The NFL May Consider Fewer Commercials To Help Improve Television Ratings

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There’s a lot of infuriating things happening in the world and in the world of sports right now. But for me, what has to be near the top of the list, at least in the top five, is this…

Commercial. Touchback. Commercial.

You know those interminable points in an NFL game after a team goes on a long drive and scores either a touchdown or a field goal and the network has to make up for lost time when it comes to commercial breaks? And then you come back from said commercial break to see one completely meaningless play because Roger Goodell is doing everything he can to take the kickoff out of the game. And then what happens? Do you return to football action? No. You get… another commercial break.


Brian Rolapp, NFL Media executive VP and NFL Network president and CEO, said the NFL could look at changing up some rules of the game to make the viewing experience better for fans. Specifically, the NFL could look to follow in the footsteps of Major League Baseball and speed up the pace of play.

Via Broadcasting & Cable:

Yet, Rolapp said, “we don’t blame everything on the election” and believes viewership ultimately comes down to whether games can hold consumers’ attention.

Picking up the pace is one option, he said.

“Could they be shorter? Could they be better? Are replays too long?” he said. “We are constantly look at those things to make the pace of the games more interesting.”

The league is also “looking very hard” at changing the way it commercializes broadcasts, as running up to 70 ads per game can be a turnoff, he said. “In a world where Netflix has no commercials and consumers are used to 15 seconds of of pre-roll, is there a better way to do commercials with our broadcast partners?”

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