Latest / Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast / Football at Four: Discussion on Eagles Attractiveness to TV Networks
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Jeff Mosher from the Inside the Birds podcast and Phillyvoice
- 0:04Speaker 1: dot Com is back as we talk a little football now, Mosher,
- 0:08Speaker 1: I do have a specific topic I do want to
- 0:10Speaker 1: get into with you, but a couple couple of things
- 0:12Speaker 1: I want to pick your brain on. First. Number one,
- 0:15Speaker 1: we do know the Eagles are playing in London this year.
- 0:18Speaker 1: Did you see today that they are talking about expanding
- 0:22Speaker 1: to potentially play games in Asia and Africa? And I
- 0:27Speaker 1: would imagine the next step for the schedule. Most we
- 0:29Speaker 1: all keep hearing about an eighteen game schedule. One of
- 0:32Speaker 1: the things about the eighteen game schedule that I heard
- 0:34Speaker 1: about the hang up is who's that other game against?
- 0:38Speaker 1: Because everything's kind of like, you play the two divisions
- 0:40Speaker 1: that's eight, then the three other teams there gives you,
- 0:43Speaker 1: you know, nine, ten, eleven, plus your division games that's seventeen.
- 0:48Speaker 1: But the I guess a matter of time before we
- 0:51Speaker 1: get to eighteen games and have one international game every
- 0:56Speaker 1: single week. Is that where we're going?
- 0:59Speaker 2: Or it could be my it could be if the
- 1:03Speaker 2: NFL can figure out a way to make more money,
- 1:06Speaker 2: then it will do that. And you know, who cares
- 1:08Speaker 2: what anybody else thinks is their attitude and making the
- 1:12Speaker 2: game more global and expanding it in that way and
- 1:14Speaker 2: getting merchandise being sold in Brazil and Germany and France
- 1:19Speaker 2: and Mexico and all the other places. Does it then
- 1:21Speaker 2: they'll do it.
- 1:23Speaker 1: Gonna say, And that was one of my next questions
- 1:25Speaker 1: here is a lot of fans are like, no one cares.
- 1:28Speaker 1: Why do they do this? What is the NFL's ultimate
- 1:31Speaker 1: goal in playing games overseas? Is it to sell merchandise?
- 1:37Speaker 1: Is it to eventually create another broadcast window that they
- 1:41Speaker 1: can have games on at a different time. You know,
- 1:45Speaker 1: we see so many standalone games now they're trying to
- 1:48Speaker 1: find different holidays and days of the week to play
- 1:50Speaker 1: these games on. Is that why they're trying to find
- 1:54Speaker 1: more locations.
- 1:55Speaker 2: Sure, it's one hundred percent tied in The more different
- 1:59Speaker 2: places that they play, the more the chance for them
- 2:02Speaker 2: to sow their seeds for football and get other countries
- 2:05Speaker 2: to like football, which makes more fans, more viewers. And
- 2:08Speaker 2: that's why when they release the ratings for the Super
- 2:12Speaker 2: Bowl every year, you see that it gets bigger and
- 2:15Speaker 2: bigger because they're counting global markets, not just the American market.
- 2:20Speaker 2: And just like just like over here, I think there's
- 2:24Speaker 2: been a rise in interest in soccer, you know, or
- 2:27Speaker 2: America or European football, whatever you want to call it,
- 2:29Speaker 2: non non American football, because people are adopting teams that
- 2:33Speaker 2: they want to follow. I'm a Tottenham fan or I'm
- 2:36Speaker 2: in Manchester U fan. And it's working the same way
- 2:39Speaker 2: for the NFL and other countries where they're developing fan
- 2:42Speaker 2: bases and people are becoming You would be surprised how
- 2:46Speaker 2: many emails we get to inside the Birds from itb
- 2:51Speaker 2: listeners who live in Scotland, who live in England, who
- 2:55Speaker 2: live in Ireland, Sweden, all across Europe and other and
- 3:00Speaker 2: also in South America we get Mexico, We've gotten Brazil.
