we watched TV last night for 8:00 to 11:00 and then watched a show we had DVR's after that.

i lost count at 7 commercials for the NFL, and that was before 10:00.

simply ridiculous,

they actually have a countdown clock that sits in the corner of the screen to let us know how long until thursday night football!

I think anything NFL is a ratings juggernaut for the big networks.

absolutely.

the hype is remarkable, basically unprecedented. i can never recall this much advertising, it is overkill.

and i'm sure it has to do with image, this is the NFL way to deal with the domestic violence that permeates throughout its membership.by putting a positive spin on it's product.

thursday night football starts at 5:00 pm and end at about midnight....for one game!

there is a world series going on, albeit between 2 'small market' teams, and ESPN seems to talk football 24/7.

I think a huge chunk of the country is like me -- they don't care about any team sports beyond NFL football.

As an example, the first NFL preseason game between the Giants and Bills had 10.1 million viewers and higher ratings than every single NBA telecast during the 2013-14 season, excluding the Finals — from the Bulls-Heat opener (5.4M) through Heat-Lakers on Christmas Day (7.8M) all the way to Game 6 of the Spurs-Thunder Western Conference Finals (8.2M).

That preseason game also topped most of the 2013 MLB postseason (excluding the World Series) and most of college football's bowls (excluding the BCS).

It should go without saying that the game also topped every NHL game (including the Stanley Cup Final) during its 2013-14 campaign.

To repeat -- this was a PRESEASON GAME.

http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2 ... television

We are a violent society. Football is a violent sport. A "selfie" one too. All the taunts, showboating and extra curriculum domestic violence fits right in with the American psyche. Therefore one possibility of immense popularity.

Rick A.

Football is once a week.

That is a major factor.

Look, I know that ESPN and the major networks like to ignore every West Coast baseball team not called the "Dodgers", but in what universe is San Francisco considered to be a "small market"?

Blows away baseball that's for sure! I get a kick out how some in the media are attacking the NFL when it's a monster that can not be defeated even with a few rogue players.

football is 3 days a week, soon to be 4.

i think san fran is 'small market...l.a. chicago. new york., texas. and boston are the big markets in my book.

San Francisco is smaller than Indianapolis. It's the 14th largest US city, and would definitely be considered "small market" for sports team purposes. Not for any other reason though.

The SF Giants have the 6th highest payroll in baseball at $147,738,612.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/team/salaries/_/ ... sco-giants

All I know is years ago I never thought about small market vs large market, it was the WS and we watched. Baseball ruined itself and now they pay the price with a public that's apathetic.
Tonight's SD vs Denver game has bigger buzz than the WS.

Baseball is a more regional sport. There is nothing wrong with that.

But your team plays once a week. In other sports your team would have multiple games each week.

But it costs 3X as much to live there as it does anywhere else in the country. So they actually don't make as much as other players, relatively.

Football........hmmmm.......is that the one where they have to hit the ball with a wooden stick so that it goes in a hoop while skating on ice?

Or...

Is that the one that would be improved by the addition of legal use of lawn darts?

Really? By that narrow definition I shouldn't be a Nationals fan. They play in Washington, DC and I live in central Montgomery County. Also by that narrow definition, the Florida city which should have the most pro sports teams is Jacksonville, the state's largest city in population.

More people root for a team and attend ball games than those who live within a city's limits. And according to Wikipedia, the San Francisco Bay metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the nation. If the Lakers, Cavaliers, Celtics, or Knicks can't make it to the NBA Finals, you'd be sure that the networks would prefer the Golden State Warriors reach the Finals than the Indiana Pacers. Even though Oakland is the 45th largest city and Indianapolis is the 12th, the Bay Area is the fifth largest metropolitan area and Indianapolis is only the 29th.

That being said, things are skewed for football. In every other sport except the NFL, a team from the Dallas-Fort Worth area in a championship would not be as coveted as a higher profile team from a larger area like New York, Chicago, or Boston. But those same network executives would sell their own mother to have the Dallas Cowboys in the Super Bowl. Similarly, a Pittsburgh-Milwaukee matchup would be a disaster in any other sport. But if you pair Pittsburgh and not Milwaukee, but a very small Wisconsin city 120 miles from Milwaukee and those same executives would be thanking Jesus because both the Steelers and Packers have a huge national fan base which is much bigger than the size of their respective team's cities.

Anyway, my original point still stands. Only someone (like an ESPN executive) who thinks the Dodgers are the only worthwhile baseball team in the west (and I'm including the Angels) would think San Francisco is a "small market" town.

Who said the players had to live in San Francisco? Actually, a LOT of professional athletes make their official residence Florida because that state has no state income tax. (Neither, for that matter, does Texas.) If they don't want to want to buy a house in the South or East Bay, then stay in a nice hotel until the season is over and then fly home to Florida.

Besides, I'll bet NYC is just as expensive as SF and the cost of living doesn't stop the best players from wanting to come there.

Baseball needs to move two or three teams, expand, and realign.

Many media outlets are asking today....Is Baseball Dead? It may be if even the WS can not get ratings anymore.