Dear NFL Fans, Are you as tired of watching the embarrassing product being put on our televisions as I am? I love Football more than anything and was SO excited to get the season underway but the excitement was brought to a penalty filled, crashing halt on Monday night.
I have never witnessed NFL Officials be so incompetent. I am used to bad calls from both regular officials AND the replacement ones but these guys can’t even figure out how to properly spot a ball or count how many men are on the field. With all the mistakes and questionable calls it took over two hours just to play the first half.
I know that Monday night was not the only game that became hard to watch due to officiating blunders and if these guys are allowed to continue it won’t be long before the outcome of a game is changed or a star player gets hurt because the replacement refs have lost all control.
Unfortunately the Labor dispute between the League and Referees does not seem close to being settled and my feeling is that as long as the NFL isn’t losing money and TV viewers it won’t be settled.
That is when I came up with this idea… DON’T WATCH….BOYCOTT THE NFL.
I quickly realized that this was crazy talk and that even I would not turn off my TV because I LOVE WATCHING FOOTBALL.
That’s when it occurred to me that the NFL doesn’t care if I watch or not because I AM NOT A RATINGS FAMILY.
In this week’s Prime Time Network Ratings Sunday Night Football on NBC was the number one show in America with 21.3 million viewers. We don’t know for sure that is how many people tuned in because that is an estimate based on the RATINGS FAMILIES. These are people who get there viewing measured electronically by a ratings company.
How do you think the NFL would feel if suddenly half those ratings went away and they were far less valuable to advertisers?
As I said before I could never imagine not spending Sundays watching football and I would never ask a ratings family to miss watching their favorite team either. But what would happen if all the ratings families decided to go to a neighbor’s house or local sports bar to watch instead? They could turn the TV in the house that measures viewers off or switch it to Honey Boo Boo or something. Actually pick something other than Honey Boo Boo. I wouldn’t want to encourage them to make more.
I know it is asking a lot to get the ratings families of America to disrupt their viewing habits and leave the comfy chair and fully stocked fridge of home but think of it as your service to our Nation.
These teams already have our ticket money so a Stadium Boycott would not work but a huge plummet in ratings would leave the League with lots of explaining to do. The money they are saving playing hardball with the Referees would seem very inconsequential very fast.
As fans I think it’s the only leverage we have. What do YOU think? Is it worth a try? Do you know a Ratings Family? Better yet ARE YOU A MEMBER OF A RATINGS FAMILY?
Are you willing to turn off the Television on Sunday? Are willing to share this message with other NFL fans so Ratings Family’s will get the word?
The Referee’s have a Union, the Players have a Union but the fans don’t. All we have is our passion for the game, our dollars and our eyeballs. I maintain that it’s the Fans who make the NFL the greatest Sporting League in the world and I think taking a few of those Eyeballs away and the Dollars they bring is the only way to remind the NFL of that fact.
If you are a Ratings Family I beg you TURN OFF THE NFL ON YOUR TV UNTIL THE DISPUTE WITH THE REFEREES IS SETTLED!
Respectfully, Joe Average NFL Fan and Season Ticket Holder