- 3:04Speaker 2: It's crazy to me, but that's so that helps the
- 3:07Speaker 2: NFL expand its market globally, get more viewers, get them
- 3:11Speaker 2: young as well. And then to your point, now you
- 3:14Speaker 2: can start playing games in different time slots because of
- 3:17Speaker 2: the times on advantage when people are now watching more
- 3:20Speaker 2: games worldwide and nationally in different slots, which is an
- 3:24Speaker 2: opportunity to make more money to the advertisers.
- 3:26Speaker 1: Well, and you led me perfectly right into the next
- 3:29Speaker 1: conversation and question that builds off this That's why I
- 3:32Speaker 1: started with the international thing first. You know, a lot
- 3:35Speaker 1: of Eagle fans I don't know, like I thought when
- 3:38Speaker 1: I went to London to see the Phillies play the Mets,
- 3:40Speaker 1: that was like one of the greatest sporting events I'd
- 3:42Speaker 1: ever been to. It was so cool. It was just
- 3:44Speaker 1: such a unique experience. Well, we were discussing how how
- 3:51Speaker 1: popular are the Eagles across the country, Like you said
- 3:55Speaker 1: itb you guys have viewers from different countries. Are the
- 4:00Speaker 1: Eagles where are they on the national draw scale? Like
- 4:05Speaker 1: Dallas we know has countrywide appeal. The Chiefs have kind
- 4:09Speaker 1: of caught them and are almost right there with them,
- 4:12Speaker 1: if not surpassed them. I don't know that the Patriots
- 4:15Speaker 1: ever got there, like the Dallas got big because they
- 4:20Speaker 1: were winning and then they were on TV and then yeah,
- 4:23Speaker 1: you know your uncle liked them and then you That
- 4:26Speaker 1: never really happened with the Brady Patriots. But where do
- 4:29Speaker 1: we think Philly is Because I would imagine your I
- 4:31Speaker 1: TV has a lot of people watching and consuming your
- 4:36Speaker 1: product from all over the country. But I think it's
- 4:38Speaker 1: more that Philly fans that move, yeah, are still wanting
- 4:45Speaker 1: to get their Eagles fixed as opposed to there are
- 4:49Speaker 1: fans all across the world that aren't our country, that
- 4:52Speaker 1: aren't from here of the.
- 4:54Speaker 2: Eagles, right, So that's that you're right, that's two different conversations.
- 4:57Speaker 2: You could you can find a lot of Eagles f
- 5:01Speaker 2: or yeah, people rooting for the Eagles in other parts
- 5:04Speaker 2: of the country, specifically heavily populated ones South Florida, California,
- 5:09Speaker 2: certain areas of Texas right the northeast, because there's a
- 5:12Speaker 2: lot of transplants and people take their fandom with them,
- 5:16Speaker 2: and it's never been more easier to do that with
- 5:18Speaker 2: the ability to watch games, whether it's MLB right, any
- 5:21Speaker 2: any sport doesn't have to just be football. When I
- 5:24Speaker 2: first got on the beat, though, I could tell when
- 5:27Speaker 2: I traveled right that there were certain fan bases that
- 5:32Speaker 2: had fans all across the country that were not transplants.
- 5:37Speaker 2: They were just fans of when football was early, like
- 5:42Speaker 2: the Cowboys of the seventies, right, the Steelers, the Steel
- 5:45Speaker 2: Curtain Steelers, the Dolphins. There are a ton of Dolphins
- 5:49Speaker 2: fans and a ton of Packers fans nationally that have
- 5:53Speaker 2: never set foot in Miami or Green Bay or Pittsburgh
- 5:57Speaker 2: or anything like that. But that's because of the early
- 5:59Speaker 2: six those teams had in the league. Just like I
- 6:02Speaker 2: remember when, you know, when when the Bulls were winning
- 6:05Speaker 2: championships with Michael Jordan, there were Bulls fans everywhere they were.
- 6:08Speaker 2: There were front runners, to be honest with you, and
- 6:10Speaker 2: that's that's the effect there.
- 6:12Speaker 1: I don't travel as much, but I have.
