Smith suggested a model with fewer regular season games and more playoff contestsGETTY IMAGES
NFLPA Exec Dir DeMaurice Smith on Saturday said that he has "recently met with executives at several of the league's broadcast partners, including CBS, NBC and Fox, to discuss issues related to the game," according to Dan Graziano of ESPN.com. Smith is "looking ahead to the next round of collective bargaining negotiations and wants the players to have a greater voice in what he describes as the league's 'macroeconomic' issues, including the way it presents itself to the public." Smith: "The ratings information is significant and important. If we don't pay attention to it, I think that we do so at our own peril, from a macroeconomic standpoint. Certainly, I recognize that we're lucky that over 30 of the top 50 shows were NFL broadcasts. But I think that you ignore at your own peril not so much just the decline in football, but the overall decline in ratings for most television shows and particularly sports broadcasts." Smith pointed to the "success the NBA is having right now and a desire to find out more about what's behind it." Smith: "Given the year-over-year ratings issue in football, it begs the question, 'Should we be doing something different?' And that might mean the restructuring of the season in a way to make it more fan-friendly." Smith said that he would "like to find ways to better feature the best games and maybe even eliminate some that don't hold the public's interest." He suggested a model with "fewer regular-season games and another round of playoff games." Smith: "I'm interested in finding out what our broadcast partners think about our game. And I want to make sure that we have an environment where not only they are providing important input but so are we, and that we're all thinking about long-term viability rather than just short-term impacts on revenue" (ESPN.com, 2/25).
