I think people have every right to complain.

No games are “free” and to add having to pay for Amazon Prime to watch terrible Thursday night games (as well as a Friday one) is a joke (I opted not to do it).

Peacock showing a playoff game is definitely a big deal, because this is just the start.

The NFL will absolutely keep doing this and then some.

Also, as far as I know you cannot try Peacock for free, but I’m not 100% sure.

Peter Carroll out in Seattle.

That's correct. You can sign up for a subscription ($5.99 is the cheapest) and cancel anytime with no penalty. That's what I intend to do. Essentially a pay-per-view event for $5.99.

I kind of think it might be interesting to have a general "business of sports" thread since so many of these challenges apply to all the big 4, but I'm not sure it's WAN

I think the streaming service thing is a bigger risk for baseball than it is for Football. Football is just such a massive cornerstone for Fox and CBS that streaming services will have a hard time outbidding them. But the regional baseball networks? Those could be swallowed by Apple TV or Prime without a ripple.

I also think the big 4 will try to avoid game specific PPV's; the younger generations are used to "free or I'm not buying it" mentalities, and they'll lose new viewers.

The Peacock thing is another straw on the camel, but I honestly don't think it'll be the one that breaks the camel's back. More's the shame.

that's a bit of a surprise. I mean, you tell me I have to use Geno Smith instead of Russ Wilson, and I still compete? That's not fair.

People can complain all they want but the only thing that will get the NFL's attention is boycotting the games.

Peacock couldn’t have gotten any luckier with the game being Dolphins/Chiefs.
Tyreek Hill back in KC, and Swifty fans sign up to watch Taylor Swift watch the game.

Been doing this for years

People don't realize how completely easy it is to drop a form of entertainment and move on to something else. I was down to just watching Wisconsin Badger football, not only never miss a game on TV but also attended several games at Camp Randall every year. But with the complete destruction of college football with the $$$$$, NIL and transfer portal (not saying athletes shouldn't get a piece of the pie, but that pie can come from the universities and the mega-dollar TV contracts they get), I only watched the Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois games this year and very well could be completely out next year.

Right before Christmas I had a retired friend that I used to work with come into town to visit one of his kids. The guy lives in a really rural area and was a DirectTV customer for years. He finally got sick of them and dumped them, this was his first year without having access to Viking games (I know, a real loser ). He said the thought of being without the Viking games prior to dumping DirectTV just killed him, and he missed watching the first couple game...but said he couldn't care less once it got halfway through the season and he really doesn't have any desire to go back and watch anything to do with the NFL at all.

I went to diving in big time on films and have built up a pretty nice Blu-ray collection and can't imagine going back to watching sports at all at this point. First one I'd go back to would be baseball but that moron Manfred has ruined that too.

Belichick is out in NE. Not a surprise I guess, but the end of an era.

Gone as HC of the NEP

I don't follow college football - I don't like the way the game treats the kids, and I don't like the dictatorship level godhoods conveyed to coaches - but even I know it's possible that 3 of the top 20 greatest American Football coaches at any level of all time just left their jobs in the same 24 hour period? I mean:
- all time champion winningest College coach
- all time champion winningest Pro coach
- one of only 3 coaches to have won championships in both college and pros.

all of whom had it decided for them that the game had passed them by, and it's time to move on.

I also find it interesting that one quit, one got fired, and one it was a mutual decision. I ultimately don't think NE was mutual (Belichick was going to be fired as GM, and couldn't stay as a coach under a new one - who'd take that job - so Bill had to go.

I can't but think that this is about the generational turnover in the players, more than anything else; they just won't accept the coaching mentality and methodology of these guys, and so it's time for a change. No coincidence that they're all in the same age bracket either.

My forecast for their future:
Saban is on a fishing boat, and maybe pops up on ESPN college day / draft night coverage, but is mainly gone from TV
Carroll works as a consultant for Seattle and does a lot of TV talking head work while he decides his gig in 2025
Belichick is a head coach in the NFC East, and there's a better than 50/50 chance it's for a team that hasn't been eliminated from the playoffs yet.

What you mean is that the players don't want to accept coaching, period. Look at the jackasses that play for the Saints and what happened this last weekend. Look at that idiot who plays for the Packers who decided he was going to be team captain and is so damn dumb that he doesn't know the difference between the words "defense" and "defer' (and that's with several years of college under his belt ). I think the quality of the NFL took a huge downturn when the players decided that practicing in pads is just too hard so now they only have to do it a limited amount of times a year. There is a retired writer for the Milwaukee paper that when watching training camp practices would write, "if you want to call what they do now actual practice?" You can't be serious when you talk about Pete Carroll's mentality and methodology not meshing with today's players? That guy has had a strong, strong reputation as a "player's coach" for decades.

Saban purchased a $17.5 million home in Florida in the last year, I think he knew he was retiring this year awhile ago.

I was joking about Carroll insofar as he's not like the other two, an easy going coach loved and respected by his players. I was not joking that I think he's too tough for modern players coming into the league; he's way too demanding.

I don't blame the players alone, but do believe the inability / unwillingness to practice in pads as a unit is a major factor on offensive line play, which is a major contributor in the lack of QB development and even survival. But I am also aware that every year, there were stories of linemen going down in training camp with blown knees / achilles / heat stroke, and I wouldn't want to gamble millions of dollars either.

we get what we pay for, and Hanzo said, as long as we watch, they don't care whether we love it or hate it. Not watching is the only solution, if you are so inclined.

A thought occurred to me on this though - it's the Saturday night game. does anyone have any idea of how Peacock works with the Sports bar scene? because they're going to teach bars to find alternatives if peacock isn't available through bars' streaming capability.

Well, I think 70+ years old is probably retirement age anyway, lol.

But in the case of Belichick, I'm not sure -- see, he's a defensive guy and New England's defense was still very good. There were players who didn't do well under other coaches, like JC Jackson, and he got the most out of them.

IMO, he had the same problem that 90% of fired coaches have -- he didn't have a quarterback anymore. Coaches create game plans, players win games.

Oftentimes, there's an alternate option for sports bars. For example, I think I read that DirecTV is still handling Sunday Ticket for sports bars this past season despite YouTube having it for homes.

I think you're taking a handful of bad moments and conflating that to represent the entirety of the NFL. Players still want coaches to put them in the best position to succeed. You can't run these complex offensive and defensive schemes with people who won't accept coaching.

you hit the proverbial nail on the proverbial head.......the QB is the key. all one needs to do is look at the browns, without flacco there are in no way a serious super contender, with him, they actually have a shot.

i think they should keep him and trade deshawn for 3 draft picks.

You're delusional if you think anyone would offer that and take on his contract. They're on the hook for $270 million guaranteed to that clown, whether they cut him, play him, or bench him. Nobody's taking it off their hands.

sadly, i know that...................