- 6:15Speaker 2: To think though that the recent Eagles success and not
- 6:19Speaker 2: just some but also they're stardom to have players like
- 6:23Speaker 2: Jalen Hurts and Barkley and A. J. Brown and Brandon
- 6:27Speaker 2: Graham and you know, uh guys, they have plenty of
- 6:31Speaker 2: star callis Slay, you know, star caliber guys. I would
- 6:34Speaker 2: imagine that that has created more non Philadelphia based Eagles
- 6:40Speaker 2: fans than maybe when I got on the beat originally.
- 6:43Speaker 1: That's what I was wondering, Like inside the Birds, Jeff
- 6:45Speaker 1: Bosher's with us, when when you guys do your live
- 6:47Speaker 1: podcasts or when you are putting out your MA Tira,
- 6:50Speaker 1: are you noticing that you're getting pockets of Eagles fans
- 6:53Speaker 1: in the country from weird spots.
- 6:56Speaker 2: I think when it started really uh well, I don't
- 6:59Speaker 2: when it started, but I remember when Michael Vick became
- 7:01Speaker 2: the quarterback that kind of put the Eagles in a
- 7:04Speaker 2: different echelon as far. I would imagine a lot of
- 7:07Speaker 2: down South Falcons fans who always loved Michael Vick and
- 7:10Speaker 2: Virginia Tech fans adopted the Eagles, and just people in
- 7:14Speaker 2: general who are in awe of Michael Vick's talent started
- 7:17Speaker 2: to watch the Eagles. And I do I come across
- 7:20Speaker 2: people who would tell me, especially young football players, that
- 7:23Speaker 2: they got into football because of either Randall or Donovan
- 7:26Speaker 2: watching the way they played the game in such a
- 7:30Speaker 2: explosive kind of way for a quarterback, right, running, throwing,
- 7:33Speaker 2: doing all that. I do think that they're they're always
- 7:37Speaker 2: being on TV and having unique stars Brian Westbrook right
- 7:41Speaker 2: to having those kind of guys has helped expand their
- 7:46Speaker 2: brand to got people who weren't just born in Philadelphia.
- 7:50Speaker 1: Right eight standalone games this year. So obviously the TV
- 7:55Speaker 1: networks see the appeal of the Eagles, And that's what
- 7:58Speaker 1: the conversation was like. Is it because the Eagle fans
- 8:01Speaker 1: locally are so passionate that that just drives such a
- 8:05Speaker 1: huge number from here, or are there fans country wide
- 8:09Speaker 1: that want to watch the Eagles because they've won recently?
- 8:13Speaker 1: Because we always feel like the Eagles are the teams
- 8:15Speaker 1: that people can't stand, that people don't like if Eagles fans,
- 8:18Speaker 1: they look down upon them. And that's why it was
- 8:20Speaker 1: like a weird dynamic of like, you know, I don't
- 8:23Speaker 1: know that they're on the level even though they've won
- 8:25Speaker 1: two super Bowls in a short amount of time, have
- 8:27Speaker 1: they reached the level of like the Chiefs, certainly not
- 8:29Speaker 1: the Cowboys. Yeah, that there might be like the next
- 8:33Speaker 1: team below them.
- 8:34Speaker 2: Yeah, probably. I mean I think that I would think
- 8:37Speaker 2: that they've exceeded or yeah, gotten past, say the Dolphins, who,
- 8:42Speaker 2: like I said, when I first got on the beat,
- 8:43Speaker 2: I couldn't believe how many Dolphins fans there were all
- 8:46Speaker 2: around the country that had never been to Miami. But
- 8:48Speaker 2: then it made sense to me because of Don Shula
- 8:51Speaker 2: and all the success they had in the perfect season
- 8:54Speaker 2: and that. And then you know, obviously the Steelers and Cowboys.
- 8:58Speaker 1: Five Dallas. Yeah, the Dallas, the Steelers, the Dolphins, the Raiders,
- 9:04Speaker 1: the Packers.
