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Sports seasons are stretching too far...

C

CloverforkCat

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Jun 3, 2013
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I know there is oh so much buzz about tonights' NC game between Clemson and Bama. But, College football, like all other major sports, is stretching the season wayyyy too farrr. This will be both teams 15th game of the season. Ratings for the semi-finals were down a whopping 34% from last season.
College football is by no means the only culprit in this scenario, the World Series went to November, the Super Bowl will be played on February 7th, College basketball's March madness carries on into April, and the teams will play 33, 34 games before the NCAA tourney even starts. The NBA drags on and on until mid to late June, when everone is out working on their tan, and mowing their grass.
Time for some common sense to take hold that " too much cook spoils the stew ", and overkill will eventually kill the golden goose.......Thoughts and opinions welcome.
 
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The playoff ratings decreased because of the date of the games changing from 1/1 to 12/31.

The seasons are long, but I like sports lasting a while as without sports I'm bored as only so many tv shows I like.
 
420grover said:
The only thing that bothers me is the 12 month NFL season.
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Yep, NFL season never ends on ESPN, if you watch or listen to it at all. Fortunately, I watch as little ESPN as I can, save for the games I really want to see that they carry. Have quit watching all their talk shows a long time ago. But, I agree with what the OP is saying, the seasons have expanded too long and carry on into each other. There used to be distinct seasons among all the sports and now they just constantly cross over into each other and it makes it much tougher on the average fans.
 
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UKWildcats#8 said:
The playoff ratings decreased because of the date of the games changing from 1/1 to 12/31.

The seasons are long, but I like sports lasting a while as without sports I'm bored as only so many tv shows I like.
Click to expand...

True about the New Years eve change, proving that most people prefer getting plastered rather than watching teams get plastered. I also forgot about NASCAR and it's 11 and 1/2 month season..... Geeze !
 
CloverforkCat said:
I know there is oh so much buzz about tonights' NC game between Clemson and Bama. But, College football, like all other major sports, is stretching the season wayyyy too farrr. This will be both teams 15th game of the season. Ratings for the semi-finals were down a whopping 34% from last season.
College football is by no means the only culprit in this scenario, the World Series went to November, the Super Bowl will be played on February 7th, College basketball's March madness carries on into April, and the teams will play 33, 34 games before the NCAA tourney even starts. The NBA drags on and on until mid to late June, when everone is out working on their tan, and mowing their grass.
Time for some common sense to take hold that " too much cook spoils the stew ", and overkill will eventually kill the golden goose.......Thoughts and opinions welcome.
Click to expand...
What difference does it make. It's entertainment. You watch what you enjoy and the stuff you don't like someone else will watch it.
 
CloverforkCat said:
True about the New Years eve change, proving that most people prefer getting plastered rather than watching teams get plastered. I also forgot about NASCAR and it's 11 and 1/2 month season..... Geeze !
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I dont watch Nascar, but doesn't it end in Nov and start in Feb? Still, roughly 10 months. A lot of rednecks love that stuff though man.
 
The only sport that has truly "extended" their season recently is college football. None of them are going to play fewer games either. Since no league wants to play fewer games and I don't have any issue with sports always being on TV in some form, I don't think this will ever change nor would I want it to.
 
At least it's not as long as college baseball. Damn D1 baseball playoffs don't start until just about every other spring sport has already crowned their champion.
 
Along these lines, does anyone else wonder if sports, particularly professional sports, are about to hit a ceiling in terms of economic growth? You have to think there's a limit, a point at which the cost of attending games becomes so prohibitive that the percentage of people who are willing to shell out those kind of bucks begins to shrink. Followed, eventually, by a shrinking of the overall fan base.

I ask this in part because I was just talking to someone who told me that there's a PARKING LOT close to Fenway Park in Boston that charges $200. I find that staggering. We're not talking about for a World Series game, we're talking about $200 on a regular basis, 81 times a year.

