OT: - The new breed: NFL only sports fan. | The Boneyard

OT: The new breed: NFL only sports fan.

Jaydumo20

Jaydumo20

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I've been thinking about this more and more lately and have been looking to get some outside input, so I turn to the yard because for some reason I trust y'alls opinion:

As I watch the MLB playoffs I wonder at how little attention this event gets. I still love it and it's great TV, as it always has been. I have several friends who I thought were "sports" fans, based on the number of football jerseys they own and how seriously they take NFL Sundays. But whenever I try to talk CBB, baseball, NHL, Golf etc. I am met with a shrug.
These are the NFL only sports fans. A new breed of sports fan. They seem to be everywhere. Can anyone shine a light on this interesting creature?
 
It is the NFL marketing machine at work. They do have a nice model with the majority of games being played daytime on a Sunday when the majority of people are home. You actually see this in a lot of European countries with soccer, it is as if no other sport exists.
 
ColchVEGAS said:
It is the NFL marketing machine at work. They do have a nice model with the majority of games being played daytime on a Sunday when the majority of people are home. You actually see this in a lot of European countries with soccer, it is as if no other sport exists.
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Just going to say that there are definitely European soccer only fans in the US as well. I do however feel like most baseball fans also watch the NFL.
 
I know in my household Saturday TV is pretty much always Serie A or Liga Primeira from morning to afternoon and NFL all day Sunday.
 
Jaydumo20 said:
I've been thinking about this more and more lately and have been looking to get some outside input, so I turn to the yard because for some reason I trust y'alls opinion:

As I watch the MLB playoffs I wonder at how little attention this event gets. I still love it and it's great TV, as it always has been. I have several friends who I thought were "sports" fans, based on the number of football jerseys they own and how seriously they take NFL Sundays. But whenever I try to talk CBB, baseball, NHL, Golf etc. I am met with a shrug.
These are the NFL only sports fans. A new breed of sports fan. They seem to be everywhere. Can anyone shine a light on this interesting creature?
Expand ...

First, baseball is not great TV.

No sport is more hostile to its own fans than baseball….the games are interminable. Even the 15-inning scoreless game was horrible baseball - just two teams hoping to hit a home run.

The NFL just puts a vastly superior product in front of its fans and it sucks all of the oxygen out of playoff baseball coverage.
 
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I'm pretty much UConn football/hoops and Giants/NFL at this point.

Used to be a huge Yankee fan, but MLB has seemingly tried to kill anything that was special about the sport.
 
ConnHuskBask said:
I'm pretty much UConn football/hoops and Giants/NFL at this point.

Used to be a huge Yankee fan, but MLB has seemingly tried to kill anything that was special about the sport.
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Same in regards to the Yankees. Aaron Judge re-ignited some of my passion this year but it’s still not the same as it used to be. In middle and high school I regularly sat through entire 3+ hour Yankee games and now in my mid 30’s I find it nearly impossible unless it’s a meaningful game.
 
We used to go to church on Sunday meet, greet, and mingle with the other members of the congregation.
Enjoy holidays together.
Now we go to the NFL, and have Sunday parties there.
 
Fishy said:
First, baseball is not great TV.

No sport is more hostile to its own fans than baseball….the games are interminable. Even the 15-inning scoreless game was horrible baseball - just two teams hoping to hit a home run.

The NFL just puts a vastly superior product in front of its fans and it sucks all of the oxygen out of playoff baseball coverage.
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I disagree. Football is great for the hit-a-minute, no video over 5 minute, bite sized, short attention span human that the internet has created. The modern tik-tok brain has no room for a thinking, deliberate sport. I think the football product has dwindled and is all fantasy/commercial/drama focused.
 
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whosurdaddy2720 said:
Same in regards to the Yankees. Aaron Judge re-ignited some of my passion this year but it’s still not the same as it used to be. In middle and high school I regularly sat through entire 3+ hour Yankee games and now in my mid 30’s I find it nearly impossible unless it’s a meaningful game.
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Is it possible that the internet has hijacked peoples attention span? Can any fan sit down and watch a game that doesn't feature their favorite team, without checking their phones every 5 seconds? In football, that is part of the game now, checking fantasy every few seconds. It gives our acquired-ADD its best outlet. Multiple games going at once, red zone channel, all out media blitz. Which i doubt is healthy for the brain.
But still, that is not the PURE sport. It's everything else that surrounds the sport.
 
That is the argument I cannot understand with baseball vs. football...the games are both about 3 hours on average. I personally think there is more action in baseball than football and I believe there was a study done that showed football has the least amount of gameplay/action out of any sport.
 
ConnHuskBask said:
I'm pretty much UConn football/hoops and Giants/NFL at this point.

Used to be a huge Yankee fan, but MLB has seemingly tried to kill anything that was special about the sport.
Expand ...

Same thoughts re: MLB.

A redsox fan but my interest used to be that I would watch the game every night. Hated missing it.

Now it's just meh, can't watch a full game.

Hoping this pitch clock + shift ban helps because it seems like the game is in trouble with the younger generation.

That being said, I still enjoy going to fenway, but I'm not busting myself to go anymore.
 
Jaydumo20 said:
I disagree. Football is great for the hit-a-minute, no video over 5 minute, bite sized, short attention span human that the internet has created. The modern tik-tok brain has no room for a thinking, deliberate sport. I think the football product has dwindled and is all fantasy/commercial/drama focused.
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NFL stinks now compared to what it used to be. It certainly looks less like what it used to be than MLB does. They should've renamed it the National QB Leaue a while ago.