- 9:05Speaker 2: Yeah, uh yes, those were the five teams. But the
- 9:08Speaker 2: one thing I would say that helps put the Eagles
- 9:10Speaker 2: now in that, you know, if it's not the top
- 9:12Speaker 2: three echelon close is that they also travel their fans
- 9:17Speaker 2: as well as any franchise, and when they go out
- 9:19Speaker 2: West and they start winning, and they're winning games at
- 9:22Speaker 2: any point, it's like being in Philadelphia West. You know
- 9:26Speaker 2: you''re in California, but you're seeing half a stadium all
- 9:29Speaker 2: clad in green and e a g l Ees. Whether
- 9:32Speaker 2: it's you know, playing the Rams, it's so far right,
- 9:35Speaker 2: or even the Chargers at Qualcomm.
- 9:37Speaker 1: I think that's the uniqueness of the Philadelphia sports fan
- 9:41Speaker 1: to some degree, is that a lot of people do
- 9:43Speaker 1: move away, but they still want their Eagles fixed, and
- 9:46Speaker 1: they listen to inside the Birds stations like ours, where
- 9:50Speaker 1: you know somebody that moves from wherever Baltimore and goes
- 9:54Speaker 1: to Florida. I don't know that they're listening to one
- 9:56Speaker 1: oh five seven the fan to hear their Orioles fix,
- 10:00Speaker 1: their Ravens fix. I think they kind of move on
- 10:02Speaker 1: from that, whereas the Eagle fan moves and is still
- 10:06Speaker 1: so attached to the team even though they have left
- 10:09Speaker 1: the region.
- 10:10Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's funny because somebody reached out to us
- 10:12Speaker 2: on social media and I imagine this has felt that way.
- 10:16Speaker 2: I think I talked to you about the sort of
- 10:18Speaker 2: scheduling quirk, uniqueness of going to London to play the
- 10:21Speaker 2: Jaguars for the second time that they were supposed to
- 10:24Speaker 2: play Jaguars on the road. So they haven't been to
- 10:27Speaker 2: Jacksonville since twenty ten, I think, which is like sixteen years.
- 10:31Speaker 2: That's crazy. But imagine, although there are a ton of
- 10:35Speaker 2: Eagle or in Philadelphia, States plants in northern Florida who
- 10:38Speaker 2: I'm sure would love to go see the Eagles play
- 10:40Speaker 2: the Jaguars in Jacksonville, who I haven't gotten that opportunity
- 10:44Speaker 2: in over in almost two decades.
- 10:46Speaker 1: And it just that, you know, Yeah, I had a
- 10:49Speaker 1: guy who listens to our show, he lives down there,
- 10:51Speaker 1: and he said he was so pumped when the Eagles
- 10:53Speaker 1: were playing in Jacksonville, and then of course they're going
- 10:56Speaker 1: to lond and he's like, it looks like I'm gonna
- 10:57Speaker 1: have to drive to Nashville now, because like that's the
- 10:59Speaker 1: next they're not playing the Falcons, which I guess would
- 11:02Speaker 1: be the closest, but then they're going to go to Nashville.
- 11:05Speaker 1: But you're right, they don't get to go down there
- 11:07Speaker 1: to see them. Jeff Moscher from Inside the Birds you
- 11:09Speaker 1: wrote over at Phillyvoice dot com. Check out his article
- 11:13Speaker 1: at Phillyvoice dot com. How long will the AJ Brown
- 11:16Speaker 1: saga trade saga last? And it? I mean, you know,
- 11:20Speaker 1: we all just figured, Okay, June first will come, the
- 11:22Speaker 1: trade with New England will happen, and they'll move on.
- 11:25Speaker 1: Is that changing now? Is that feeling changing? Well?
