Drew Magary: We need Friday night NFL

I don't think the NFL gives a fuck about promoting high school football. That's feel good PR stuff.

The game has never been better from an athletic standpoint. There's no shortage of players. Fan interest is as high as ever. And, nothing is going to stop kids in Texas, Florida, and Ohio from playing football.

Where the NFL is most interested in growing the game is overseas. And, when you look at how many foreign born players are in MLB, NBA, and NHL, that would be where the growth in "future players" would have the most potential as well.

The NFL has every reason to pretend to love High School football as long as they can't play on Friday night. Let them play on Friday night, and that will change.

 

Participation is way down.

 

Yeah, but there are still enough playing to supply the NFL. Rich, white snowflakes aren't playing. They aren't making the NFL either.

The NFL has never had better players. They've never been this big, strong, or fast.

Player acquisition isn't the problem. It's gladiator games. They'll always find gladiators willing to take the risk for the monetary reward.

And, the NFL already draws from the smallest talent pool because it's not an international game. That will change as they grow the game internationally.

 

A more likely scenario than Friday football is the addition of Tuesday and Wednesday football.

 

Wait, were people actually thinking he was serious in this column? That it wasn't a shitty attempt at satire?

 

It appears that it doesn't make any distinction between broadcast and cable. The law provides that leagues' joint agreements for "sponsored telecasting' are not anti-trust violations. However, the exemption from anti-trust law is not applicable if the telecasting agreement allows for Friday night or Saturday broadcasts within some certain distance of a high school or college game.

The first sentence of section 1291 of this title shall not apply to any joint agreement described in such section which permits the telecasting of all or a substantial part of any professional football game on any Friday after six o’clock postmeridian or on any Saturday during the period beginning on the second Friday in September and ending on the second Saturday in December in any year from any telecasting station located within seventy-five miles of the game site of any intercollegiate or interscholastic football contest scheduled to be played on such a date if—
(1)
such intercollegiate football contest is between institutions of higher learning both of which confer degrees upon students following completion of sufficient credit hours to equal a four-year course, or
(2)
in the case of an interscholastic football contest, such contest is between secondary schools, both of which are accredited or certified under the laws of the State or States in which they are situated and offer courses continuing through the twelfth grade of the standard school curriculum, or the equivalent, and
(3)
such intercollegiate or interscholastic football contest and such game site were announced through publication in a newspaper of general circulation prior to August 1 of such year as being regularly scheduled for such day and place.

15 U.S. Code § 1293 - Intercollegiate and interscholastic football contest limitations​

 

There may be a loophole then. I've worked in some football hotbeds, but none that printed team schedules in July or sooner.

And telecast wouldn't apply to online streaming, although CBS affiliates in Jax and Buffalo did carry the Yahoo feed.

 

Tsk, tsk, tsk, all this hair-splitting and haggling over legal technicalities.

Bottom line: The billionaires will be allowed to do whatever they want.

 

I would not have guessed you were so anti rich, white people.

 

Cranberry is on another thread defending a rich white guy. Bizarro sj today.

 

I never take this turdlet's work seriously in the slightest, especially on football.
And his column isn't worth anything more than a skim.