If the NFL is serious about improving player safety and eliminating the concussion crisis then they should scrap Thursday Night Football.
But unfortunately for players and fans, getting rid of the polarising slate of games seems more unlikely than ever.
The reason for that is obvious – there is money to be made.
And this season more than ever.
For the first time ever, the league has sub-licensed a package of eight Thursday night games to a major television network.
CBS acquired the rights in February for a one-year contract valued at $275 million, with an option for the NFL to renew in 2015. And renew they will. When the network took over they promised competitive match-ups, but so far the product on Thursday night has been awful, with all five games decided by more than 20 points. And if one man is to be believed, neither the players nor the fans enjoy Thursday nights.
Outspoken Texans running back Arian Foster became the latest player to call out the NFL on the issue this week, calling the schedule “dangerous” and “hypocritical” as it relates to player safety.
Foster’s argument is simple. He attacked what he said is the duplicity of a professional sports entity that advocates player safety while asking pro-athletes to sacrifice their bodies without full rest and recuperation.
He also claimed the NFL’s desire to generate revenue is trumping player safety concerns.
Foster – once described as the NFL’s most interesting man – is not shy about expressing himself. And it’s not the first time he has accused an organisation of hypocrisy. He took to Twitter last month to fire back at Anheuser-Busch, after the billion dollar beer company – a major sponsor of the NFL – released a strongly-worded statement in response to the domestic violence controversies that were plaguing the league.
Foster pointed out he found it a tad disingenuous that a beer company was taking the moral high ground on the issue of domestic violence.
And now – as he and the Texans prepare to face the Colts on Thursday night – Foster has turned his attention on the league.
“I don’t know a player that likes it,” Foster said of Thursday night games. “I really don’t know a fan that likes it, either. I think it’s just the league’s way of trying to generate more revenue.
“[The NFL] emphasise concussions when they start getting hit with lawsuits and they care about the players’ safety, but Thursday Night Football is putting every player on the football field in danger.
“Nobody is ready to play physically after a Sunday game. But you’ve got to go out there and do it.”
The theory that injuries increase on short rest and preparation seems logical.
Veterans are still sore from playing on Sunday and rookies don’t get a chance to study their opposition. These may also be factors in why the games have been so poor.
But when pressed on the matter previously, the NFL cited a 2013 study that found the injury rate on Thursdays (5.2 per game) is almost identical to that of Sundays (5.3 per game).
The league also said research showed concussion rates were similar, regardless of what day a game was scheduled for.
The NFL were the source of those statistics, so it’s easy to be skeptical. It seems unlikely the league would issue damning data that revealed a massive money-spinner was proving harmful to players.
The league responded to Foster’s comments, saying they would always rely on medical data, but if a majority of players wanted it gone then the NFL would listen.
I don’t believe that for a second.
The NFL has been battling to convince people Thursday Night Football is good for the sport since it was launched in 2006.
In terms of viewership, TNF games on NFL Network were among the lowest-rated nationally televised NFL broadcasts.
Prior to CBS taking over, critics had argued the games have been of lower standard and often featured lesser or poor performing teams.
But the move to CBS brought with it improved ratings. The first game between Seattle and Green Bay was the highest-rated program of the night and represented a 108 per cent increase in ratings over the first NFL Network game in 2013. It’s football so people are always going to watch. But if the NFL players’ complaints are sincere and the quality continues to decline then the league should seriously consider scrapping it.
It could earn some serious respect or credibility from jaded fans and players on a major ongoing issue.
But while the league controls the message and stands to profit, it is hard to see Thursday night games going anywhere.
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