Football, baseball, and basketball all seem to be booming right now, but I think there are warning signs. ESPN is the biggest player in TV sports, and they're apparently starting to lose (a lot of) money (which wouldn't have seemed possible 10 years ago). The NFL is getting inundated with horrible publicity, and baseball's fan base is old and getting older. The NBA seems to be in a great spot right now, but NBA fan interest is notoriously fickle and shallow, prone to big swings based on how fans perceive the superstars of the game.

Attending a sporting event hasn't been close to "cheap" for about 20-25 years now, but if you get into a situation where the vast majority of the population grows up with no chance of attending games because of cost, you have to wonder if sports will become less a part of the mainstream culture.
 
I agree. World Series in Nov., depending on the teams could be played 35°- 40° temps.....that aint baseball.
College Football I lose interest with the month in between last reg season game to the Bowl games. All games should be over New Years Day. NBA playoffs are ridonkulously long... Nascar got away from what made it popular...most of the races taking place in the South. NFL squeezed in the extra "bye" week.

But it boils down to the Almighty Dollar, tv contracts, networks, etc...whaddya gonna do?
 
Wish they would have a 16 team playoff starting at Thanksgiving and wrap it up by New Years.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if the game tonight has low ratings as well. I'll prolly check in here and there but that's it.
 
brianpoe said:
So people kick, scream, and complain about the farce of the press nominated football champion bowl games for decades and in year 2 of the playoffs, that EVERYBODY wanted, it is too much?
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The problem is the gigantic break between the end of the conference championship games and when the playoff starts. SEC title game was Dec. 5, Alabama didn't play again until nearly 4 weeks later. That's nearly a month. There's no legitimate reason for the break to be any longer than 2 weeks.
 
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wildcatsboston1984 said:
The problem is the gigantic break between the end of the conference championship games and when the playoff starts. SEC title game was Dec. 5, Alabama didn't play again until nearly 4 weeks later. That's nearly a month. There's no legitimate reason for the break to be any longer than 2 weeks.
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Yeah, they should start it earlier. Most college semesters (most I guess) are done by mid-dec. There is no reason why this could not be an 8 team playoff with quarterfinals on Xmas week or even 16 with the first round the week before Xmas. I'm just really shocked college football does not get with the times and every other sport prety much.
 
Ugoff said:
Wish they would have a 16 team playoff starting at Thanksgiving and wrap it up by New Years.
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I agree with that. They need to have the season end on January 1, even if it cuts into the sanctity of the bowls. Unless you're a fan of one of the teams or have been watching ESPN hype it up, you've probably forgotten that there is a game tonight.
 
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mj2k10 said:
Along these lines, does anyone else wonder if sports, particularly professional sports, are about to hit a ceiling in terms of economic growth? You have to think there's a limit, a point at which the cost of attending games becomes so prohibitive that the percentage of people who are willing to shell out those kind of bucks begins to shrink. Followed, eventually, by a shrinking of the overall fan base.

I ask this in part because I was just talking to someone who told me that there's a PARKING LOT close to Fenway Park in Boston that charges $200. I find that staggering. We're not talking about for a World Series game, we're talking about $200 on a regular basis, 81 times a year.

Football, baseball, and basketball all seem to be booming right now, but I think there are warning signs. ESPN is the biggest player in TV sports, and they're apparently starting to lose (a lot of) money (which wouldn't have seemed possible 10 years ago). The NFL is getting inundated with horrible publicity, and baseball's fan base is old and getting older. The NBA seems to be in a great spot right now, but NBA fan interest is notoriously fickle and shallow, prone to big swings based on how fans perceive the superstars of the game.

