Goodell won't make excuses for TV ratings slide

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell acknowledged the decline in television ratings during the early part of the 2016 season on Wednesday, saying the league wouldn't make excuses while acknowledging several extenuating circumstances for the dip.

"It's something that I don't think there's a single reason for. I really don't. We look at all those factors," Goodell said, according to Connor Orr of NFL.com. "Everyone's got theories, you guys got theories, others got theories. We work closely with our network partners. We see tremendous strength in our numbers. But we also know that the prime-time ratings we're seeing the most dramatic decrease. It went straight up against two very significant debates. Another one of our prime-time games on Thursday night was on the NFL Network, as opposed to a network, which will always get a lower rating. There are a lot of factors to be considered."

Goodell also discussed the changing nature of media and its role in the discrepancy in raw television numbers.

"We don't make excuses," Goodell said. "We look at it and we try and figure out what's changing. I think you're touching at a point that I think is significant, which is consumer changes and their behavior, and the way they consume media."

The trend seems to be continuing as "Sunday Night Football" had its lowest rating since 2011 in Week 6.