May Draft Here To Stay
May 9th, 2014
Record viewers for the NFL draft last night all but ensures the May draft is locked in stone.
Joe knows NFL fans, Bucs fans in particular, absolutely hated the draft being pushed back to May. Loathed it. Made them grit their teeth until the enamel was worn off.
Joe didn’t like it much either, and felt Bucs fans’ pain. The mock draft industrial complex is way out of hand, especially so with extra time for nimble fingers to tap on a keyboard.
Joe had been beaten to death by the mockers so much and so often, he was actually looking forward to the end of the draft. Especially by the clowns who boast the irresponsible notion that accuracy was not a goal.
Well, any hope fans had of the draft being moved back to April has been dashed. The numbers of eyeballs that tuned in to NFL Network and BSPN were unprecedented, Twittered Brian McCarthy of the NFL.
@NFLprguy: record-setting ratings coming in for 1st round of #nfldraft. combined 8.64 prelim rating, up 50% from ’13
Then, there is this nugget from Richard Deitsch of SI.com and theMMQB.com:
@richarddeitsch: ESPN’s first round coverage of the NFL Draft was watched by 9,943,000 viewers last night, most-viewed NFL Draft telecast in history. … Round 1 of the NFL Draft was watched by 2.4 million viewers on NFL Network. Total combined Round 1 viewership of ESPN & NFLN: 12.4M viewers.
And all this coming during May sweeps. Sweeps money, in TV vernacular, is when networks determine ad rates. Big-time cash comes for programming and networks that draws eyeballs. And as you can see from the above information, the NFL draft is must-watch television.
The May draft is here to stay. Now, let’s do something to rid America and the free world of this mock draft industrial complex.
May 9th, 2014 at 4:40 pm
And they also might move it back even more….ugh
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/05/07/report-nfl-believe-to-be-weighing-holding-draft-a-week-or-two-later-in-2015/
May 9th, 2014 at 4:42 pm
The NFL rarely admits a mistake, because they don’t have to. There product sells so fast, everything they do makes more money. It doesn’t matter what they do, because people just want more football. Damn I wish my business was that easy to make money!
May 9th, 2014 at 5:02 pm
Bring back the USFL to fill the spring void.
May 9th, 2014 at 5:05 pm
Jim:
NO KIDDING!!! Man, that league was 20 years ahead of its time.
May 9th, 2014 at 5:09 pm
CFL starts in about a month if you need football…
May 9th, 2014 at 5:14 pm
Roger Goodell has always fix things that aren’t broken. Paul Tagliabue was a much better commissioner.
May 9th, 2014 at 5:21 pm
Amen
May 9th, 2014 at 5:24 pm
Joe cannot give any league credibility when it allows a receiver a head start down the field before the ball is snapped.
May 9th, 2014 at 5:29 pm
I don’t think you can blame Goodell for this. He only does what the owners want.
I don’t mind the draft being where it is right now. Or even a little later.
But if they move it back more, they need to add some team events to fill the void.
May 9th, 2014 at 5:30 pm
But hey Joe, they did just approve reviewing Pass Interference, so at least they’re willing to try some new things. But yeah unless you’ve been watching CFL for a while it’s not as easy to get into (full disclosure: I’m Canadian). Nothing beats a good rouge though!
May 9th, 2014 at 5:58 pm
Smokescreen is one thing but proclaiming Glennon is the QB of the future then drafting his replacement within 24 hours seems unlikely.
Oline needs addressing.
May 9th, 2014 at 5:59 pm
Joe,
Registered just to commend you on your accountability. Yeah you fell under the “manziel madness” , but it’s awesome to see someone standing tall through tall the flack. Love the blog, keep it up
May 9th, 2014 at 6:01 pm
Thanks for the kind words.
May 9th, 2014 at 6:05 pm
Well that’s what happens when you build suspense. I know the NFL is a business but it doesn’t have to be a greedy business. I mean, people get paid more than the president to sit on a bench.
May 9th, 2014 at 6:22 pm
RG was soundly boo’d when taking the podium for his opening introduction….so loudly ..one can see him reaching for a AU knob in the podium and cranking the sound balance from the crowd mix to…mostly RG…which was a picture perfect visual of the NFL pushing the fans out of the mix….”golden goose”…
May 9th, 2014 at 8:18 pm
From what I understand they are talking about stretching everything out. Pro Bowl would be moved, Combine would be moved, etc. spread it out over the March and April time frame leading up to May.