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Post by mikecubs on Sept 16, 2017 10:25:48 GMT -6
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Post by mikecubs on Sept 16, 2017 10:29:31 GMT -6
Death of NFL inevitable as middle class abandons the gameTo witness the death of the multi-billion dollar National Football League, you really don't need to see sportswriters wringing their hands over the moral dilemma of covering America's Roman circus of brain trauma. And you don't need to watch multi-millionaire football stars, pampered for most of their lives, ostentatiously disrespecting the American national anthem, kneeling, their raised fists in the air. You don't need to see the desperation in the NFL's television commercials: actresses in team gear, holding snack trays to feed their (virtual) extended team-gear-wearing families, as the NFL begs middle-class women to mother their game before it dies. You don't have to do any of that to see how football is dying. All you have to do is go out to a youth football field, as I did on Sunday morning, and talk to parents and coaches. "Just four years ago, we had so many boys signing up for football, we had five teams at this fourth-grade level," says John Herrera, a dad, software engineer and football coach of the Wheaton Rams in the Bill George Youth Football League in the western suburbs of Chicago. "And from five teams of fourth-graders four years ago, what do we have now? One team. Just one." Out on the field, the Wheaton Rams and the Lyons Tigers were going at it, having fun. Parents and grandparents watching, sipping lattes, a few dads nervously pacing the sidelines as dads always do, willing prowess on their sons. But what do the numbers from the hometown of the "Wheaton Ice Man," the great Red Grange, tell us about football in America? "If dropping from five teams of fourth-graders to one doesn't tell you what's happening, nothing will," Herrera said. "Football is such a great game, it teaches great lessons to young men. But I've got a sense of dread for this game of football that I love." Herrera cares about the lessons the game can teach. He and other coaches are deadly serious about instilling "heads up" tackling techniques to protect the heads of their players. "But it's the parents," he said. "They're worried about the brain." It is all about the brain. The brains that are injured in the game, yes, but also about how the human mind works, as the American middle class withdraws from football, a cultural trend that will cut the NFL away from American virtue. What is virtuous about brain damage? I'd prefer to watch prizefighters. At least prizefighting is honest about its violence. It doesn't wrap itself up in mom and apple pie. Four years ago I wrote a column saying that football was dead in this country, as dead as the Marlboro Man, though it didn't know it yet. Putting your kids in football would be akin to giving them cigarettes, and leave you to face the withering judgment of your friends and neighbors. I was hated for it, accused of wussifying American boys. Some even called me a liberal. Now though, years later, the water is warm and others have jumped in, as the feeding frenzy around the NFL becomes undeniable. Without that feeder system to provide fresh meat and fresh brains for the NFL meat grinder, the NFL as we know it is doomed. There is still enough talent and size to fill the ranks. And gambling drives the game along. But without its connection to the middle class, the NFL loses what it can't afford to lose — market share.You really think the NFL is worried about young athletes? If so, they'd have changed the rules years ago, abandoning face masks, enlarging the ball to make it difficult to throw, switching to one platoon football. But they're not worried about players. They're worried about their money. Parents read the news, they know about concussions and CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy. While a recent study wasn't random — brains were donated by concerned families — the analysis by Boston University of brains from dead players showed that of 111 brains from NFL players, 110 suffered CTE, a condition causing depression, psychosis, dementia, memory loss and death. And what does science tell us? It's not the concussions that are killing football. Every sport has danger in it, and concussions can happen in basketball, soccer, perhaps even badminton, for all I know. And as a soccer dad — with two sons playing in college — I've spent my share of nights in emergency rooms. Concussions happen when brave athletes collide at speed, and mostly, it's the brave ones who get hurt. T here has been a pathetic and desperate spin by football to lump soccer and other contact sports into the discussion to save itself.
But it can't. Because what makes football different from the others is the design of the game — sending bodies crashing in high speed, high impact collisions. It is what makes it awesome and dangerous and fun to play.
