wonder if ESPN will be willing to spend another $1.1B a year to generate $175M in ad revenue like last year.

I'm not suggesting people have to go to extremes like throw away their season tickets or light themselves on fire in the parking lots. But even stabilizing revenues without significant increases would cause discomfort for both owners and players. Simply consuming at existing levels, with slight cutbacks, would make a world of difference by the time the next TV contracts, and eventually CBA, are negotiated. And at that point, perhaps the owners and players will take it more seriously than they did this time.

That's pretty much what I'm talking about. If the NFL decides to take away two of my games, that I'll take away two of theirs. In this age of widespread instant communication a simple boycott of a few hours of entertainment is not that out of reach. There are a good number of people here that are fed up with the billionaires vs millionaires garbage. You have a good point about the NHL too.

 

[Richard Camembert]

So no Monkey Urine for you. What a shame.

The "never again" part, I have a hard time believing, but good on you guys if you follow through. I'm not a big merch spender anyway, so if I made such a pledge, they'd be losing about $10/year from me probably.

Fixt. 10char

 

[Nikolai]

Fixt. 10char

I thought Corona was Monkey urine, and Coors Light was Sasquatch and Beaver urine. I have trouble keeping track.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

The NHL is a bad example because prior to the lockout of 6 years ago, it was a dying league. Then when they came back, they made a move from ESPN to OLN/Versus. So yeah, nobody's watching anymore - but it's not like anybody ever really was in the first place.

MLB was dethroned as king of sports probably sometime in the 80's. The strike of 1994 definitely did some short term damage, but MLB has bounced back from that.

The NFL will not suffer significantly from a temporary work stoppage. Casual fans will still be casual fans, and all these "I'm going to BOYCOTT!" people we see and hear now are simply suffering from jilted lover syndrome, and will gladly embrace the NFL once they're back.

You can pretty much make an argument against anything being a bad example of the NFL. But the simpler point is that fans can impact the bottom line of the league, and that it isn't invincible.

The NFL will not suffer significantly only if we, as fans, allow it to come back without penalty. The league's offer to the players assumed a 20% increase in revenuers over the next 4 seasons. Even a simple status quo in spending would significantly alter the next CBA.

 

[Wolfpack]

You can pretty much make an argument against anything being a bad example of the NFL. But the simpler point is that fans can impact the bottom line of the league, and that it isn't invincible.

The NFL will not suffer significantly only if we, as fans, allow it to come back without penalty. The league's offer to the players assumed a 20% increase in revenuers over the next 4 seasons. Even a simple status quo in spending would significantly alter the next CBA.

Oh, you're absolutely right in that if a sizeable percentage of the fans walk away and never come back, the league will suffer financially.

But what I'm saying is that that isn't even remotely plausible. Casual fans will still be casual fans, and the ones crying the loudest right now are simply suffering jilted lover syndrome and will gladly embrace the league when it comes back.

Anyone who was really, genuinely fed up with the situation such that they will leave the league wouldn't be posting to this board. When I "left" hockey, I didn't make any grand announcement in some forum. I just simply stopped watching.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Wow, my stance is just a little less extreme: I won't buy any NFL merchandise for at least 5 years. Will still watch the games, though. On the upside, if you were going to boycott all NFL advertisers, Coors Light and trucks in general would get you ~80% of the way there.

 

[alamo]

So no Coors Light for you. What a shame.

Actually, Coors lost the contract as the official beer of the NFL. As of the 2011 season it's now Bud Lite. I am sure Anheuser-Busch and their Belgian corporate overlords are not happy with the NFL right now.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

Oh, you're absolutely right in that if a sizeable percentage of the fans walk away and never come back, the league will suffer financially.

But what I'm saying is that that isn't even remotely plausible. Casual fans will still be casual fans, and the ones crying the loudest right now are simply suffering jilted lover syndrome and will gladly embrace the league when it comes back.

Anyone who was really, genuinely fed up with the situation such that they will leave the league wouldn't be posting to this board. When I "left" hockey, I didn't make any grand announcement in some forum. I just simply stopped watching.

I understand where you're coming from. I just think it is plausible is all. I don't think it takes a ton of people to do it either.

Consider the TV contracts. The current set is based on ESPN paying $1.1B per year while receiving $175M in ad revenue. Will the next contract be as friendly? That constitutes 1/4 of the current TV revenue. That says nothing of the other networks. Imagine they want a 5% reduction in the contract instead of the 20% increase the owners were banking on, or even the status quo level as ad revenue losses hit the networks hard during the recession.

And you wouldn't know in New England with the 50-year wait-list, but NFL season ticket sales are declining by an estimated 1 to 2%, the third year in a row they've declined. Ticket sales are another source of shared revenue meaning the Pats get 60% of their home draw, 40% of the road draw, so if other teams start struggling to sell tickets, even the Pats will feel the impact on their bottom line. And this decline started before the lockout.

I understand that we don't have to make grand announcements about it. But I think if fans were able to vocalize their displeasure and show their frustration in a measurable way in dollars and cents that both the union and the NFL would take the next round of discussions much more seriously. If by reducing the viewership a bit (networks ask for 5% reduction in the contracts would be almost $5M), going to fewer games in person (3% decline in ticket prices is $45M, or $1.5M per team), and buying less merchandise (easiest thing to do, assume cutting the $4M+ they get to $2M), it would be enough to show the NFL that growth is not guaranteed while chopping almost $9M in revenue from every team in the league. Some would call that peanuts, but that would be enough for some teams to turn a small profit into a loss.

