There were a variety of topics up for discussion when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell met with the media at the completion of Wednesday’s owners meeting, but the message Goodell wanted to lead the day was pretty clear.
Goodell said that the NFL is experiencing “historic highs” in terms of the quality of the games, the closeness of the scores and offensive play through the first six weeks of the season. He noted the growth in ratings and development of “so many good young players” as further signs that the state of the league is strong.
“I will leave you with something that I have said to the owners many times. I don’t think there has been a better time to be an NFL fan,” Goodell said. “The quality of the games and the enjoyment that comes with that, I hear it from the fans all the time — that is number one for them. Number two, is the access to the games and the way that fans are able to engage with the NFL. There are more platforms and more opportunities to do that. The experience is better because of technology. All of that creates a much better opportunity for our fans to enjoy football and NFL football. From our standpoint, we look at this as a great moment for us — the tremendous growth and the tremendous popularity of our game.”
The last couple of years have seen plenty of discussion about things that have been going poorly for the league. The causes of those discussions haven’t gone away and, in some cases, are unlikely to ever go away, but the opening weeks of this season have been quieter on that front and Goodell took that as a chance to puff out his chest a bit on Wednesday.