Prediction: Football (as we know it) Will be Completely Obsolete Within 20 Years.

I think it is gone in its present form. I would not be surprised to see the emergence of some form of flag or touch football. "Hits" will be banned first, then tackling. Equipment will change, players won't look the same. It is definitely going to go through a transformation of some kind and may end altogether. If players keep kneeling, it may go bankrupt first. Football's fan base is basically "conservative." I don't know any "progressives" who follow football, none. Many more beer drinkers than wine drinkers.

 

I don't agree with you on the last part. Football has a huge following, regardless of political stripes.

But I'm with you on the rest. I haven't talked to anyone who doesn't recognize that it will change radically or go the way of the dodo.

 

Ratings are down roughly 10% compared to last year. I don't think it's going away in the next 10 years but who knows after that..

 

Never gonna happen. I'd believe it if the Raiders weren't about to get a billion dollar stadium with public money. People proved over the last twenty years that they want this stuff.

 

Las Vegas has always craved an NFL team. Municipalities make mistakes quite often.

What happened over the last 20 years means absolutely nothing. The tide is definitely shifting against the NFL. How fast and how far it goes from here on are the questions, not if.

 

Football is gonna eliminate "hits" within the next 15 years.

We're already trending strongly in that direction, there's already multiple "you hit him too hard" flags in every game. Players are just gonna have to adjust. You tackle, anything besides a clean wrap up will be deemed excessive force.

Many people would say the sport of football has already become an entirely new sport over the last 40 years, it can survive another evolution. It won't survive the status quo though.

 

It's not like the school districts are taking funds from other things to build these, though. This is the local community voting to build these ridiculous things. The people of Katy ISD, Allen ISD, etc., decided it was worth a bump in their property taxes to fund a stadium many universities would be proud of outside of Texas.

I think they're terribly unnecessary...even when I worked in the synthetic turf industry. I made the turf for Allen, Katy, Woodforest Stadium in The Woodlands, and many other of these palaces. We did work across the country. It was amazing to see the plans for high school stadiums in other states vs. the ones in Texas. Large high schools in other states build stadiums roughly the size of what Texas districts would do for an on-campus jr. high stadium.

Given the state of the game and the fact that no one knows how to slow the problem of concussions, I have a hard time imagining football remaining king for much longer. It will be very interesting to see what districts do with these palaces should their football programs cease to exist. Obviously, the large schools all have boys and girls soccer. Some have lacrosse and some have rugby. They can downsize them, I suppose.

 

Agree with Max...I was with you until the last 3 sentences. Pure stupidity to think that enjoyment and fandom of the game has anything to do with politics. You "know" thousands of football fans who are progressives just on this site alone.

 

Thousands on this site? Surprising. I work in a place where there are more progressives per square inch than any place on earth. Very few if any football fans. Soccer, yes. Tennis, yes. Adventure and nature sports, yes. Swimming yes. Basketball, yes, somewhat. Baseball, some. Football, no. We all judge the world by the world we are in. Might want to take a look at this:

http://blogs.reuters.com/great-deba...t-sports-bastion-of-white-male-conservatives/

 

Football really needs to look into changing helmets entirely.

Most concussions come from helmet to helmet or back of head to ground. They need to be padded shock absorbers a la boxing gloves, not hard shells.

It certainly won't look as cool, and I'm sure that's the main reason it hasn't happened.

 

The one thing I can’t put my finger on is the recent string of injuries. Why are players bodies giving out seemingly more than before?

 

The Texans really need to take a hard look at their strength and conditioning program.

 

You can’t pad the brain inside the skull and that’s the problem.

 

It's inevitable that soccer will become more popular and football will pay the price.

 

Maybe we can finally call soccer football like the rest of the world.

 

So your one little example is the proof that no progressives like football? I guess my entire family are closet conservatives because we like football? Seeing as though most teams are in major cities and major cities tend to lean left, are you saying that the entire stadiums full every week are filled only with those who live outside of the cities? Also, beer drinking isn't inherently a left or right thing. Who makes the spreadsheet for you that allows you to categorize people on such things as beer or wine?

 

It's interesting if you apply your "major cities" philosophy to college football actually. The strongholds are in the nazi zones. Lulz.

 

So the NFL is leaning right but isn't overwhelmingly conservative as @solid believes. I do think the location of many of the major universities plays a role when you're looking at this. Nearly the entire SEC would be in areas considered heavily conservative. College football isn't very strong in the northeast.

I honestly can't believe that NASCAR isn't nearly off the page to the right.

 

Football fans "tend" to be more conservative "in general." That is the conclusion of most surveys. Nothing is all that precise, but I think the "protests" really hurt the NFL, and I think that will be more obvious as times go on. The protests are based on a false narrative, not even remotely supported by FBI crime data, and are totally misdirected. For the protesters to say what they are doing is not related to the flag, veterans, or the anthem is just amazingly stupid. I was once the head of a large organization. I would have fired on the spot any employee who remotely offended a customer. The NFL's response is beyond belief. And, I personally think NASCAR is the most boring sport on earth.