- 11:28Speaker 2: I think that the idea is that after the first
- 11:33Speaker 2: few weeks of free agency here over, and then after
- 11:36Speaker 2: the draft ends, and then after some teams have a
- 11:39Speaker 2: couple of mini camps, right, what you'll commonly see is
- 11:43Speaker 2: evaluators or decision makers like GMS personnel heads. We'll look
- 11:49Speaker 2: at their roster and say, okay, what do we still
- 11:53Speaker 2: need going forward and what can we afford to really
- 11:57Speaker 2: truly be the contender that we want to be, assuming
- 12:00Speaker 2: they want to be a contender unless they're in a
- 12:02Speaker 2: total rebuild, right, And so what you'll see is a
- 12:05Speaker 2: lot of moves because June first is that, as we know,
- 12:08Speaker 2: the deadline where it's not just about AJ Brown. There's
- 12:11Speaker 2: usually a handful of players that become available, either via
- 12:16Speaker 2: trade or release, who can be impact players. They may
- 12:19Speaker 2: not be what they used to be, but they can
- 12:21Speaker 2: still make an impact, right because the team has they've
- 12:25Speaker 2: just outpriced themselves with a team or bad situations. So
- 12:29Speaker 2: you'll you'll see a lot of moves made in that time.
- 12:32Speaker 2: And I don't think it would be shocking if some
- 12:35Speaker 2: teams are sort of taking inventory of what they got,
- 12:38Speaker 2: whether it's the Commanders, right, whether it's the Packers who
- 12:41Speaker 2: just lost a bunch of receivers and.
- 12:43Speaker 1: Free Evander, said Stefan Diggs.
- 12:46Speaker 2: Stefan Diggs Brandon Ayuk, Right, you look at those two teams,
- 12:51Speaker 2: I can, like, say the Raiders. I mean I could
- 12:52Speaker 2: find five, six, seven teams that could look at their
- 12:56Speaker 2: wide receiver situation and if they've got the money now
- 12:59Speaker 2: and if they use their own post choose one designation
- 13:02Speaker 2: to get rid of a contract, saying all right, I
- 13:05Speaker 2: still think we can add here, So I would. That's
- 13:09Speaker 2: why I think that there could be more opportunities for
- 13:11Speaker 2: teams to get back or to get first time in
- 13:14Speaker 2: on AJ Brown's and allow Howie to be a little
- 13:17Speaker 2: bit more selective than just having to send him to
- 13:20Speaker 2: the Patriots. Of course, I just think there's an opportunity there.
- 13:24Speaker 1: Well, that's right. In your article you wrote, Other teams,
- 13:26Speaker 1: including the Rams, ever reportedly expressed some interest they did
- 13:29Speaker 1: see Jacksonville. You know our teams just throwing Are the
- 13:34Speaker 1: Eagles throwing this out there the bread crumbs to try
- 13:37Speaker 1: to get New England to up anti? Sure?
- 13:40Speaker 2: Sure, but it's not. It's not false though, to think
- 13:43Speaker 2: that there are teams that can re engage like the
- 13:47Speaker 2: Rams in that or once they make their own post
- 13:50Speaker 2: to one moves then start looking somewhere else. So yeah,
- 13:53Speaker 2: I obviously think the Eagles would love that message out there,
- 13:56Speaker 2: but it's not necessarily incorrect message. Having said all that,
- 13:59Speaker 2: I still think the likely destination is New England, and
- 14:03Speaker 2: I don't think that's ever changed. But the point is
- 14:06Speaker 2: that there could there's always a little bit of movement
- 14:08Speaker 2: in that around that post. You one deadline that that
- 14:10Speaker 2: sometimes is surprising and the only the only area where
- 14:13Speaker 2: he goes wouldn't have leverage in that regard is that
- 14:16Speaker 2: if you're looking for a wide receiver, I mean Steph Diggs,
- 14:20Speaker 2: Keenan Allen, there's some pretty good I wroteic there are
- 14:23Speaker 2: some names out there that are They are maybe not
- 14:25Speaker 2: as good as a J. Brown, but man, if you
- 14:27Speaker 2: just need a number three wide receiver, you need some
- 14:29Speaker 2: wide receiver help. They're they're right there on the open
- 14:31Speaker 2: market for you and.
- 14:34Speaker 1: Understand Keenan Allen, Deebo, Samuel tyreek Hill if he's not
- 14:38Speaker 1: right now, and DeAndre Hopkins. You know, but Stefan Diggs
- 14:42Speaker 1: last year eighty five catches, I mean over a thousand yards.
