The NFL is in major trouble.
Fans are drifting away from the game for a host of reasons.
Now Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban just articulated a horrifying truth the NFL was trying to ignore.
When asked by reporters if he was interested in buying the Carolina Panthers, Mark Cuban said he had no interest because the league is trending down.
From Breitbart:
If Sean “Diddy” Combs is looking for someone to help him purchase the Carolina Panthers, he might want to take a hard pass on Dallas Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban.
When asked by the Dallas Morning News, whether he had any interest in purchasing the recently put-up for sale Carolina Panthers, Cuban answered in characteristic Cuban fashion:
“Why would I buy an NFL team if I think the league is in decline? There’s no team I would want other than the Mavericks, certainly no football team in the universe. There’s not even a close second.
I love the Mavs. I love Dallas. I mean, Charlotte’s a great city, but there’s nothing I don’t like here – other than losing right now. I would never turn my back on the city of Dallas. Like I’ve always said, Dallas has given me so much. And what am I going to say to my son and his friends or my daughter and her friends: ‘Oh, yeah: Football’s dangerous for you, but I bought a football team.’ I know I’m a hypocrite from time to time, but I really, really, really try not to be.”
Cuban has been outspoken on the subject of the NFL, and concussions, in past. In 2014, Cuban told the Dallas Morning News, “They still have bigger strategic problems in that people don’t want their kids to play football. That’s huge. That impacts how much football kids will watch. And how much football families watch.
“You just get the sense that they don’t really have a grasp of how to connect to people in the broader population.”
The NFL can also add anthem protests to the list of ways in which they, disconnect.”
The anti-American protests that have infuriated patriotic fans is just one component of a league in trouble.
That problem was exacerbated when the NFL buckled to the players’ demands and earmarked $90 million for left-wing activist causes.
The concussion issues that Cuban mentioned is another problem. The league was willfully ignorant about the dangers of brain trauma, and now it’s lost credibility in its stated goals of making the game safer and researching remedies.
The league also seems to add arcane rules each year which become harder and harder to decipher. Elongated replays slow the game down and grind excitement to a halt.
The league has several challenges it must face, but Commissioner Roger Goodell seems like an unlikely figure to conquer them, as most of these problems festered on his watch.