Attending a sporting event hasn't been close to "cheap" for about 20-25 years now, but if you get into a situation where the vast majority of the population grows up with no chance of attending games because of cost, you have to wonder if sports will become less a part of the mainstream culture.
Click to expand...
I think about all that stuff and I def think the day is coming that professional sports will hit their ceiling of economic growth for all the reasons you mentioned. I think its going to happen to college athletics, basketball and football mainly, as well. The arms races of building bigger and better facilities, paying coaches more and more ect. However they don't have to pay the players. More people are staying home than ever with the outrageous costs to attend one game when they can watch on TV at home. Fewer and fewer people are going to games. ESPN paid a boatload of money for the football rights and they are losing a lot of money. The days are def coming where a ceiling is hit in both college and pro sports. Great post man.
 
wildcatsboston1984 said:
The problem is the gigantic break between the end of the conference championship games and when the playoff starts. SEC title game was Dec. 5, Alabama didn't play again until nearly 4 weeks later. That's nearly a month. There's no legitimate reason for the break to be any longer than 2 weeks.
Click to expand...
It's not so much the break as it is the major bowls. The Rose Bowl is not going to change their game from Jan. 1. Same for the other major bowls. If the NC game is played before Jan 1 no one watches the major bowls, if it's played on Jan 1 it overshadows the bowls. But it would be nice to see it scheduled in such a way to have the NC game on Jan 1 and end the college football season like the 'old days' with a NC basically being crowned on Jan 1.
 
JFCats22 said:
National Title game last night was down 16% from last year.
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That's a shame as it was a much better game than last year. I'd chalk it up to regionalism though. Alabama vs. OSU or Alabama vs. USC last night probably does not have the same ratings issues.
 
I tend to agree. I really like that we now have a final 4 in college football, and teams actually win titles on the field. But jeez, the lead-up to this game has been akin to the Super Bowl which I wish they'd play the next week. By the middle of the 2nd week I'm sick and tired of hearing about it and just want to play the game. Even when the Bronco's are in it.

Sports in general are very popular in the country with a segment of our population, but I think a lot of them are nearing the point of pushing it too far. That would include college basketball. For a lot of my life, including my years at UK the season started the first week of Dec. and ended in late March. Now it goes from early Nov. through practically mid April. Creeping ever closer to 6 months in total. I won't say I favor the idea, but I'm not all that opposed to the idea of starting the season in early January, or at least no sooner than mid Dec. when the college football regular season is over. Football is more popular than basketball, by far. I think most realize that, and as an example NCAA men's basketball isn't even one of the links featured on ESPN's main page. You have to look for it under other sports. I assume now that football is finally done that will change.
 
I don't have a problem with it. I like the football playoffs and hope it only expands, but get it going sooner. I hate the long delay between the end of the season and bowl/playoff games. I like college baseball and UK basketball and that's about it.
 
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I think baseball should cut 2 weeks off from their schedule at the beginning and the end of the season. Start middle of April and end in the middle of Sept. College football should start the playoffs early with National Title game on New Year's Day. I've recently been getting into hockey. Now that season is long. Starts in Oct and ends in June.
 
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mj2k10 said:
I ask this in part because I was just talking to someone who told me that there's a PARKING LOT close to Fenway Park in Boston that charges $200. I find that staggering. We're not talking about for a World Series game, we're talking about $200 on a regular basis, 81 times a year.
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No idea what he's talking about.

I lived two blocks from fenway for 5 years, and I live in the metro area still.

The parking situation around Fenway is hellish - it doesn't make any sense to drive in, and almost nobody does. The park was built long before modern traffic considerations came into play - there is no dedicated lot or garage, even though the park fits ~40k and is pretty deep in the city.

On game day, the roads are flooded with pedestrians, and you just don't drive in that neighborhood if you want to get places.

The vast majority of the people who attend either live in the city and take the T (subway) to the Fenway stop, or they live in the suburbs, park at one of the outskirt stations like Alewife or Riverside, then take the T in to watch.

Now, there are parking spaces right next to Fenway, but they are basically gas stations and other businesses with enough concrete around the neighborhood that just convert their business model to "parking lot" on game day. Those spots are not $200 - last I saw, they're all well under $100 - you might run into $70 or so at the high end, but for Boston, that's not crazy at all.

There are tons of places in Boston where you can pay $40 a day for parking just on an ordinary day with no special events, for example in Beacon Hill or Back Bay. Lots of people just pay $400 a month for a dedicated spot - which is like rent in many parts of the country.


