Predictions on the future of the NFL

[BobDigital]

This is kind of an odd thread but I thought it be interesting. We know where the league has been and where it is but where is it going?

Here are some

#1 The QB position won't change much. Some would argue and have for year that slow QBs are in the past or will be soon and i have heard that for a long time. It is never going to happen. In the end your QB needs to pass to win and no athlete no matter how gifted will change that. Running QBs from the college will get injured like always and then become ineffective like always. Though being able to run a bit is nice it doesn't matter too much and if your QB runs for too many yards it probably means you soon will have an issue.

#2 Defense will have its day again. In the last 3 years the average score per game has been 22.7 Points per team per game. Between 2000-2006 is was just about 20.9. That is a near rise of 2 PPG. However I think the NFL is going to hit a tipping point soon. As much as they want to encourage fantasy players in the end the quality of the game has been hurt by this overall and frankly short of pulling a guy on D or making some over the top rule change or reinforcement there is little left to do to help offenses out. With that said I think the NFL PPG is going to go back down. probably not to 21PPG but below the 22PPG mark and hold steadily. I think the defenses will adjust and the fans (who are starting to lose interest) want to see a more balanced game.

#3 There will be a strike in the next 10 years. Things are coming to a head soon and it is cause the owners are being ridiculous about a lot of things and overly greedy. I am fine with them wanting to make money but replacement refs and demanding 18 games or allowing commissioner unchecked ability. Fighting for every scrap of money and Thursday night games which hurt the product and player safety. The NFL has deep seeded issues and Kraft will not be there to fix it next time. There is no owner to pull the players and owners together and frankly the players are rightfully tired and this bull crap. The owners though will not budge and we are going to miss a season and it will really hurt the sport like it did Hockey for years to come. IDK who will blink first but I think it will get bad.

How about you?

 

[signbabybrady]

 

[sb1]

Re #2- unless they do something idiotic like the college OT rules. If anything is going to wreck the league it will be that.

 

[jmt57]

Prediction: at some point in the near future the NFL will have a precipitous drop in popularity.

Before anybody say that is impossible and won't happen, consider the history of sports. Prior to 1970 boxing and baseball were the most popular sports and pro football wasn't even in the top five. 25 years ago there was no such thing as the UFC.

Between health/safety concerns and the greed and pettiness of the owners and league office, it is just a matter of when, not if the NFL will decline. I would not be surprised if the networks take a hard stance when the current contracts are up for negotiation again, which could lead to a downward spiral. Combine that with former players winning big lawsuits on willful negligence over concussions, and watch out.

 

[Tony2046]

#1 - players will have to sign CTE waivers if they don't already.

#2 - stolen from another thread - @brdmaverick and @bbobbo - go pro helmet cams.

#3 - two bye weeks coupled with an 18 game season with possibly a shortened preseason.

 

[XLIX]

1) Increased pressure from the public and government to drastically change rules regarding contact to head.

2) More lawsuits regarding same

 

[fxmallon]

Moving the Oakland Raiders to Las Vegas via San Antonio, and possibly via another city (if stadium not finished on time) may be a sign of things to come.

How are Raider fans supposed to act this coming season. Will there be protests? Will they cheer for the opponent? Will signs attacking the owner sprout up all over the park? I mean like they finally have a terrific team and they see it swept away to of all places, Las Vegas. This is worse than Deflate Gate.

Which was another sign of the league's decline.

 

[Soliel]

I think that it will become global and expand. However, here it will decline. People smell a rat with some of the things that have been done and america loathes dictators...so, i feel like roger needs to go... I mean look, the integrity of the shield..oh wait

 

[Thelonious]

Unfortunately, the medical/liability issues will synergize with the "exploited (minority) worker" meme and kill the recklessness which, just below the surface, feeds the excitement of the sport. Likely as well, the players will become more and more "empowered," resulting in an NBA-style spectacle of malignant narcissists playing (most nights, anyway, if they feel like playing at all) a lousy, lazy version of a formerly great sport. I give it 5-10 more years, when we're all on the dole watching VR cartoons of "sports shows."

 

[Thelonious]

Prediction: at some point in the near future the NFL will have a precipitous drop in popularity.

Before anybody say that is impossible and won't happen, consider the history of sports. Prior to 1970 boxing and baseball were the most popular sports and pro football wasn't even in the top five. 25 years ago there was no such thing as the UFC.

Between health/safety concerns and the greed and pettiness of the owners and league office, it is just a matter of when, not if the NFL will decline. I would not be surprised if the networks take a hard stance when the current contracts are up for negotiation again, which could lead to a downward spiral. Combine that with former players winning big lawsuits on willful negligence over concussions, and watch out.

I agree with this, except that you fail to mention the "greed and pettiness" of the players. The "oppressed and exploited worker" narrative about them is ideologically-driven childishness. These are not John L. Lewis' mine workers we're talking about: let's get real.

 

[Simpelton]

Sometime in the next decade and a half there will be as many as 6 new NFL teams.

 

[Vindicate]

Between health/safety concerns and the greed and pettiness of the owners and league office, it is just a matter of when, not if the NFL will decline. I would not be surprised if the networks take a hard stance when the current contracts are up for negotiation again, which could lead to a downward spiral. Combine that with former players winning big lawsuits on willful negligence over concussions, and watch out.

Sorry for the over 24-hr bump but this

This is what confuses me the most. The NFL'S greatest asset is its players. The NFL has done so much to reconfigure the GAME, which it seems to me that they think is the greatest asset. The Sunday real estate. Ad revenue. Which obviously are the end of the line where profit largely comes out of.

But none of that is anything without PLAYERS. From top to bottom, the owners have lost sight. By demonizing celebrations and personalities, you literally make your audience demonize what could be staple, superstar players (Even heels guys!) that sell tickets and much more.

They want to increase the amount of games they play, all at an egregious cost of the player's safety.

They're quickly finding out that not confronting the CTE issue was a terrible decision, another failure to protect players.

Referee consistency is flat out awful and one, slows down the game and frustrates viewers on inconsistency, and two, creates dangerous situations where teams can march out a clocked QB, where a dangerous target goes uncalled, where dirty play is often unscathed.

Also I'm a part of a minority who thinks the cap puts the power of negotiating largely with the team, ultimately creating a weird league economic that seems to not be player-first (which it should be damnit! Players are mega-important!).

Also creates a space where the Browns can sign a 2nd tier LB to 1st tier contract and completely eff up the market, which drastically can effect parity.

Also, let your damn players smoke some weed. I live in the Midwest and am entirely too familiar with how opioids destroy communities (Literally Entire. Communities. Counties. Cities. Towns). Then the ibuprofen abuse. It's bad. It literally reeks of inability to secure your greatest asset.

Isn't the NFL pretty far behind in terms of conditioning as well?

The NFL does a horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible,

Horrible

Horrible


Horrible job of protecting its players.

 

[Rob0729]

Super Bowl 63 highlight will be Tom Brady throwing a TD pass to his son John to get his ninth ring.

 

[1960Pats]

My prediction is that some Pats fans (I can't say how many exactly) will dump the NYFL once Brady is gone.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Super Bowl 63 highlight will be Tom Brady throwing a TD pass to his son John to get his ninth ring.

Only nine? Gotta match Russ, with 11.