Does This Issue Hurt The NFL?

Almost everyone here thinks that this situation will be a major negative for the NFL. I strongly disagree. It may even have saved Goodell's job, although probably not. Consider

1) Most of the owners are celebrating the punishments, and most of the fans, and most of the public. Everyone knows that Goodell did a terrible job with regard to Rice. Goodell and the league are now being judged by this issue instead, a good deal for the league.

2) Let us presume that the public ACCEPTS the fact that the league didn't have enough proof, and overstepped in punishing those who are accused of cheating. Is this really bad for the league? Almost everyone agrees (including most patriot fans) that the team lives on the edge, doing all it can to win, occasionally taking advantage of loopholes in the rules. In this case, lots of teams probably violate the rules with regard to inflation or deflation. Do folks in the public think that the patriots did no wrong, or do they think that the patriots did something technically illegal and are being punished?

mgteich said:

Almost everyone here thinks that this situation will be a major negative for the NFL. I strongly disagree. It may even have saved Goodell's job, although probably not. Consider

1) Most of the owners are celebrating the punishments, and most of the fans, and most of the public. Everyone knows that Goodell did a terrible job with regard to Rice. Goodell and the league are now being judged by this issue instead, a good deal for the league.

2) Let us presume that the public ACCEPTS the fact that the league didn't have enough proof, and overstepped in punishing those who are accused of cheating. Is this really bad for the league? Almost everyone agrees (including most patriot fans) that the team lives on the edge, doing all it can to win, occasionally taking advantage of loopholes in the rules. In this case, lots of teams probably violate the rules with regard to inflation or deflation. Do folks in the public think that the patriots did no wrong, or do they think that the patriots did something technically illegal and are being punished?

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That alone is evidence enough it's bad for the league.

I know what you are saying, but I think most of the owners (excluding the Jets, Colts, and Ravens) understand that this punishment is ridiculous and if Goodell can do this to a former ally like Kraft, there is no telling what can happen to their teams. I think most rationale people can understand that they could be next...

Right now I think it's all good for the league, Except in New England, if not better.

What will hurt is how this is fought. If their decision is completely overturned, if they get sued by one or both Tom and/or the team, and what comes to light in this all is where the damage will come.

This is already starting to backfire on the league.

After the Domestic abuse issues, accepting money to support the troops, and now doling out this punishment which is more severe then beating your wife.

The whole thing is starting to collapse.

the NFL will be a shell of it's former self in 5 years. Mark Cuban called it.

chasa said:

This is already starting to backfire on the league.

After the Domestic abuse issues, accepting money to support the troops, and now doling out this punishment which is more severe then beating your wife.

The whole thing is starting to collapse.

the NFL will be a shell of it's former self in 5 years. Mark Cuban called it.

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.... has any media outlet interviewed Cuban yet? I imagine that would be a killer interview.

Don't forget that Goodell can no longer set foot in any New England town. We are reasonable fans and would have accepted a lesser punishment, even if there was no evidence of wrong doing...but the forfeiture of picks? A first round pick?

There is no evidence that the balls were even deflated. The evidence is trash.

Un-faulking acceptable.

Zoe on 98.5 said that he's hearing the Pats are planning to play week one as a regular game. No Banners or ceremony from them. NFL can do what they want, but they are not going to budge on this decision. That is what Zoe says he's hearing. I so hope it is true.

signbabybrady said:

Right now I think it's all good for the league, Except in New England, if not better.

What will hurt is how this is fought. If their decision is completely overturned, if they get sued by one or both Tom and/or the team, and what comes to light in this all is where the damage will come.

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Yes, the league will be damaged if Kraft sues them (and the value of the patriots will also be harmed).

DefenseRules said:

Zoe on 98.5 said that he's hearing the Pats are planning to play week one as a regular game. No Banners or ceremony from them. NFL can do what they want, but they are not going to budge on this decision. That is what Zoe says he's hearing. I so hope it is true.

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That is certainly reasonable action, as well as the Kraft having Brady's back in all patriot publicity.

chasa said:

This is already starting to backfire on the league.

After the Domestic abuse issues, accepting money to support the troops, and now doling out this punishment which is more severe then beating your wife.

The whole thing is starting to collapse.

the NFL will be a shell of it's former self in 5 years. Mark Cuban called it.

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Five years from now, you can list all the NFL owners who have lost money on their investments.

