<div ="hd">
I wonder if this is really due to the lockout or if people (at least some) are becoming more and more aware of the obvious Caste system and the thugs that play it, so they are simply tuning out. Note how he blames the "general economy" for much of it. I guarantee that if more White players were given the opportunity to play then there wouldn't be these kind of problems because more people like myself would actually consider going to a game.
</font><h1 id="yn-title">
</h1><h1 id="yn-title">NFL sees signs fans are turned off</h1>
<a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/brand/SIG=11f589428/**http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ap.org%2Ftermsandconditions" target="_blank">
</a>
</div>
<div ="byline">
<cite ="vcard">
By BARRY WILNER, AP Pro Football Writer
</cite>
â€"
<abbr title="2011-05-25T12:09:05-0700" ="recenttimedate">41minsago</abbr></div>
<div ="yn-story-">
INDIANAPOLIS â€" The NFL is seeing the early signs of cracks in fan loyalty.
Ten weeks into the owners' lockout of the players,
Commissioner Roger Goodell noted Wednesday the negative effect the labor
dispute is having on pro football.
"Clearly it has had an impact on the fans," Goodell
said as the owners completed their spring meetings. "We see it in
various metrics. There's been a noticeable change, TV ratings were down
on the draft roughly 4 million people. NFL.com traffic (is down), we see
that."
Ticket sales also are down.
"Fans want certainty," Goodell added. "We can't
underestimate that the fans are going through challenges just in the
general economy."
That certainty isn't likely to come soon. Both sides
have a date in 8th U.S. District Court on June 3 for hearings on the
league's appeal to uphold the lockout. A decision probably won't come
for several weeks, and while another set of mediation sessions is
scheduled to start June 7, not much is expected from those discussions
while the appeal is being considered.
The owners' meetings included lengthy talks about the
labor dispute, but no deadlines have been set â€" yet â€" for the opening
of training camps, which usually happens in late July. That drop-dead
date "obviously is coming," Goodell said, barring a collective
bargaining agreement.
"We've made it clear that (revenue loss) is current
and will continue to accelerate and impact on the ability of ownership
to make an offer (the players) find attractive," he said.
Owners were presented the full range of plans for
opening weekend, from the first game on Thursday night at Lambeau Field
to commemorations of the Sept. 11 attacks on the first full Sunday of
games. Those dates are not in jeopardy yet, but the longer the impasse,
the more in danger they would become, particularly with the league's
marketing partners, sponsors and advertisers who must commit dollars to
those events well in advance.
"We're not at an Armageddon date," Eric Grubman,
executive vice president of business operations for the NFL, told The
Associated Press. "We're not staring that in the face this week."
Several teams already have begun to consider
adjusting where they hold training camp. Fifteen teams trained last
summer at complexes other than their in-season facilities, and some have
deadlines as early as July 1 to decide whether to return to those
locales or hold a truncated training camp at home.
"If it dragged on or there was a shorter camp,
something like that might not be inconceivable," Colts owner Jim Irsay
said. The Colts training camp is held about an hour from Indianapolis at
Anderson University.
One day after canceling the rookie symposium
scheduled for June 26 in Canton, Ohio â€" the first NFL event victimized
by the lockout â€" Goodell reiterated the league's intent to play a full
schedule this season. He recognized the need not only for some sort of
training camps but also for a free agency signing period once a new CBA
is reached.
"The uncertainty is something we have to consider in
getting players ready to play, and we have talked about different
concepts," he said.
One of those concepts would be expanding rosters to
help teams keep rookies who might not have a chance to prove their value
in training camp or the preseason.
A portion of these meetings was spent on adopting
rules amendments for player safety. The league also announced a policy
of "club accountability" for teams whose players repeatedly are fined
for flagrant hits.
Punishments for the teams will be financial, but also
could include further discipline by Goodell, including stripping of
draft picks, for repeat offenders â€" something Goodell said he has "not
contemplated yet."
That announcement brought a strong reaction from two
Pittsburgh Steelers linebackers: LaMarr Woodley and the oft-fined James
Harrison.
"Thoughts on "the steelers rule"??? lol im sorry that im not sorry we hit 2 hard," Woodley tweeted.
Harrison's tweet was: "I'm absolutely sure now after this last rule
change that the people making the rules at the NFL are idiots."
Local reporters, concerned about next February's Super Bowl at Lucas Oil
Stadium, asked several owners and Goodell whether the title game is in
danger.
"You're going to have the Super Bowl here, I'm confident of that," Giants owner John Mara said.
"We're approaching 2011," Goodell added, "as we would any other season."
</div>