Perhaps not, although I must admit it would cool my ardor for the sport and over time, who knows? But then again, as you may tell from my nom de guerre I am already hooked on the sport. Other younger folks may not be as likely to get interested if they think the outcome is unfair or there's cheating going on.
I can tell you that as a kid I used to spend hours religiously following my baseball team--reading the box score every day, spending hours on Sunday going over the week's stats, watching games, etc. The last 10-15 years or so I could absolutely care less about baseball--haven't watched it or spent more than a few nickels on it over that time period. In that sport's case, it's been the disparity of payrolls and results that that the disparity has caused that did it for me--there's no real level playing field competition in that sport. Apparently , I'm not alone in my views, as MLB's ratings have gone into the toilet over that period. Anyone else remember the days when there were network covered games on Saturday afternoons and Monday nights? Seems laughable now, doesn't it? Popularity for a sport, even as great a sport as the NFL, shouldn't be taken for granted--it needs to be worked for and maintained by the League. This still applies to the NFL as Goodell should remember.
As for the insults hurled at me since I last checked in, it's funny how someone who has a different view (i.e., not all pro Pats, all the time) here is just not tolerated. I've been to many team's boards, but never seen anything quite like it I'm glad to say. I come here and similar sites because I enjoy talking football with fans from other teams, no more, no less. Impart a little knowledge, gain a little myself as well. I'm not calling anyone names or acting like an [deleted], but get abuse nonetheless. I actually laughed at the one(s) on my intellect. I've actually got an honors graduate degree from a well-known institution that starts with an H in your neck of the woods (I suspect you've heard of it) that might want to take that back apparently from reading some of the posts here. Without calling anyone names, I'll just say that I'll stake my credentials against those posters' any day of the week...