ThatllMoveTheChains!!! said:

That alone is evidence enough it's bad for the league.

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You're right. The best case for the NFL is for them to force Goodell to retire. I still think that this incident diverts attention from the league's other failures. Of course, for the owners the one major success is all that matters (the value of the teams, and their profitability, has greatly increased)

Kraft and Brady will do their best to make this a miserable mistake for the League. I think it is undetermined whether it already is. Reaction in and outside the League has been mixed. It ranges from Goodell has redeemed himself to Goodell is mad despot.

One thing is for sure. Goodell better hope they buried all the bodies on this or this could be a huge nightmare for him.

I'm totally on the Patriots side, I want my QB and my picks back, but one thing I have to say, they should have know the league was after them and should not left any door open. Do everything exactly by the book and record any procedure if possible. They were just waiting for us to give anything they could use. The Patriots are the most winning franchise in 15 years and that is not good for the business, there is no way to stop them on the field as long as Belichick and Brady are there.

They are trying to hurt the image of an icon and role model athlete , and trying to make BB so miserable and pissed to the point to give up. They want to bury the Patriots, at least for now, after 10 years of mediocrity they might want to give a help and sabotage another franchise.

The Patriots should be working well within the limits of the rules, even though they aren't guilty of anything.

varjao said:

I'm totally on the Patriots side, I want my QB and my picks back, but one thing I have to say, they should have know the league was after them and should not left any door open. Do everything exactly by the book and record any procedure if possible. They were just waiting for us to give anything they could use. The Patriots are the most winning franchise in 15 years and that is not good for the business, there is no way to stop them on the field as long as Belichick and Brady are there.

They are trying to hurt the image of an icon and role model athlete , and trying to make BB so miserable and pissed to the point to give up. They want to bury the Patriots, at least for now, after 10 years of mediocrity they might want to give a help and sabotage another franchise.

The Patriots should be working well within the limits of the rules, even though they aren't guilty of anything.

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I wholeheartedly agree the only thing the Pats are guilty of is not being careful and watching their backs. They should just record everything from now on don't trust anyone

DefenseRules said:

Zoe on 98.5 said that he's hearing the Pats are planning to play week one as a regular game. No Banners or ceremony from them. NFL can do what they want, but they are not going to budge on this decision. That is what Zoe says he's hearing. I so hope it is true.

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that better be part 1 of a 70 part plan to **** the league

Patriots fans are 1/32nd of the league in an even world. Since we are one of the largest fan bases and for easy math let's call it 1/25th or 4%. Let's say half of that 4% doesn't change their habits and we'll just use the 2% and I'd wager that 2% constitutes a high percentage of the die-hard's. So that's 2% less clicks at NFL sites, 2% less people watching all non Patriots games, 2% less gear being sold, 2% less ad revenue........the NFL has revenue guarantees in the CBA as well I believe for growth and for the players absorbing that porking of a deal. If those numbers aren't met there are penalties.

It will hurt the NFL. When Roger and the which way is the wind blowing crowd pisses off the other fan bases with random no common sense moves it will grow.

The NFL has added another dimension of parity. Draft order, salary cap, and now a strategic disarming from the league office. Why not just make each Super Bowl winner not eligible for the playoffs for 5 years after they win it instead of all this jumping through hoops. I think letting the media/NFL.com polls run the league office is terrible for the game. I agree with Don Yee, what kind of integrity does this game really have now?

Yes it will hurt the NFL. It's typical short-term, quarterly-profit thinking. They teased all the casual/non fans into caring with bombast, so the Superbowl ratings broke all records - which means that many of the people watching that game are not fans and won't likely become fans.

They're still getting headlines, sports columnists getting clicks, etc., so the short-term "win" remains in place.

But those casual fans are going right back to the ether, and now many longtime fans, and not just of the Pats, are losing interest. Even a % of Pats haters, who might scream about Cheatriots on a message board to feel better about their miserable lives will at some point realize that the balls were at 16 for the Jets' game? What? Huh? Duh.

Long term erosion usually takes a long time, but when you have national columnists already writing about the sloppiness of league procedures leading into this, the lack of evidence, etc.

Short-term, quarterly thinking. Cuban gets it and saw it coming.

50-yard-line said:

Yes it will hurt the NFL. It's typical short-term, quarterly-profit thinking.

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How different is this from the last time the league came after the patriots and took away a 1st rounder and $500K? Did that event hurt the league? Are team profits and values down?