Why is Preseason Football More Fun to Watch?

I have watched the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers play football games this preseason and enjoyed the games very much.

For some reason, most people dislike preseason games. So I started to wonder why football was so fun and easy to watch, especially the Jacksonville Jaguars. I came up with five reasons why NFL football is fun to watch this preseason.

The pace of the game is much faster.  The continuity is great.  Plus you watch actual football and not all the extras that are a distraction.

The endless intrusive commercials

The first reason football is better is there are fewer commercials. Not only are there fewer commercial breaks but there are fewer ads during the breaks. There are often up to seven ads during each break during the regular season.

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I recognize that these ads fund NFL football but the downside is the constant starting and stopping of the game. Also if you are at the game you watch players standing around waiting for the commercial break to end.

Local commentators are old friends

Next reason is the commentators.  The Jaguars play by play man is Brian Sexton.  He is a long time Jaguars commentator and knows the team very well.  Also, the color commentator is Fred Taylor. He is like having an old friend on TV.  Similarly, Ronde Barber does color commentary for the Bucs and is a familiar friend as well.

The locals are not as polished but know the team, players, and team history. The network commentators come for a week and are gone.

NFL Football starring the officials

Football is more fun when the players are the stars and not the referees.  Penalties are still called too frequently but the lengthy discussions and the confusion surrounding calls is less.

Instant replays that please no one

That said there are no challenges and reduced use of instant replays.  Each challenge or replay during the regular season takes at least five minutes with endless slow motion replays and scenes of the refs staring into a box.

By the end of the game, I have seen more shots of then officials than the actual players.  My goal is not to know the name of the head official at the end of the game.

Watching the same play over and over…..

Finally, there are fewer camera angles.  That could be a disadvantage but it is an advantage in the end.  How many slow motion replays of the same play do we need to watch?

Final words

Bottom line is endless commercials, commentators who don’t know the team, more attention to referees than players, challenges and replays that take forever, and the same average play shown over and over take away from just watching players play football.

I know this will never change and will no doubt get worse.  However, I miss the days of just watching football without all the distractions.