Heads get in the way. And football provides not only concussions, but by design, multiple hits to the head. There is no getting around this."Sure I'm concerned," said one of the moms at the game, a lawyer who is no stranger to courtroom debates about liability. "But he loves the game so much. We haven't made a decision as to how long he'll play. At this level, they're just learning, they're not big enough to hurt each other. Later? I'm thinking about it." Parents of youth football players are already feeling pressure and social stigma. "It's not like smoking, yet," said a dad. "But it's getting there."It's already there, dad. It's there. www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/kass/ct-football-concussions-youth-kass-met-0906-20170905-column.html
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Post by mikecubs on Sept 16, 2017 10:35:58 GMT -6
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Post by mikecubs on Sept 16, 2017 10:44:57 GMT -6
Football has often been compared to smoking. In the late 60's early 70's it became know smoking is bad for you and causes cancer even though tobacco companies did their own junk research ala the NFL. Here's the percent of adult smokers by year. Smoking gradually widdled away. This is why the NFL tried so desperately to silence/intimidate that Nigerian doctor. Year % of adults who smoke 1965 42.4 1970 37.4 1974 37.1 1978 34.1 1980 33.2 1983 32.1 1985 30.1 1987 28.8 1990 25.5 1993 25 1995 24.7 1997 24.7 1999 23.5 2001 22.8 2002 22.5 2003 21.6 2004 20.9 2005 20.9 2006 20.8 2007 19.8 2008 20.6 2009 20.6 2010 19.3 2011 19 2012 18.1 2013 17.8 2014 16.8 2015 15.0 drip drip drip www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/tables/trends/cig_smoking/index.htmwww.cbsnews.com/news/us-smoking-rate-does-something-it-hasnt-in-years/
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Post by mikecubs on Sept 16, 2017 10:46:39 GMT -6
By Education Current cigarette smoking was highest among persons with a graduate education degree certificate (GED) and lowest among those with a graduate degree. More than 24 of every 100 adults with 12 or fewer years of education (no diploma) (24.2%) About 34 of every 100 adults with a GED certificate (34.1%) Nearly 20 of every 100 adults with a high school diploma (19.8%) More than 18 of every 100 adults with some college (no degree) (18.5%) More than 16 of every 100 adults with an associate's degree (16.6%) More than 7 of every 100 adults with an undergraduate college degree (7.4%) More than 3 of every 100 adults with a graduate degree (3.6%) www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/adult_data/cig_smoking/index.htm
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Post by mikecubs on Sept 16, 2017 11:20:27 GMT -6
Football participation decline in 1. California (10% over the last decade) www.cbsnews.com/news/us-smoking-rate-does-something-it-hasnt-in-years/2.Pop Warner is down 30 % pix11.com/2017/08/25/data-shows-football-decline-nj-high-school-folds-varsity-team/3.Illinois-Illinois had more than 51,000 players on the gridiron in 2007, according to figures from the National Federation of State High School Associations, but last year it was down to 42,682 www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-football-youth-decline-met-20170904-story.html4.The number of boys playing football dropped for the ninth time in 10 seasons last year, Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association statistics show. From 22,169 players who suited up in 2006, there has been dramatic drop of more than 3,200, or 14.7 percent, with just 18,913 playing last year. During that same period, soccer enrollment has shot up 7.1 percent to 14,031 last year www.bostonherald.com/sports/high_school/2017/09/high_school_football_rosters_hit_10_year_low_amid_concussion_concerns
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Post by mikecubs on Sept 20, 2017 0:16:17 GMT -6
In wake of new research, brain expert says he doesn't think children should play tackle footballA study released Tuesday suggests that children exposed to tackle football before age 12 are at greater risk for incurring later-life brain issues than those who started playing after that -- prompting one of the lead authors to say in an interview he now doesn't "think there should be youth tackle football." "I really wish I could say I was surprised" by the results, Robert Stern, a Boston University neuroscientist who has been studying the connection between repetitive head trauma and later-in-life neurocognitive issues for the past 10 years, told ESPN in an interview. "Instead, it was more, 'Oh yeah, this really is a big deal.' And it's just one more piece of the puzzle that, at least when it comes to youth football, has now gotten me over the edge to say, 'You know, we shouldn't be having our kids hitting their heads over and over and over while their brains are developing this way.'" The study, published Tuesday in the peer-reviewed journal Translational Psychiatry, suggests that children exposed to tackle football before the age of 12 are two times more likely to develop behavioral and emotional impairments later in life than those who start playing after that age. It also indicates that kids who start playing tackle before 12 are three times more likely to develop symptoms of depression later in life than kids who begin playing at 12 or older.Stern acknowledged that the research released Tuesday has limitations and that the science has "a long way to go." He noted that the subjects in the study were not random but instead had volunteered to participate. As well, the research was conducted through phone and online surveys, making it less robust than had the examinations been performed in person. The study is believed to be the first to show an association between early exposure to tackle football and long-term brain issues in a group of athletes who didn't go on to play in the NFL. The research examined 214 former players -- 146 of whom didn't play beyond college -- with an average current age of 51. The researchers said they set 12 as the threshold age "because the brain undergoes a key period of development and maturation between the ages of 10-12 in males." Stern said he was not prepared to offer a specific point at which kids shouldn't play ("I don't know if there's a magic age," he said), but he did caution against reading the findings to suggest the brain was safe if kids waited until 12 to begin participating in tackle football. In a news release, Stern said that "more research on this topic is needed before any recommendations on policy or rule changes can be made." "Overall, we found the younger that kids started to play, the worse the risk," he said. "... Having them exposed to so much repetitive head impact during these critical periods, I just don't understand how we can keep doing that."
