Who's going to Hawaii to see the Pro Bowl? No One!

[mlmpetert]

Originally Posted by firstdown

Quick fix:

BIKINI BOWL.

We just need to work on this a little to bring the males of the world what they really want.

Are there "pro bowl cheerleaders"? If not there should be. And i would propose special events for them too, like NFL's fastest cheerleader, most back flips, most high kicks in 1 minute, and beach volly ball contest (all in uniform). Make it fan voted so only the hottest of the cheerleaders get in.

[htownskinfan]

In years past I would have been upset about this,but after watching the players lack of effort last probowl I dont care anymore

[mredskins]

How about a awards show, like the NHL but the Pro Bowl team is announced during the show plus all pro top positions extra.

[ArtMonkDrillz]

[sportscurmudgeon]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

Ratings are only slightly better than a 2am infomercial? Are you joking?

Not joking - - it was an attempt at sarcasm. Sorry.

The Pro Bowl TV ratings are about 6-7 as I recall. That is a lot better than late-nite infomercials but that is not a good rating for something special from the NFL. I also recall that ratings this year were down significantly from last year which were down from the year before that.

The trend is not good in terms of viewership AND there is not an overwhelming audience out there wiating to be energized to tune in the game next year.

I don't think the NFL ever did this so this is a thought experiment only:

Suppose the NFL put the TV rights for the Pro Bowl out for bids as a stand-alone product. Anyone could bid to get the game whether or not you televised any other NFL stuff.

Would they get any serious bids?

[SmootSmack]

It did close to an 8 I believe (better than the MLB All-Star game), which yes was down vs. 2011 yet still was the most watched sports event of the weekend. And more importantly, there isn't much at that time that NBC Sports or ESPN could schedule that's going to get much better ratings.

I'm 100% certain there would be TV bids for the Pro Bowl.

[FRPLG]

The report stated that more than a few league higher-ups are trying to to convince Goodell to keep the game just because it DOES make money. Not sure why you think it doesn't.

[skinsguy]

I got it! Perfect incentive to keep the Pro Bowl and make it competitive:

The winning conference team of the Pro Bowl would:

1. Earn every team in their conference extra salary cap space for the next season. I don't know what a good number would be for that, but enough to really make it worth playing for.
2. Definitely move the Pro Bowl to after the Super Bowl.
3. The MVP of the game not only wins some sort of monetary bonus from the league, ring, or trophy, but he also earns an automatic bid for a home opener for his team in the upcoming season.
4. If number 3 doesn't work, the MVP would win some sort of marketing deal with a sponsor of the game; i.e. RGIII could win an Adidas deal (although I'm sure he already will have that.)

Anyways, that's all I could think of.

[FRPLG]

It's easy. Winners get 500k cash...losers get...bruises.

They'd play hard for a half a mil.

[sportscurmudgeon]

Originally Posted by FRPLG

The report stated that more than a few league higher-ups are trying to to convince Goodell to keep the game just because it DOES make money. Not sure why you think it doesn't.

Here is why I think it does not...

I run a small management consulting company in real life. One of my clients - - not permanently but on a sporadic basis - - is a minority partner in the ownership of an NFL franchise. [ NOT the Redskins! ]

That client referred me to another person tied to ownership of a different NFL team [ NOT the Redskins! ] for whom I did a one-time project last year.

In talking with them about NFL football during times when we were not focused on the specific management consulting tasks at hand, both of them complained about the Pro Bowl as a "money sink". I have not pressed either of them for details on that topic but it is interesting that both men - - with two different teams - - think that the Pro Bowl is a money loser.

Only the NFL's tax filers know for sure...

[SmootSmack]

There was some talk that they may reward teams/players for on-field performance during the game.

[mbedner3420]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

There was some talk that they may reward teams/players for on-field performance during the game.

You mean similar to a bounty program?

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by mbedner3420

You mean similar to a bounty program?

Ha. No, not quite

[BigHairedAristocrat]

ive never been interested in the pro-bowl. football is a team sport and you cant put a bunch of players from different systems on the same team and expect anything that even remotely approaches a regular NFL game. sandwhiching the game between a week where the top 4 NFL teams compete and the top two compete makes it a complete letdown. it really is like a "filler" episode on a good tv show.

[RedskinRat]

Shame for the islands, that bought in a decent amount of cash and since 9/11 tourism has been down.