Silverman: Reduced Practice Time Big Factor Behind NFL's Ratings Drop
By Steve Silverman
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There's a significant drop in the television ratings in the NFL this year, somewhere in the neighborhood of 18 percent. That's been a shocking development for a sport that has seen those numbers ride a one-way escalator to the top for many years.
But if you have seen the usual array of games, the ratings drop is most likely due to two factors. One is that there may simply be too much of it. Dallas Mavericks owner and "Shark Tank" star Mark Cuban accused the NFL of getting "hoggish" a few years ago when the NFL added its Thursday night broadcasts.
"Hogs get slaughtered" was his notable assessment.
There's another factor that is keeping people from turning to the NFL on Sunday afternoons, Sunday nights and Monday nights: The play stinks.
The game has been particularly bad to this point in the season, and while it will almost certainly improve in the second half, the lack of practice is having a huge impact on the way the game is played in the first two months of the season.
The NFL and the Players Association negotiated a Collective Bargaining Agreement in 2011, and while the owners trounced the players in many of the financial aspects of the deal, the players were able to win concessions in training camp work and practice time.
Two-a-day practices in the heat of training camp are a thing of the past, and practice time during the season is also limited.
This leads to a greater number of injuries as well as a downturn in execution.
Packers coach Mike McCarthy recently complained about the inadequate amount of practice time.
"I think it's clearly a reflection of the training part of it," McCarthy said. "People don't want to hear coaches say that, but how can you not be in tune to the fact you have a younger football league than pre-2011 and now you're spending five less weeks with the players? I mean, that's not the best formula. I think it's been proven since then."
That's what McCarthy said publicly. What he and a large majority of the league's coaches say in private is even more accusatory.
There was a reason that teams used to play six preseason games in an era gone by – up through the mid-1970s -- and there was no keeping the starters out of the lineup in those games.
That's because the start of the season on the first Sunday in September meant something back then. Teams wanted to be prepared for the start of the season and wanted to be able to play their best football when the bell rang.
That's not even close to the case in the modern NFL. The third regular season game is more like an end-of-preseason game from the early 1970s. By the time the NFL gets to Week 5, teams are finally ready to play regular-season football, but then the lack of practice time leads to a greater number of injuries that don't allow teams to sustain a high level of play.
The lack of training and practice time puts even more of a premium on quality coaching than there was in the past. Coaches have less time to get their message across to their players, and valuable practice time can't be used to its desired impact.
Top coaches such as Bill Belichick, Andy Reid, Mike Zimmer and Mike Tomlin know exactly what they are doing, and that's one of the primary reasons their teams can be counted on to play with consistency.
They don't change philosophies, and they don't have to explain new concepts of what it takes to be successful on an every-week basis. Additionally, the best coaches are still the best teachers. When they see mistakes on the field, they correct them immediately – often through their coordinators and assistant coaches.
In a generation past, coaches such as Bill Parcells, Jimmy Johnson and Bill Walsh spared no feelings as they went through practice. Today's players are not called out as regularly as they once were, and mistakes are allowed to proliferate.
The game is suffering as a result.
The quality of the game was what made football such a remarkable sport, but it has been suffering for years.
The commissioner and the owners are supposed to be the game's caretakers, and they have done a lousy job.
They need to make repairs in this area by negotiating more practice time and a better effort in training camp. None of the players want to hear it in the short term, but it is the only thing that will return high quality to this slumping sport.
Follow Steve on Twitter at @ProFootballBoy