Quote:IMO, part of baseball's steady decline in popularity has to do with big market teams constantly owning the league and having all the success. WHen markets like Pittsburgh & Kansas City have to go several decades between legit world series chances, and the NY & Boston markets have that basically every year, then you have a problem with your sport.
If football continues the way its going, it will be following in baseball's footsteps.
The NFL, despite measures put in to help create a level playing field, big market teams still rule...and don't let it fool you - the NFL wants it this way....its no "coincidence" that the Jaguars never get good air time by the networks and coverage - they save that for the big market moneymaking teams.
There's no real "parity".
The only reason small markets like Pittsburgh and Green Bay are tolerated/ endorsed even is because those teams have built up such a following. If those markets had teams like the Jags without the "history" and fanfare,,,,they'd be getting similar treatment, too.
Its all corrupt. All about greedy moneeeeeeeey, and pulling the wool over the peoples eyes to give the guise of "parity" when there really is none.
The NFL at one time - under the Rozelle leadership and many of the old-guard owners DID care about parity because they saw the bigger picture and parity helped elevate the sport to the height it has reached.....but now, all the new-guard cares about is the short sighted bottom line and big markets. The NFL will follow the same path as baseball in time if this continues, mark my words.
As a Sox fan, even I have to agree with you. Many people seem to forget that behind all of the glamour, glory, and excitement of all these games, behind closed doors the leagues can care less about you, or your team as long as you can fill their pockets. If the Jags were to suddenly disappear as a franchise tomorrow, everyone outside of the Jacksonville/Orlando/Duval radius could care less about the Jaguars. I have to say that looking back on it, I would have said in 1993 that putting a team in Jacksonville from a business/marketing standpoint was a huge mistake. Florida already had 2 football teams in the Bucs and Fins, and Jacksonville has historically been a College Football town. And from what I've heard, prior to the expansion in 1993, most NFL fans in Jacksonville were Cowboys/Oilers fans.
Of course though, the league needs to have some losing/down on their luck teams, in order to promote the big market franchises. We can easily see that today with constant air times for the Cowboys, Giants, Jets, Patriots, Chargers, Redskins, Eagles, Seahawks, 49ers, and Broncos. Speaking of which...can anyone tell me the last time the Cowboys went one whole season without a single primetime game? Exactly, that's my point.
