College Football 2016

**Xville** · 08-29-2016, 05:25 PM

It probably has to do with the fact that I don't really have an NFL team, but I will say that in recent years, my interest in the NFL has decreased ten-fold. It is pretty boring with all the time-outs, commercials, and other stoppages in play. I really do believe that if you take fantasy football away, a lot of the interest in the league would go away. Interest would still be there of course, but not to the level it is right now.

I also believe that in a generation or two, football is no longer going to be the most popular sport in america just like what happened with football taking over baseball years ago. I'm not so much of a soccer fan either, but I think that the sport is going to continue to grow and surpass football at some point.

**xubrew** · 08-29-2016, 05:39 PM

Originally Posted by Xville

It probably has to do with the fact that I don't really have an NFL team, but I will say that in recent years, my interest in the NFL has decreased ten-fold. It is pretty boring with all the time-outs, commercials, and other stoppages in play. I really do believe that if you take fantasy football away, a lot of the interest in the league would go away. Interest would still be there of course, but not to the level it is right now.

I also believe that in a generation or two, football is no longer going to be the most popular sport in america just like what happened with football taking over baseball years ago. I'm not so much of a soccer fan either, but I think that the sport is going to continue to grow and surpass football at some point.

I am a HUGE soccer fan, and I don't see the sport sustaining the popularity it currently has. It just isn't in the DNA of the general American sports fan for it to be anything more than a fad. The people who love soccer will always love it, but the vast majority of people are bandwagon fans at most, and I don't think they will continue to stay interested in it. Some will, but most won't. We've had soccer booms before, and although it is currently more popular than I ever thought it would be, it still doesn't rise to the level of being a mainstream sport.

Juice · 08-29-2016, 08:20 PM

Originally Posted by xubrew

I am a HUGE soccer fan, and I don't see the sport sustaining the popularity it currently has. It just isn't in the DNA of the general American sports fan for it to be anything more than a fad. The people who love soccer will always love it, but the vast majority of people are bandwagon fans at most, and I don't think they will continue to stay interested in it. Some will, but most won't. We've had soccer booms before, and although it is currently more popular than I ever thought it would be, it still doesn't rise to the level of being a mainstream sport.

There is a "hipster" push behind soccer right now. I agree with you, I love the sport but I don't know if all these people are in it for the long haul.

**X-band '01** · 08-29-2016, 08:32 PM

It seems like there is a lot more coverage of international soccer than there is domestic soccer this time around. Maybe we focused a lot more domestically in the mid-90s (when MLS started) after the 1994 World Cup.

Hockey is becoming more and more of a niche sport, and you could also argue that baseball is headed down that road as well.

**xu82** · 08-29-2016, 08:35 PM

Originally Posted by Juice

There is a "hipster" push behind soccer right now. I agree with you, I love the sport but I don't know if all these people are in it for the long haul.

I remember 40 years ago (ugh, I hate typing that!) when my friends played in HS. We thought then it was coming on. It seems to go in cycles, and I now actually look forward to World Cup time. My sons both played, and one will watch soccer with commentators in foreign languages. It's a little like the stock market, it will climb, then plateau, then climb again. It's no NFL, but it's much more popular than when I was young. The world gets smaller and smaller, and we have more and more in common.

**xubrew** · 08-29-2016, 09:28 PM

It's an interesting conversation (that doesn't have a whole lot to do with the 2016 college football season, but what the hell).

I appreciate baseball, but I'm not a baseball fan. I love going to a baseball game, but I couldn't tell you at any given moment who the best teams are or who the players are. But, it does appear to be the most popular sport in our biggest cities. New York, Chicago, Boston, and LA love them some baseball. As popular as the NFL is, and as good as the Patriots are, the Red Sox own Boston. I think the Yankees and Mets own New York.

The NFL is so hugely popular that it's almost unbelievable. I think it's the only pro sports league that will dominate markets where there aren't even teams. Other than the playoffs I really don't watch the NFL. It's not that I don't like it. It's just that I never really developed a huge interest in it. When I lived in Cincinnati it was fun to meet up with people and watch the Bengals games, but I wouldn't call myself a diehard fan. I don't buy the Sunday Ticket. I don't live in an NFL town. And, although I know several people with NFL ties in one way or another, I just don't watch it. But, it's HUGE. When you look at the TV ratings, they're basically blowing away the college football playoff games with their regular season games. The first week of the NFL season will have games that rate higher than the college football championship game. People say that football is going away and fading out. How?? It's the most popular game we have, and it's so much more popular than the second most popular game that it almost dwarfs all the other sports combined.

One of the things that I think football has going for it, and this includes college football, is the fan experience. The games are on weekends, and if you go to a game it's basically a festival with the tailgating and being outside on a fall day. The fan experience appeals to people who really don't know anything about the actual game of football. They just enjoy the festival like experience. And, even people who don't go to the games like to get together, cook out, and drink beer all day. It's the weekend, and the weather is usually nice. Another thing the sport has going for it is the huge popularity of fantasy football. Like the NCAA Tournament brackets, so many people play fantasty football, and it gives them a reason to be interested in games that they otherwise wouldn't even know about or care about.

In basketball, the fan experience is typically that you drive to the arena, you watch the game, and you drive home. That's it. Other than the tournament, the only people who watch games for hours at a time day after day are freaks. Like...well...me. There is no way to create a fantasy college basketball league that would appeal to as many people as a fantasy football league would.

**GoMuskies** · 08-29-2016, 10:51 PM

Originally Posted by xubrew

One of the things that I think football has going for it, and this includes college football, is

Gambling. The only correct way to complete this statement is gambling. Huge, dirty piles of money gambling.

I love that so, so much.

**xubrew** · 08-29-2016, 11:14 PM

Originally Posted by GoMuskies

Gambling. The only correct way to complete this statement is gambling. Huge, dirty piles of money gambling.

I love that so, so much.

Gambling isn't exclusive to football, is it? I don't gamble, but I think college football is easier to predict than either the NFL or college basketball. Most teams have a limited playbook and you know what their strengths are and what they're going to look to do on offense, and how effective it will be against the defense they're facing. In the NFL the teams are too even, and in college hoops, there are so many things that can happen that would allow a team that isn't as good as their opponent to still end up winning. A dominant big man who is capable of destroying the planet could end up in early foul trouble because the refs are calling it tight, and then suddenly be much less effective. There's no foul trouble in college football, or off shooting nights, and the games are officiated pretty similarly so that's less of a factor. Most of the time it's pretty easy to tell who the better team is, and in college football the better team wins a higher percentage of the time than in college basketball. I guess the same is true for the NFL, but the players are so good that it's not always easy to tell who's better. So, why is the NFL so much more popular??