Stern said the results reinforced a concept that researchers at Boston University have been espousing for several years: The issue is not related to single-incident concussions but rather repetitive head trauma and extended exposure."This should make people aware that we're not focusing on concussion -- that this is just playing the game," Stern said. In July, researchers at BU announced that out of 111 brains of former NFL players examined posthumously, 110 had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the brain disease that has been increasingly associated with football. Some researchers, including several affiliated with the NFL and other sports organizations, have suggested the BU group has oversold its findings, causing unnecessary hysteria. The BU researchers acknowledge their data set is skewed, making it difficult to assess the true prevalence of the disease. The new study comes one week after the Canadian Football League announced it was effectively eliminating contact from all regular-season practices. Two days later, the CFL and NFL jointly announced a youth flag-football initiative in Canada. The research builds off previous work conducted by Stern and colleagues that looked solely at former NFL players. Published in 2015, that study concluded that those who started playing tackle football before 12 showed worse neurocognitive results than ex-players who began at 12 or older.
Three months after that study was released, several NFL-affiliated researchers, in a paper published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine, said they were unable to replicate the findings of Stern's group. The authors concluded that after examining 45 retired NFL players, they "found no statistically significant association" between starting to play tackle football before high school and developing neurocognitive issues later in life. Three of the co-authors -- Drs. Ira Casson and David Viano and neuropsychiatrist Mark Lovell -- were once members of the league's Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee, which was disbanded in 2009; a fourth, Gary Solomon, is a consultant to the Tennessee Titans; and the final author on the paper, Dr. Allen Sills, was named the NFL's chief medical officer earlier this year. Stern, asked about the NFL-funded study and its findings, said: "We designed this study and analyzed the data to assure that any previous critique of this line of work would be clearly addressed." www.espn.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/20751923/in-wake-new-research-brain-expert-says-think-children-play-tackle-football
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Post by mikecubs on Sept 21, 2017 15:02:45 GMT -6
Aaron Hernandez Found to Have Severe C.T.E.Aaron Hernandez, the former New England Patriots tight end who committed suicide in April while serving a life sentence for murder, was found to have a severe form of C.T.E., the degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head trauma that has been found in more than 100 former N.F.L. players. A lawyer for Hernandez, Jose Baez, in announcing the result at a news conference Thursday, said researchers determined it was “the most severe case they had ever seen in someone of Aaron’s age,” which was 27.C.T.E., or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, can be diagnosed only posthumously. Hernandez is the latest former N.F.L. player to have committed suicide and then been found to have C.T.E., joining Dave Duerson, Junior Seau, Andre Waters, Ray Easterling and Jovan Belcher, among others. Seau and Duerson shot themselves in the chest so that researchers would be able to examine their brains. Hernandez was found hanging in his prison cell. Seau, Duerson and Waters were all older than 40, while Hernandez is one of the youngest former N.F.L. players to have been found with the disease. In July, researchers at Boston University released findings that showed that they had found C.T.E. in the brains of 110 of the 111 former N.F.L. players they had examined. Baez said he has filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Patriots and the N.F.L. on behalf of Hernandez’s daughter. Hernandez’s brain was examined by Dr. Ann McKee, chief of neuropathology at the VA Boston Healthcare System and director of the CTE Center at Boston University. She