NFL ratings (slightly) down and I'm weirdly ecstatic

Mark Cuban has already turned around lots of things in his career. He turned around the Dallas Mavericks, he turned around Shark Tank, and if the United States are still standing, he'll turn this country around in 2020.

If the NFL would be willing to listen to Cuban, he just might be able to save them from themselves as well. 

Back in March 2014, Cuban (in?)famously said "Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. And they're getting hoggy," in regards to the National Football League, mainly a shot at the increased Thursday Night Football package.

Anyone who knows me knows that aside from the one Patriots TNF game per season, I will go out of my way to avoid watching that mockery of a product that masquerades as professional football. I'd rather watch the most generic, vanilla re-run of the Simpsons or Seinfeld for the 1,000th time than watch the Jaguars and Titans play on a short week in those cringe-worthy color rush unis.

Lo and behold, Cuban just might have been right. But this soon? It's been about 36 months since his bold prediction -- way off from his initial 10-year timeline -- and through two weeks of the NFL season...ratings for all seven prime time games are down, via Mike Florio of PFT (not 2 b confused width PFT Comenter).

Now this isn't to say the implosion of the NFL is anywhere near. The game Florio cites as the latest example of negative ratings growth, Bears-Eagles on Monday night, still drew nearly 10 million more viewers than the next highest-rated cable program that evening (SportsCenter, which followed the game). MNF received a 4.5 rating among the 18-49 demographic, while SC got a 1.3. The next highest non-sports program was something called Love & Hip Hop on VH1, which drew a 0.9.

I get extra giddy that the first Thursday Night Football broadcast (not the season opener between Denver and Carolina, which isn't counted towards the TNF ratings for some reason) dropped from a 7.5 in 2015 to a 5.4 this season. Before you say "well it was the Bills and Jets, what did you expect?" New York City is the largest TV market in the country. Yes, last year's Week 2 game (Broncos vs. Chiefs) was likely more compelling, but the Denver and Kansas City TV markets are the 17th and 33rd largest, respectively, per Nielsen.

I'm ecstatic for the rating declines, however minimal they may seem, not because I hate football. I love football, and you probably do too, be it the pros or college.

I do hate what the NFL has slowly been morphing in to, with an inferior product week-to-week. The Thursday Night saturation is only part of the problem, but it's a biggie. Forcing games in London, continuously proposing an 18-game schedule and playoff expansion (not to mention expansion of the league itself)...the NFL is becoming more watered down than "Sip N Dip" coffee, a gross chain over on the East Bay of Rhode Island (I'd rather drink Starbucks, for those keeping score).

Other than whoever saves the country in 2020, another storyline to keep an eye on will be the expiration of the current CBA between the NFL and the NFLPA. The CBA will expire after the 2020 season, likely after the 2021 draft.

2011 was just a warm-up between the sides. If you think the NHL's labor strife has been bad (and it has), and if you think the '94 strike that killed the Montreal Expos was bad...buckle up. I'm not sure how high up the priority list it is, but have you heard a single NFL player or coach talk about how much they love playing on Thursday night? One? One?

It's too bad the Red Sox already have the AL East locked up, or I'd gladly skip the Pats tomorrow night to do my part in declining the ratings. 'Til then, lets see if Jimmy G can 1) play and 2) pick up his third win, which will correlate to a third 1st round pick that he'll be worth.

The Face of Failure...Pending.