I agree with you on the marketing of the sport. You can't escape it, it's all the sports media talks about, it's everywhere in commercials, and people who know nothing about the sport can rattle off all the player stats because everyone is in a fantasy league.

I'll still be at the Bears game Thursday night but I don't pay attention to what's on the field like I used to.
 
whosurdaddy2720 said:
Same in regards to the Yankees. Aaron Judge re-ignited some of my passion this year but it’s still not the same as it used to be. In middle and high school I regularly sat through entire 3+ hour Yankee games and now in my mid 30’s I find it nearly impossible unless it’s a meaningful game.
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Given the expanded playoffs, there's likely very few, if any, meaningful regular season Yankee games per season nowadays. Where as hell a 3 game set vs Boston in April used to have some juice.

Going to try and parachute in tonight for the playoffs but it's nowhere near the same ride or build up as when you're following it daily.
 
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MDHuskFan said:
I have met these people, they don’t bother me too much though.

You know what fans are extremely annoying though? College sports fans who have different schools depending on sport. (Ex: UNC Basketball & Alabama football fan)
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Have any of you guys ever ventured over to the College Football subreddit? My god, the amount of people there with double flairs (like Oklahoma & Ohio State) is ridiculous. Pick one team. You cannot have two "favorite" teams in the same sport, especially if they're big time schools. It's like the people who have an AL and NL team in baseball...the worst
 
whosurdaddy2720 said:
Same in regards to the Yankees. Aaron Judge re-ignited some of my passion this year but it’s still not the same as it used to be. In middle and high school I regularly sat through entire 3+ hour Yankee games and now in my mid 30’s I find it nearly impossible unless it’s a meaningful game.
Expand ...
When you have a computer as your coach I wouldn’t blame fans for losing interest. If it wasn’t for Yankee streamers like NYY News and NYY recaps I probably wouldn’t watch. Judge definetly helps too.
 
Jaydumo20 said:
I've been thinking about this more and more lately and have been looking to get some outside input, so I turn to the yard because for some reason I trust y'alls opinion:

As I watch the MLB playoffs I wonder at how little attention this event gets. I still love it and it's great TV, as it always has been. I have several friends who I thought were "sports" fans, based on the number of football jerseys they own and how seriously they take NFL Sundays. But whenever I try to talk CBB, baseball, NHL, Golf etc. I am met with a shrug.
These are the NFL only sports fans. A new breed of sports fan. They seem to be everywhere. Can anyone shine a light on this interesting creature?
Expand ...

In addition to what people have said, the season has only been 16/17 games. Easy to focus on / obsess over.
 
auror said:
NFL only fans
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C8A3990B-52B5-43A7-81BD-561FA98B577B.jpeg



Sorry lol
 
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NFL-only fans are not a new thing. For many busy adults, it's the only sport they can follow in its entirety. Nearly every game is on a Sunday and it's a three-hour commitment for the entire week.

If you watch all of your favorite NFL team's games it's a 51-hour commitment for the regular season.
If you watch all of your favorite MLB team's games it's roughly a 500-hour commitment. It's a ton of weeknight games, some west coast games, etc.

Baseball is incredibly boring to most people (this coming from someone who used to be a huge baseball fan before quitting cold turkey almost 15 years ago) plus I don't know how any busy adult with a family can follow it. Free time is hard to come by and I can think of a dozen things I'd rather do with it than watch regular season baseball. Hell, even as a huge NBA fan it's difficult to watch much of the regular season, especially since it matters so little relative to the postseason.

What is a new style of fan are the ones who do not watch any games in their entirety. Even big games. Even championship games or series. They watch 10-15 minute extended recap/highlight clips on social media and that's it. That's the youngest generation of sports fans.
 
For NFL onlys who did not see any of the Baseball games today, you missed 2 barn burners. Philly holds off Atlanta 7-6 after a spirited comeback and Houston breaks the hearts of the Mariners on a walk off 3 run homer to win 8-7.

Looking forward to see if Judge can maintain his magic although if I were Cleveland, Judge would not see a ball within 2 ft of the strike zone.
 
I don't watch baseball. I would have a hard time even naming a current player. This is a problem for baseball. In the past, even though I didn't watch, I could name 5 to 10 players. Their problem now is the either have no current stars or they are horrible at marketing them. As a black man, baseball's history of racism doesn't help either.
 
UConn mens hoops and baseball for me. Haven’t watched a football game in at least 20 years. 350 pound men running full speed into each other. Eventually someone is going to get killed on the field. Disgusting sport.
 
Jaydumo20 said:
I've been thinking about this more and more lately and have been looking to get some outside input, so I turn to the yard because for some reason I trust y'alls opinion:

As I watch the MLB playoffs I wonder at how little attention this event gets. I still love it and it's great TV, as it always has been. I have several friends who I thought were "sports" fans, based on the number of football jerseys they own and how seriously they take NFL Sundays. But whenever I try to talk CBB, baseball, NHL, Golf etc. I am met with a shrug.
These are the NFL only sports fans. A new breed of sports fan. They seem to be everywhere. Can anyone shine a light on this interesting creature?
Expand ...
I’ve literally never met an “NFL only” sports fan, but then again I live in the metro NYC area so there’s a diverse range of sports fandom.

For those here who’ve met these people, where have you met them? Are they actual football fans, or just watchers of NFL for betting/FF reasons? If someone loves football, I can’t see them only watching NFL, but that’s just me, the guy who loves basketball and doesn’t really watch NBA…
 
162 games is overkill. Start the season later, end it earlier. Playoff baseball is great but getting there is absolutely brutal.

Another hot take - make NBA playoff games single elimination.
 
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