So - not to say that you pay reasonable prices to park at Fenway - it's just that hardly anybody parks near Fenway, and everything that has to do with land in Boston (and NYC, and SF) is hideously expensive, not just game-day parking.
 
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Can we do something about these long ass sports seasons so the OP can go back to watching her Gossip Girl or Pretty Little Liars.
 
wildcatsboston1984 said:
The problem is the gigantic break between the end of the conference championship games and when the playoff starts. SEC title game was Dec. 5, Alabama didn't play again until nearly 4 weeks later. That's nearly a month. There's no legitimate reason for the break to be any longer than 2 weeks.
Click to expand...

They could have easily done the semifinals on Saturday Dec 27 and then had the championship game Monday Jan 4, instead of stretching it out an extra week when they added the semifinals. Then all the New Years Day bowls can have the spot to themselves.
 
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I agree, but I wouldn't mind college basketball lasting longer. College football doesn't interest me so that doesn't bother me. I'm probably one of the few people on this board that didn't watch one second of last night's game.
 
mj2k10 said:
Along these lines, does anyone else wonder if sports, particularly professional sports, are about to hit a ceiling in terms of economic growth? You have to think there's a limit, a point at which the cost of attending games becomes so prohibitive that the percentage of people who are willing to shell out those kind of bucks begins to shrink. Followed, eventually, by a shrinking of the overall fan base.
Click to expand...

Yes, I do believe we are close to entering what I would call "Peak Sports" as far as normal sources of revenue go, which is to say TV contracts, advertising and tickets. The pro sports leagues, except the NFL, will need to pick up new revenue streams, contract or cut payrolls.

mj2k10 said:
Attending a sporting event hasn't been close to "cheap" for about 20-25 years now, but if you get into a situation where the vast majority of the population grows up with no chance of attending games because of cost, you have to wonder if sports will become less a part of the mainstream culture.
Click to expand...

For some sports it already is, like baseball unfortunately. When I was a kid, several of us would in school would talk about regular season games, and for the most part we watched them in their entirety. A tiny fraction of that amount of viewers watches even the most important games these days, at least it seems.
The only sport that seems to have really grown culturally is football, and that's mainly because the NFL decided to market to women. Now, women who would have hated football 20 years ago act like it really matters to them because they don't want to be left out of the herd. It will probably continue growing for a while before changes need to be made.
 
elwood_blue said:
Yes, I do believe we are close to entering what I would call "Peak Sports" as far as normal sources of revenue go, which is to say TV contracts, advertising and tickets. The pro sports leagues, except the NFL, will need to pick up new revenue streams, contract or cut payrolls.



For some sports it already is, like baseball unfortunately. When I was a kid, several of us would in school would talk about regular season games, and for the most part we watched them in their entirety. A tiny fraction of that amount of viewers watches even the most important games these days, at least it seems.
The only sport that seems to have really grown culturally is football, and that's mainly because the NFL decided to market to women. Now, women who would have hated football 20 years ago act like it really matters to them because they don't want to be left out of the herd. It will probably continue growing for a while before changes need to be made.
Click to expand...


Baseball has fallen off the map.

Before free agency really took off we could name the starters for multiple clubs during the 70's and early 80's.

Cincy of course was easy but I even knew the ones i hated:

Dodgers - Garvey, Lopes, Cey, Baker, Yeagar, Monday, Russell, Sutton, Sutcliff
Cards - Hernandez, Templeton, Brock, Dane Iorg
Pirates - Ott, Stargill, Moreno, Parker, Blylevin, Candelaria - Still remember Stargill and Bradshow being co players of the year on Sports Illustrated cover

Baseball cards were the thing.

The All Star game was always big.

Dont really know any Reds anymore outside of Votto, Bruce and Phillips, I havent watched a World Series game in many years...
 
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The NBA playoffs are way too long. They need to go back to the best of 5 in the first round.
 
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