Every week, hundreds of thousands of fans will travel to the stadiums of the National Football League and cheer on their favorite team as they get ready for battle. It used to be the best way to watch some football, but that has changed over time to be able to watch it from your couch instead.
Whether you are an avid football fan who likes to make NFL picks or you are someone who is totally new to the game, there is plenty to enjoy while watching football on TV. As your knowledge of the game grows, you will continue to find more nuanced things to enjoy that may make it even more fun than being there in person.
Today, we are going to discuss precisely why watching the NFL on TV is better now than in person and how that is not necessarily a bad thing.
The Betting Aspect
Keeping the game on at your house rather than watching from the stadium has a lot to do with keeping your eyes out on the betting market with your NFL picks. When you are physically at a National Football League game, keeping tabs on what is happening around the rest of the league is challenging.
Now with the emergence of sports betting into our game day experience, making sure you understand what is happening in every game on the slate is critical to your success as a sports bettor, as there are different points where you can get value betting when you see what is going on around the league instead of being locked into a particular game.
Some people do not agree with where this will be placed. Still, fantasy football is another huge reason why going to games that are not island games (NFL games with other games going on at the same time) has a massive issue of keeping track of who will be healthy and who will be able to play in the games. And the information overload that happens at the game overwhelms you. The internet access at NFL stadiums is also extremely slow, which is huge.
The Broadcast is Just Too Good Now
When you go down the list of National Football League broadcasters, it is like an All-Star Game roster, as many great groups call the game. With the NFL being a national sport, it has a very polished approach to the broadcast where they touch on everything and make sure that all the fans that are watching are feeling the impact of every play and dissect it to a tee. Having some games dissected by former players like Payton and Eli Manning on the “Manningcast” allows an even more “inside” look at the game from the perspective of those who have been on the field professionally.
Perhaps even more fun is the celebrity interviews when players join the Mannings on air. ESPN has brought other athletes like LeBron James, Charles Barkley, and Sue Bird, actors like Joel McHale and Jon Hamm, politicians Barack Obama and Condoleeza Rice, comedians Jon Stewart and Bill Burr, and many more. You can’t get that kind of entertainment when you’re at the arena!
When you are physically at the game, you can miss many things unless you have a perfect seat, as football is in the trenches, and you do not get to see that in person. You also do not get injury updates and things of that nature, as the television cameras can dive deeper into each player and play while giving you valuable information throughout the game.
The Comfort of Home
Don’t feel like getting dressed up to go to the game? No worries! You can throw on your favorite jersey or wear your pajamas, bundle up in a blanket, or have a few friends over to watch the game with you.
However you choose to watch the game, football is oftentimes better together. Invite some of your friends over, order some pizzas for the crew, crack open your favorite cold beverage and enjoy the game!
Saving Money
Sometimes, it just makes good financial sense to stay at home rather than attend a game in person. According to The Sporting News, the Detroit Lions have the lowest average ticket price for the 2022 season at just over $244 per ticket, while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have an average ticket price of $757.26. While these averages consider the cost of all available seats at face value (meaning seats closer to the field or the 50-yard line will skew the stats), those totals can rack up in a hurry, especially if you’re trying to bring a family of four (or more!).
That’s also before including other expenses, such as parking, concessions, souvenirs, programs, and more. Being able to eliminate those transactions while still enjoying games is a frugal approach to still enjoying the NFL action.
Conclusion
The idea of this article is not to bash the in-stadium product because there are many positive things about going to the game. The big issue is being able to see the nooks and crannies that make the National Football League as beautiful as it is.
However, television and radio coverage has made the sport more into a television and radio production than it is on the field in person. This can be viewed as a negative in some regards, but I view this as a positive. People are going to seek the commodity involved with being with like-minded people supporting and cheering on their favorite team and players, so the aspect of fans being in the stadium is never going to go away, especially after essentially missing a full season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The television and radio products are just so polished now and let you continue to keep your eyes on a bunch of games at once because there are a lot of solid games happening on every slate. There are exciting games to watch if you can flip channels and watch multiple games at once.
What do you think, is watching the NFL on television better now than watching it in person?
