Biggest Stories Behind the NFL Scenes

by | Nov 17, 2016 | Uncategorized |

November 8 was a historic day on many fronts. In outcomes that were certainly overshadowed by the presidential results, California, Massachusetts, Maine and Nevada all legalized the recreational use of marijuana, followed by Florida, North Dakota, Montana and Arkansas, who legalized it for medical purposes. With eight new states on board, many have looked to the NFL to see if there will be any sort of change in their drug policy.

My prediction: not likely. I took a dive into the NFL’s drug policy in this week’s column for The MMQB. The NFL has amended its drug policy slightly, but not significantly. And here’s the catch: The commissioner does not punish players for marijuana use, the CBA does. A while back I spoke with Eugene Monroe, an NFL player who has long advocated for the use of marijuana for pain management purposes. Listen to the podcast here for his thoughts. So despite push back from players, the NFL will likely wait for one of the other major sports leagues to make the first move.

The NFL has also come under fire for their falling ratings this season. They’ve had a lot to compete with, and it hasn’t always been the other major North American sports (although a thrilling World Series matchup certainly didn’t help). The 2016 presidential race has provided drama and chaos that the NFL could simply not compete with. A refresher from my earlier MMQB column: In the head-to-head matchup of the First Presidential Debate vs. Monday Night Football, the politicians walked away the winners with a score of 84 million viewers to a mere eight million viewers for the Week 3 tilt between the Saints and Falcons. And much to the League’s dismay, they will have to continue to battle with Trump for viewers for at least the next four years.

That being said, all of the blame for the ratings decline can’t be placed on the election. The product that the NFL is putting on the field has been underwhelming, to say the least. Who could afford to miss the 6-6 tie between the Seahawks and Cardinals in Week 6? Or the Week 2 thriller where the Seahawks (again, sorry Seattle fans) and the Rams put a combined 12 points on the board? And special shout out to the Rams, Texans and Patriots, who scored all of zero points in their Week 1, 3 and 4 matchups, respectively. Instant classics, these games are not.

We’re now more than halfway through the 2016 NFL season and the ratings are finally starting to reach the level they were at last year. The election cycle has finally come to an end and the games are starting to improve. Sunday night’s numbers have already surpassed earlier weeks and the League is only hoping that they continue to improve.

For now, the League should hope that the rookie standouts continue to impress and the Week 8 tie between the Redskins and Bengals was the last of this season. Even if the ratings don’t match last year’s, it is unlikely that we will ever see the NFL fade from the spotlight. NFL agents can’t say the same. Long-time NFL agent Ralph Cindrich joined me on this week’s edition of “The Business of Sports” podcast to discuss how the role of agents in the NFL has diminished and how many have cut their losses and have started to focus on baseball, basketball and hockey. For our full conversation, listen to the podcast below.