Mark Cuban Drops the Hammer, Says NFL Is 10 Years Away From Imploding

CUBEZ had a strong take on the NFL during a pregame conversation with reporters last night, predicting the League’s astronomical growth will be its downfall. Cuban said the NFL is in danger of “implosion” within a decade, especially if it continues to push for more games, more TV nights, and more teams.

“I think the NFL is 10 years away from an implosion,” Cuban said Sunday evening. “I’m just telling you: pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. And they’re getting hoggy.

“Just watch. Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. When you try to take it too far, people turn the other way. I’m just telling you, when you’ve got a good thing and you get greedy, it always, always, always, always, always turns on you. That’s rule No. 1 of business.”

When did Cuban turn into a Depression-era farmer? Anyway.

Cuban was referring specifically to the NFL’s new TV expansion, which will split Thursday night games between the NFL Network and CBS, in a deal that expands the Thursday spread to 16 games a season, including a Saturday doubleheader during Week 16.

“They’re trying to take over every night of TV,” Cuban said. “Initially, it’ll be, ‘Yeah, they’re the biggest-rating thing that there is.’ OK, Thursday, that’s great, regardless of whether it impacts [the NBA] during that period when we cross over. Then if it gets Saturday, now you’re impacting colleges. Now it’s on four days a week…. It’s all football. At some point, the people get sick of it.”

As usual, Cuban has a point. The NFL’s appeal partly lies in how compact it is: each week feels like a big deal, because it is a big deal. There are only four months of regular season games. Compare that with the NBA’s regular season, which runs I think 14 months a year, and it’s easy to see why we value exclusivity over games every single night.

The NFL is incredibly fucking popular, but it’s not immune to overexposure. If Goodell keeps pushing for more, more, more, no one could win.

[H/T: ESPN; Photo: DFree / Shutterstock.com]