developed categories to describe the severity of the disease. Those with Stage 3 of C.T.E., typically had cognitive impairment and trouble with executive functions like planning and organizing. Those with Stage 4, the most severe version of the disease, had dementia, difficulty finding words and aggression. Dr. McKee said in a statement that Hernandez had Stage 3. The discovery of C.T.E. adds another turn in Hernandez’s meteoric rise and fall. After a standout career at Florida, Hernandez signed a record $40 million contract with the Patriots in 2012, when he was 22 years old. Just five years before, he had been working menial jobs in his hardscrabble hometown of Bristol, Conn., where he drove a $300 used car he bought with money borrowed from friends. Yet 10 months after he signed his contract, in 2013, the body of a friend who had been shot multiple times, was discovered. He was convicted of the friend’s murder, was accused and acquitted of two other killings from 2012 and became a stark example of out-of-control, off-field behavior by N.F.L. players. Even his demise was filled with turmoil. After Hernandez died, Baez called a news conference in front of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and accused the state of “illegally” withholding Hernandez’s brain. Hernandez’s body had been discovered the day before tied with a bedsheet to the window of his prison cell in Shirley, Mass. His death was later ruled a suicide. The findings may help Hernandez’s family if it chooses to file for an award in the class-action settlement with the N.F.L. Players who are younger than 45 when they are found to have C.T.E. can receive as much as $4 million. Those who died after the settlement was approved in April 2015 are not eligible for an award, but Hernandez’s family could argue for an exemption. www.nytimes.com/2017/09/21/sports/aaron-hernandez-cte-brain.html?smid=tw-nytsports&smtyp=cur
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Post by mikecubs on Sept 21, 2017 15:08:57 GMT -6
Aaron Hernandez’s Family Sues NFL, Patriots Over ‘Severe Case’ Of CTE Aaron Hernandez’s family has filed a federal lawsuit against the NFL and the New England Patriots after tests on the former player brain revealed a “severe case” of brain trauma. Attorney Jose Baez announced Thursday afternoon that tests performed on Aaron Hernandez’s brain following his suicide determined he suffered from an advanced case of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). The lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Hernandez’s daughter. Baez said Boston University researchers said it was “the most severe case they had ever seen for someone of Aaron’s age.” Hernandez suffered from stage three CTE, a level usually seen in brain trauma patients who are 67 years old. There are four stages of CTE. Baez announced the test results at a press conference in Boston. Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez, Hernandez’s fiancée, was present during the announcement. Dr. Ann McKee, Professor of Pathology and Neurology at Boston University School of Medicine and Director of BU’s CTE Center and Chief of Neuropathology performed the tests on Hernandez’s brain. Hernandez was serving a life sentence after being convicted for the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd. In April, he was acquitted in a double murder trial. Five days later the former Patriots star was found dead in his cell at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley. Massachusetts State Police investigated Hernandez’s death and ruled it to be a suicide. When asked if he blames Hernandez’s suicide on CTE, Baez said “We are still investigating everything. But the presumptive answer for that is yes. Hernandez’s conviction in Lloyd’s murder was vacated following his suicide because he died before all of his appeals had been heard. boston.cbslocal.com/2017/09/21/aaron-hernandez-cte-results-jose-baez/
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Post by mikecubs on Sept 21, 2017 15:11:20 GMT -6
A scary/great comment from Killion of HF boards:
Man... just gets worse & worse by the day, week, month & year. Beyond sad, tragic. I just dont see how it can be avoided. Even with radical changes made to football & hockey its just going to happen. What then becomes of these sports?...
