I feel like I am not making my point clearly enough, because we keep talking about ESPN or Sunday Ticket viewing #'s. I am saying those content delivery vehicles
are the actual problem.
Le me try it this way. My buddy is an absolute NBA junkie - the type who wants to watch every game. So he signs up for League Pass (
http://www.nba.com/leaguepass). Boom. On flat monthly fee and he can watch any game he wants, when he wants, on any internet connected thing-a-ma-jig. No cable TV package. No satellite dish networks involved. Unlike the NFL's version (
https://gamepass.nfl.com/packages?redirected=true) which does not offer live games.
So now he can watch the NBA when he wants and how he wants - around his schedule. NFL fans are not able to do this unless they use pirated streams. None of the eyeballs on pirated broadcasts are "counted". Therefore looking at ESPN or AMAZON only getting a low % streaming viewership is not really any kind of measuring stick.
The NFL seems to fail to realize that "streaming" is not simply watching the game on your phone.....
The NFL has a national and often international sport being broadcast under a regional model that dates to the 1960s. They must adapt or they will die out.
I have long stated that the next CBA will most likely deal the league a significant wound or even kill it. There will be less money in it. Because there is almost assuredly going to be less money in the next broadcast deal, unless the NFL finds new partners (Apple, Google, etc). Hell ESPN might not even make it to 2021! If there is less money in the CBA - there will be a labor dispute. POOF! The goose that lays the golden eggs is dead.