NFL Lockout: Four Reasons Why the Lockout Will Cause Long-Term Damage to the NFL

The NFL is by far the most popular sport in the U.S., and it is the quickest growing major league sport in the country.  The success of the sport is due to football's ability to capture the essence of the American spirit.  The success of the sport is being threatened by the ongoing lockout, and it will cause irreparable damage if games are missed this season.

This is not the first time in history when a league has been caught in strife due to differences between the owners and players, but in the modern world of 24/7 sports media, Twitter accounts and fantasy football leagues, this lockout would be the most devastating to the sport.

I am not implying at all that fans will begrudge the league and never watch a game of football again.  On the contrary, I can imagine the season opener being even more watched than in previous years.  However, the long-term growth and success of the NFL will be stunted for a few reasons.

1: Growing Popularity of Other Sports

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NEW YORK - JUNE 12: New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan poses for a photo with CC Sabathia #52 of the New York Yankees on June 12, 2011 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

In a normal offseason, NFL fans have several events to look forward to relating to football.  The NFL draft, free agency, offseason training camps, mini-camps, preseason and the regular season. 

This year's football related events may just include the draft and regular season.  Free agency and any form of preseason or training camps will be condensed or eliminated all together.  This means less media time discussing football.

Keeping the sport relevant to the average sports fan is important in maintaining interest on a national level.  The NFL and its players may find this surprising but many of us are bored of hearing about boring lawyer-speak on ESPN and NFL Network.  The devoted NFL fan now knows the equivalent to a full course in law school and that kills interest in the sport.

Other sports that actually show athletes competing against one another are growing in popularity as basketball has become a league where several superstars on competitive teams provide interesting storylines. 

Just think of the Miami Heat as the new Boston Celtics with their own Big Three.  Baseball is similar with the Yankees aging superstars and the Phillies pitching lineup.  Baseball also has a history of being the old-fashioned American pastime.

The decrease of public interest in offseason football related events and increasingly compelling storylines in other sports will detract from interest in football for the forseeable future.

2: Decreased Quality of the Games

Remember the chit-chat back and forth between Revis and Moss last year before their first game?  Revis was burned on a beautiful one-handed catch by Randy Moss in one of the earlier plays in that game.  The reason for Revis' pulled hamstring was likely due to decreased time in training camp due to holding out for a contract extension.

Imagine the entire NFL having out of shape athletes playing a Monday night game.  Or, rather, imagine paying for premium tickets just to see your team's top two receivers get injured due to conditioning-related injuries.

I personally love NCAA football, but not nearly as much as the NFL because one can tell the difference between an NFL athlete and the level of competition in contrast to an NCAA athlete.  This would not be the case if the lockout persists due to the fact that players will be out of shape even if they are attending offseason workouts. 

These offseason workouts are good for maintaining team chemistry but I fail to believe players are training as hard when they are not insured during their workouts in case they have a training related injury.

Furthermore, rookies recently drafted in this years draft will not have the benefit of offseason programs thus their will be less youth on the field to add to surging young teams. 

In short, the perennial playoff teams will remain in the hunt with their veteran base of players and coaching staff while youthful, new teams will have more to work on and will have to catch up as the season progresses.

3: The Recession

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FOXBORO, MA - SEPTEMBER 12: Quarterback Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots chats with owner Robert Kraft before the NFL season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals at Gillette Stadium on September 12, 2010 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim

Tickets to go see my hometown football games cost nearly $120 during a regular season game.  A baseball or basketball game can be seen for $20.  Granted baseball and basketball teams have many more home games to play thus devaluing each game while each NFL team only has eight games to sell tickets. 

All things considered, football games still sell out more often league-wide in comparison to other sports in spite of the high costs, but it is not hard to imagine that this will not be the case if the quality of games do drop or if there is a general decline in interest especially with the current tough economic times.

Some of the smaller market teams were already having difficulty selling out tickets and were facing television blackouts last seasons.

Furthermore, many fans view this battle between the owners and players as "Billionaires vs. Millionaires."  Although I understand that each group has its reasons for being stubborn, the fan is most hurt in this controversy as they may have lost their only source of weekend relaxation or perhaps their part-time job as stadium employees. 

The fact that owners and players are arguing over money in totals that would be out of reach of many of the fans, but made off of the fans is likely to irk many.

4: Forgetting Their Roots

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MINNEAPOLIS, MN - MAY 17: NFL lawyer Jeff Pash (L), NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Art Rooney II (R), president of the Pittsburgh Steelers arrive for court ordered mediation at the U.S. Courthouse on May 17, 2011 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As the NFL

So I began to Wikipedia "football" in the hopes of finding something to discuss the origins of football.  The first era I found discussed ancient Rome and Greece.  The second was Medieval Europe. 

The point is that it is an old game beloved by Americans.  It originated from rugby which was a European game, and it evolved into an American game which we have all grown to love.

The origins of American football were in the later 1800s when the games were cheaper, less flashy and not Twitter infested.  The recent litigations, bickering over money, bored tweeting from athletes and athlete run-ins with the law depict a sport that is quickly veering away from its roots. 

The prime reason why football is so popular is because its roots are seeded in the hearts of most Americans.  The hard-working, "grind for every yard" mentality comes from this country's history and presently from its middle class.

The NFL seems to be forgetting that as a league, both the players and owners are depicting the modern greed that exists in all sports.  Now the sport is dominated by terms such as "it's a business."

This greed may continue to turn off more and more football fans as the days wear on.

Listen, everyone has the right to do what they need to in order to make a living.  That is one of the great things about this country. 

The only thing that is disheartening is that now that greed is on public display in a private courtroom, and it is obstructing a sport which some of us love, most of us follow, and all of us are impacted by.

Roger Goodell, owners and players—please give us back the sport we love.