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Post by mikecubs on Sept 21, 2017 16:29:17 GMT -6
That Aaron Hernandez had CTE is devastating news for the NFLBased on his violent outbursts, mood swings and self-medicating ways, it comes as little surprise that Aaron Hernandez suffered from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), as his lawyer alleges in a new lawsuit against the NFL and the New England Patriots. The degenerative brain disease has been most commonly found in football players, soldiers and others who have suffered from repeated concussions. “Aaron had Stage III CTE usually seen in players with a median age of death of 67 years,” reads a lawsuit attorney, Jose Baez, filed in the name of Hernandez’s daughter, Avielle. It may explain, yet hardly excuse, Hernandez of murdering Odin Lloyd in 2013 or being charged for the 2012 slaying of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado. He beat the double murder because while there was no disputing he was in the car the night of the drive-by shooting, prosecutors couldn’t conclusively prove he was the triggerman. It may also provide insight into his prison suicide last spring while serving a life sentence for the Lloyd killing. Based on his age, however, a CTE diagnosis this significant comes as not just a surprise, but a chilling moment for a sport that is trying everything to both make the game safer and convince young athletes, and their parents, that it is worth playing. Sixty-seven years old? Advanced stages? That is the opinion of researchers at Boston University, who have been the leaders on CTE research. Hernandez played just three seasons in the NFL, 44 games total for the Patriots, before being arrested at the age of 23 for the Lloyd murder. He was 27 when he took his life. There were 40 additional games at the college level, at the University of Florida. And then there is whatever he played at Bristol (Conn.) Central High School, where sources said that despite Hernandez being by far the biggest, strongest player in the state, they believed he suffered multiple concussions.
This isn’t some old lineman from the 1970s. This isn’t a guy who played 16 seasons in the NFL.This is a young man who first showed signs of outrageous violence when he sucker punched a Gainesville bar manager, rupturing his eardrum, as a freshman with the Gators. He was 17 at the time. The double homicide in Boston took place after Hernandez’s second season in the NFL. He was 22. So maybe he only played 30 games with New England before dealing with unthinkable rage and aggression – prosecutors argued that Hernandez decided to shoot up the victim’s car because de Abreu splashed a drink on him earlier at a nightclub. Does this stem from the NFL … or college … or high school … or Pop Warner … or … It’s one case. It’s one player. There are millions of former football players who never became Aaron Hernandez and, indeed, are leading happy, healthy lives. CTE doesn’t automatically turn you into a murderer, nor does the diagnosis offer a defense for Hernandez’s actions. Still, in terms of public relations, this is a devastating case for the sport of football. Not merely the NFL, but already youth leagues and high schools dealing with decreased participation.Until his father’s death at age 16, Hernandez grew up in a two-parent home in Bristol, Connecticut, a relatively safe city in an extremely safe state. He wasn’t in a gang growing up. He had no criminal record. He lived in a house with a white fence, a basketball hoop on the garage and a yard his parents made he and his brother mow in the summer and rake in the fall. The “why” has always been the question for Hernandez. Why did a kid so many remember being polite and well adjusted in high school become involved in guns and violence and at least one middle-of-the-night murder? Why did he choose that life when he seemingly had everything – stardom with the Pats, a $40 million contract and a beautiful young daughter with his a fiancée that he’d been dating on and off since middle school. Now Baez, who in court painted Hernandez as innocent and harmless, is claiming him as a victim of football. The concussions did it. The CTE led him to take his life. We’ll see what kind of traction he gets there. Boston University has made its conclusion, and Baez, on behalf of Avielle Hernandez, has filed suit. It stands to reason that with the CTE diagnosis, the families of Lloyd, de Abreu and Furtado will follow with wrongful death suits of their own against the NFL, the Patriots and perhaps the University of Florida, as well. Aaron Hernandez, who arrived in Gainesville at 17 and the NFL at 21, the youngest player in the league, a guy who suited up in just 84 college and professional games, had the brain of a 67-year-old man when he hung himself at the end of a prison bed sheet. Maybe the why has finally been answered with Hernandez; the questions for the game of football are just beginning, though. sports.yahoo.com/aaron-hernandez-cte-devastating-news-nfl-213810596.html
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Post by Grumpz on Sept 22, 2017 12:30:21 GMT -6
Just reinforces my point that CTE can't simply be blamed on the NFL or the NHL The blows to the head start at a young age, when they are more damaging.