The Packers released their financial statements, and they made $5.2M. But they had revenues of nearly $258M. That's roughly 2% profit, and a swing of a couple million dollars would change things significantly. Obviously other larger franchises are in better shape, but it wouldn't take as much as you think for the message to be sent.

 

[Wolfpack]

Actually, Coors lost the contract as the official beer of the NFL. As of the 2011 season it's now Bud Lite. I am sure Anheuser-Busch and their Belgian corporate overlords are not happy with the NFL right now.

Coors may no longer be the "official beer of the NFL" but they'll still be advertising during NFL games. You just won't see NFL logos on the commercials or on the cases of Coors beer in the grocery store.

 

[USCPatriot]

I won't buy any NFL merchandise other than NFL Sunday Ticket. I can't go without that but I wear almost exclusively NFL (Patriots) T Shirts, Sweatshirts and Hoodys. If a minute of regular season time is missed I have bought my last piece of NFL merchandise. I can save a lot of $$$ buying a $10 Wal Mart sweatshirt over a $40 Patriots one.

LMAO!!!! You could save alot of money not buying Sunday ticket, secondly you CAN go without it, you just don't want to. That's not boycotting anything, what you said is just good common sense.

 

[Ring 6]

Maybe its just me, but nothing I do is designed to support the NFL.
I buy directv solely because I want the NFL package. I buy Patriot stuff solely because I like to own it. If I lived in the market, I would go to games, because I would enjoy it.
I don't know what I would accomplish by diminishing my enjoyment in order to send some kind of message to Bob Kraft that is so vague and minor he will never get it.
Its like saying I wont watch a baseball game because they went on strike. If I like baseball, I am only hurting myself.

 

[Tunescribe]

Maybe its just me, but nothing I do is designed to support the NFL.
I buy directv solely because I want the NFL package. I buy Patriot stuff solely because I like to own it. If I lived in the market, I would go to games, because I would enjoy it.
I don't know what I would accomplish by diminishing my enjoyment in order to send some kind of message to Bob Kraft that is so vague and minor he will never get it. Its like saying I wont watch a baseball game because they went on strike. If I like baseball, I am only hurting myself.

That's why I made the point earlier that only a casual fan would abandon the NFL because of this.

 

[Joker]

I will NOT watch replacement players if this drags out

I will NOT support a team of ill prepared, two weeks practice and ready to go players

I will NOT...uh...um...who the "F" am I kidding...as soon as they hit the field I'll forget this crap ever happened....THEY(owners and players) KNOW THIS...wading through all this legalese and he said/she said bullcrap is NOT what I, as a fan, have any enjoyment in. I'd rather be talking the draft...and beyond...but THEY obviously want to play out this "We Who Die With The Most Cash Win" passion play,at the total and complete indifference to how WE feel about it.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

That's why I made the point earlier that only a casual fan would abandon the NFL because of this.

I've heard the counterargument that casual fans won't hold it against the league and be back in droves.

But if it's true that casual fans would abandon the NFL, that would be a huge blow to the TV contracts which are the biggest revenue source for the NFL.

According to the Packers income statements, TV and radio contracts accounted for over $95M of their total revenue, or more than 1/3 of total revenue. The next closest revenue stream is tickets at $47M. So if casual fans do abandon the NFL and viewership numbers are down for the next few years, the next round of TV contracts in 2013 could look very different.

 

[Ring 6]

I will NOT watch replacement players if this drags out

I will NOT support a team of ill prepared, two weeks practice and ready to go players

I will NOT...uh...um...who the "F" am I kidding...as soon as they hit the field I'll forget this crap ever happened....THEY(owners and players) KNOW THIS...wading through all this legalese and he said/she said bullcrap is NOT what I, as a fan, have any enjoyment in. I'd rather be talking the draft...and beyond...but THEY obviously want to play out this "We Who Die With The Most Cash Win" passion play,at the total and complete indifference to how WE feel about it.

I believe that if replacement players come in and play the entire 2011 season,and everyone thereafter, attendance and viewership would suffer tremendously in 2011, get a lot better in 2012, and by 2013 there will be no difference, and 99% of the current players will have 'crossed the line' anyway.

 

[Ring 6]

I've heard the counterargument that casual fans won't hold it against the league and be back in droves.

But if it's true that casual fans would abandon the NFL, that would be a huge blow to the TV contracts which are the biggest revenue source for the NFL.

According to the Packers income statements, TV and radio contracts accounted for over $95M of their total revenue, or more than 1/3 of total revenue. The next closest revenue stream is tickets at $47M. So if casual fans do abandon the NFL and viewership numbers are down for the next few years, the next round of TV contracts in 2013 could look very different.

Can you link the Packers financials?

 

[IllegalContact]

Maybe its just me, but nothing I do is designed to support the NFL.
I buy directv solely because I want the NFL package. I buy Patriot stuff solely because I like to own it. If I lived in the market, I would go to games, because I would enjoy it.
I don't know what I would accomplish by diminishing my enjoyment in order to send some kind of message to Bob Kraft that is so vague and minor he will never get it.
Its like saying I wont watch a baseball game because they went on strike. If I like baseball, I am only hurting myself.

not sure if you are responding to me, but I wasn't talking about not watching football.......simply making sure that I don't feed their greed.

I guess you could say that with the 55" TV, the massive wrap around couch, the new grill on my deck, that I was already heading away from wasting time and money in foxboro......I've been to at least 75-80 games........for the longest time, going to a pats game was cheaper than going out to dinner. then came the big money and the new stadium and all the noise that has nothig to do with football. I even used to go to patriot place from time to time. but I won't go there any more as I can get anything they have there anywhere else (and Legacy place is much nicer anyway).

I can enjoy the pro football plenty all while making a conscious effort to give them as little money as possible.