The NFL is currently king of American sports. This year’s Super Bowl was watched by 111.3 million people, making it the most watched television event in the history of American television. But NFL Hall of Famer Troy Aikman says that the NFL won’t always be in the number one spot.
So what’s the flaw of the NFL? Aikman says that the NFL has made two mistakes. First, they’ve scheduled games on too many days of the week. Second, they started broadcasting games on the NFL Network which many people still don’t have. Aikman told the LA Times:
“At one time, watching football was an event. Monday Night Football was a big event. Now you get football Sunday, you get it Monday, you get it Thursday and, late in the year, you get it on Saturday… People in Los Angeles realized, ‘You know what, life’s OK without the NFL.’ If I’m an owner, I don’t want any fan thinking that… People couldn’t get [the NFL channel] in the homes and, all of sudden, fans, me included, were saying, ‘I wasn’t getting the Thursday night game and I was OK with that.’ That’s not a good thing.”
Aikman believes that the NFL has made a few missteps which could eventually hurt its popularity. Aikman added:
“I believe, and this is my opinion, that at some point football is not going to be the No. 1 sport. You talk about the ebbs and flows of what’s popular and what’s not. At some point, the TV ratings are not going to be there.”
What do you think? Will the NFL be able to continue growing in popularity?