- 14:45Speaker 1: He's still had a pretty productive year. How would you think?
- 14:49Speaker 2: What would you think of the Rams? Not to interrupt you,
- 14:51Speaker 2: but if the Rams decided not to re engage, but
- 14:53Speaker 2: just say, hey, I'm just we're going to sign Stefan
- 14:55Speaker 2: Diggs off of off the you know, to a one
- 14:58Speaker 2: year deal fifteen minutes, I don't know, or maybe even
- 15:01Speaker 2: get Keenan Allen. You'd be like, oh my god, that's
- 15:03Speaker 2: a pretty good team right there, wouldn't you.
- 15:06Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean they're already he got Pooka and you
- 15:09Speaker 1: are right, you got Pooka and you got Adams and
- 15:11Speaker 1: then if you add it, you know, a guy like that,
- 15:13Speaker 1: and all the question is are they the slot guy?
- 15:15Speaker 1: I mean you as you could play Pooka more in
- 15:18Speaker 1: that kind of traditional slot role and maximize that. Yeah,
- 15:23Speaker 1: I think I think all that group. Well, Debo Samuel
- 15:26Speaker 1: is an interesting one. How the team ends up using Debo.
- 15:30Speaker 1: You know, you got to get him in the right team.
- 15:32Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, look, Digs had a thousand yards last
- 15:35Speaker 2: year and he plays inside outside, And go look at
- 15:38Speaker 2: Keenan Allen's numbers last year. I mean, he's almost like
- 15:42Speaker 2: the forgotten man. He caught almost eighty balls.
- 15:44Speaker 1: He was good.
- 15:45Speaker 2: He was really really good last year. Eighty catches for
- 15:48Speaker 2: seven hundred and seventy seven yards. Yeah, I'll take that
- 15:51Speaker 2: and nineties. So he's probably more now of a slot
- 15:54Speaker 2: receiver anyway, averaging nine point six per catch last year.
- 15:58Speaker 2: But you put a guy like that, some really good talent,
- 16:01Speaker 2: and you just give yourself another playmaker.
- 16:03Speaker 1: Well, the one Jacksonville deal Brian Thomas Junior. Would that
- 16:08Speaker 1: be attractive to bring back to Philadelphia?
- 16:11Speaker 2: Maybe, you know, you'd have to kind of see where
- 16:14Speaker 2: he's at. He's a very talented guy. But the issue
- 16:17Speaker 2: with him is he dropped a lot of passes last year.
- 16:19Speaker 2: He dropped off in general from his great rookie year
- 16:22Speaker 2: when he had almost thirteen hundred yards. He had seven
- 16:25Speaker 2: hundred yards last year. You have to look into that.
- 16:27Speaker 2: And the surprising thing is he averaged fourteen yards per
- 16:30Speaker 2: catch two years ago as a rookie when he had
- 16:33Speaker 2: twelve hundred and eighty two yards, and he averaged fourteen
- 16:35Speaker 2: point seven yards per catch, the exact same number last
- 16:38Speaker 2: year at just seven hundred and seven yards, So you
- 16:40Speaker 2: know he can get deep. He's six two to two ten,
- 16:44Speaker 2: so he's got big X receiver size. I mean, he's
- 16:48Speaker 2: that size and has that kind of talent. But you'd
- 16:52Speaker 2: have to figure out what's going on in the head there.
- 16:54Speaker 1: All right, Jeff boscherid the full article about AJ Brown
- 16:58Speaker 1: and his possible trade nations. You got the rams, you
- 17:01Speaker 1: got Jacksonville, Kansas City. I saw floated out there today
- 17:04Speaker 1: as well that they might have some interest, But the Patriots,
- 17:08Speaker 1: we still feel like that could be the way they go.
- 17:11Speaker 1: You can check out more over at insidethe birds dot com.
- 17:14Speaker 1: All right, Mosh, we'll talk to you. Actually we're all
- 17:17Speaker 1: on Monday, so we'll talk to you Wednesday next week.
- 17:20Speaker 2: Sounds good. Take care of us,