Is the NFL really America's game? - Jimbo614's Blog

Jimbo614's Blog

Is the NFL really America's game?

Posted on October 12, 2012 at 09:47 PM.

(8)

With October bringing about the MLB playoffs, one observation is how far Baseball has sunk in the last 30 years, especially compared to the NFL.
It's the Post-Season and some of the participants have had trouble selling out stadiums that only hold 35,000 seats. Let alone the dismal TV ratings.. Last week, the Jets Monday Night game outdrew the Yankees Playoff game by almost two to one. And that was not only nationally, but in NYC itself.
But.... I am here to tell you that the NFL is NOT America's number one game. In fact, it's not even the most successful product in it's own sport!
NCAA Football dwarfs the NFL every weekend. Think about it;
First, the sheer number of games, roughly 60 to 16. A 4-1 margin.
But, that much is obvious;
The real proof is to look at NCAA attendence compared to the NFL.
How many NFL teams fail to sell out their stadiums on an average Sunday? Maybe a quarter?
And that's stadiums that might hold 70,000 people.
Yet, look at practically any BCS school. Look at an Ole Miss, or a Northwestern... Every game is packed. And in far larger stadiums.
Look at the Univ of Tennessee, haven't had a winner in several years, yet every Saturday, there's a 100.000 plus loyal UT fans singing Rocky Top at the top of their lungs.
I don't have the statistics, but I'd be willing to bet that the Univ of Kentucky probably outdraws the Cincinnati Bengals just up the road.
And i'm not talking about winning programs. Some of these schools havent won anything in decades. Do you think any NFL team would still sell out if their team hadn't had a winning record in 50 years? I think not.
And add to this, the fact that the NCAA has teams in obscure places like Iowa or Idaho. Literally in every nook and cranny in this country. You can't drive 100 miles on a Saturday without running into a NCAA game somewhere.
If you live in Hawaii, you have an NCAA team to root for that's YOURS. And that team is never going to relocate. The players are never going to go on strike or hold out for big contracts.
Yes , America's REAL game is NCAA Football. The NFL really fails to compete.

Comments

# 1 KungPaow @ Oct 13

I don't watch too much college football, you could say, I never watch it, probably, because i'm Latvian and American Football is not too popular here.

# 2 boxboy99 @ Oct 13

Pro sports are great, but they will never be able to generate the same kind of bond as a college can with their alumni. There is nothing like rooting on the school where most spent the best years of their life.

# 3 Bmore Irish @ Oct 13

i can totally see what youre saying. i absolutely love college football. the atmosphere is electric. but if youre looking at it from a monetary standpoint, the NFL definitely makes more. plus it's the best players in the world. but college is great. its a fun time, and you see a lot more wild/surprise endings

# 4 Jimbo614 @ Oct 13

I guess you might try to compare the NFL Super Bowl to the National Championship game. Obviously the Super Bowl is the most hyped sporting event in the world/ But so far as revenue, it might not be as obvious as it first appears..
I once heard Mel Karmazan when he was the head of Viacom, make the statement that gross revenue is not the same as net. He laimed that while the Super Bowl grossed almost a billion dollars, that after expenses, production costs etc, the total Net revenue was less than 10 million. The Howard Stern Radio Show Netted more revenue in a week than the Super Bowl. So Net Revenue is the crucial number, not Gross.
So, in comparing revenue between the two, it's very possible that the NC game could conceivably NET as much if not more than the Super Bowl, depending on production costs. Let's not forget that the SB is broadcast to dozens of countries, each paying their own crews, their own satellite cost, their own cameramen, lighting etc. Those are all debits. But the NC game only needs one national media outlet. Which means production costs are a fraction of the Super Bowl. Therefore, hopefully increasing Net Profit.
All this was to say that it's not necessarily a given that the NFL makes more money than the NCAA.

# 5 Jimbo614 @ Oct 13

Another point for Bmore Irish, But all those great players in the NFL played at least three years in the NCAA too.

# 6 Bmore Irish @ Oct 14

i agree that college football makes a lot of money, but not necessarily for the schools. actually only the very biggest names in college footbal ie notre dame, michigan, ohio st, alabama, lsu, texas, etc, actually come out on top. http://articles.businessinsider.com/...rogram-revenue
i believe there's a lot more parity in the nfl today, in large part due to the fact that every team has the best players. talent isnt nearly as evenly ditrisbuted in college.

all that being said, college football still gives the NFL a run for its money, the amount of college games i watch exceeds the number of pro games, but as you said, there is a far larger volume of college games

# 7 Jimbo614 @ Oct 15

I wonder if you only looked at the Net Revenue of the top 32 NCAA teams, and compared it to the 32 NFL Teams, who would win?
Let's not forget that 51% of Gross Revenue goes to Salaries in the NFL. Production costs are probably more for the NFL. THe NFL pays Union Scale for stadium employees compared to mostly volunteers in College. I wish I knew what Advertising rates were for both.