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Post by mikecubs on Sept 22, 2017 14:49:04 GMT -6
Just reinforces my point that CTE can't simply be blamed on the NFL or the NHL The blows to the head start at a young age, when they are more damaging. Yep completely agree. ALL should be held accountable. Pop Warner needs to be shut down ASAP!! NCAA football is worst than the NFL. They give totally useless degrees and wreck their "student athletes" brains. If you don't make it to the NFL you get NOTHING for all the brain damage you suffered. At least NFL players get money for their troubles. The bigger problem though isn't even the lawsuits for the NFL/NHL. (The Hernandez family will lose their lawsuit because of the settlement the NFL already made with their players) It's the loss of interest/participation. Look at the numbers for football. The NHL is going to have similar troubles especially when you consider the white population in both Canada and the US are going to be going into free fall due to low birth rates. www.newsweek.com/will-america-remain-white-population-628280They are going to have to convince foreigners from countries with no hockey(China, India, Phillipines, Latin America) to follow/play a sport they have no background in that gives brain injuries.
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Post by Bruinsfan on Sept 29, 2017 19:54:45 GMT -6
The NHl wont have the same problems football will have in that they have a much wider international reach. Football will become a class divided sport soon enough as soccer continues to rise up the ranks. IMO Soccer will eventually become the suburban sport, as well as the immigrant sport in the USA.....eventually.
Football creates direct headshots and encourages it...they claim they dont, anyone who has played knows it to be true...you are taught from the beginning that getting your bell rung is no big deal.
hernandez and his gang ties may have contributed if he was getting in a lot of brawls outside of the sport....aso i wonder what the effect of the PCP and other hardcore designer drugs he was doing had on his brain.
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Post by mikecubs on Sept 29, 2017 21:18:07 GMT -6
The NHl wont have the same problems football will have in that they have a much wider international reach. Football will become a class divided sport soon enough as soccer continues to rise up the ranks. IMO Soccer will eventually become the suburban sport, as well as the immigrant sport in the USA.....eventually. Football creates direct headshots and encourages it...they claim they dont, anyone who has played knows it to be true...you are taught from the beginning that getting your bell rung is no big deal. hernandez and his gang ties may have contributed if he was getting in a lot of brawls outside of the sport....aso i wonder what the effect of the PCP and other hardcore designer drugs he was doing had on his brain. That's a good question and something none of us know. My guess is he was a violent type of guy who'd beat the crap out of anyone who'd look at him wrong. With his brain being swiss cheese he lost all impulse control and went from a guy who'd beat people up to a guy that would kill. Yep football at best will be ghettoized. It already is according to Packers president Mark Murphy. Most of Hockey's international reach is European countries(counting Russia) that are outright dying due to low birth rate. Hockey I'm sure isn't as screwed as football but it too has a bleak future. All contact sports are screwed UNLESS they find a CTE/brain injury cure. Soccer is going to do well but it has the "Europe problem". The NBA is going to be the biggest winner because minorities like it and we don't have to compete with Europe for players. Baseball is going to be a big winner too with Latin American immigration. 60% of Hispanics are baseball fans! (though baseball is only able to sell itself locally on TV and at the gate/no one watches playoffs if there team isn't involved unless there is a bizarre 108 year streak). My prediction is it will go like this 1. NBA 2. MLB(It's leading NBA now revenue wise but franchise values are almost equal. Long term there will be a big gap between the 2 and not because baseball is doing something wrong, I hate to say that , NBA is going to be a run away monster especially given how international it is) 3. MLS-biger gap between 2 and 3 than 1 and 2. It will be profitable eventually but again I've read half of soccer fans don't like MLS. MLS is 3rd in the US in TV ratings behind the Mexican League and Premier League. Last season as a whole MLS lost 20M dollars per forbes(if they were a hockey team everyone would DEMAND a move to Quebec). There's limits because of Europe/Mexico but still long term the growth will still be HUGE if contact sports collapsed. Only drawback to the NBA is the superteams but the new CBA has the "designated player exception" and all 4 guys who were allowed to sign one did including Russell Westbrook today. After these 3 I don't think there will be a 4th major sport. Millenials like sports a LOT less than generations of the past. NOTHING though will EVER be what football was in it's prime. Other than the head injuries it was PERFECT. Very few games so you could watch all the games and every game was important/larger than life.
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