CBA to be ratified by July 21st?

The timeline they have laid out is cutting it close.

 

NFL will really take a hit in interest and viewership if this thing drags on any longer. If they don't ink a deal within a week and limp into the preseason some spectators will be very disinclined to watch, spend money, EC. Ticket sales will suffer. Blackouts will follow. Ad revenues will decrease, the money pool will generally tighten... and now the players hard fought for 49% or whatever will be worth less than the smaller stake they previously had. The NFL brand could end up in the toilet if they don't watch it.

 

They are ALL greedy bass-turds in my book. I'm more interested in SEC football this year. I wish they would hurry up and ink the deal so I could sell my tix as a season package.

 

I couldn't disagree more. No one cares about preseason.

As soon as free agency starts every one is going to start going crazy over it.

There hasn't been anything but the draft to keep people's interest during the off-season, but there is going to be an explosion of interest once everything starts happening because it's going to be fast-paced and borderline chaotic. Draft picks will have to be signed, free agents will be catered to and training camps will start all within two weeks. There will be something new happening every day for every team.

 

I'm not so sure the NFL brand will take a hit. All the rest of what you said sounds good though. I think this is the main reason the lockout has gone on for this long, because the NFL knows fans will still line up no matter how annoying this process becomes.

I believe this could be good for the NFL. It'll spark a lot of sudden interest that like you said; simply isn't there in preseason.

 

I actually enjoy the preseason because it's our first look at the rookies and new FA's we've signed. It's also one of the only times we get to see the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd string teams.

Man, it will be pushing it for the teams to be ready for the Hall of Fame game on Aug 7th.

 

I don't think it will be good for the league, but I doubt this will hurt it at all.

Everything happening at once will bring back a large majority of the fans immediately and once the season starts it will probably be business as usual.

 

I like it too, but the problem is that we don't get a great sense of how good we can be. Things are just different during preseason, so guys will show you stuff they wont even use come September. That's my biggest problem with preseason, that what you see is not what you'll be getting. A player can look amazing in preseason, but because he's not facing those same 2's & 3's in the regular season, he disappears. See Lavelle Hawkins last year.