We're not sure if there's much data to support it, but it does seem as if there has been an increase in the total number of ads during NFL games this season. While it's probably more that we're just used to services like Netflix, which save us all from hundreds of hours of commercials every year, the biggest problem in our opinion has been just how repetitive the same few ads have all felt.
This is where services like RedZone come in handy, letting us all watch the most exciting parts of every NFL game, with no commercial interruptions.
A recent report by Exstreamist has found that NFL RedZone saves us all from 1.5 days of commercials every NFL season, or over 35 hours. Exstreamist found that the average NFL game has 63 minutes of ads, and calculated that over the course of two games on Sunday, viewers are subjected to over two hours of commercials in just two games.
There has been a growing complaint from NFL fans that the networks and the league have gotten out of control with how many ads they play during games. Every touchdown, extra point, kickoff, and more all seem to have ads shoved in there whenever possible.
Awful Announcing is reporting that the league might consider lowering the number of commercial breaks, working with the networks to reach a compromise. Ratings have been down across the league, with things like the election, political protests, and bad match ups all being blamed. But the most common complaint has been the perception of excessive commercials.
From a report by Broadcasting & Cable:
The league is also "looking very hard" at changing the way it commercializes broadcasts, as running up to 70 ads per game can be a turnoff, he said. "In a world where Netflix has no commercials and consumers are used to 15 seconds of of pre-roll, is there a better way to do commercials with our broadcast partners?"
NFL advertising is extremely lucrative, however, so it will be interesting to see whether or not the NFL is willing to make some big changes here.
Until then, at least we have RedZone.