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Cuban: NFL "Hoggy?"

Basketball Owner Mark Cuban has recently opened the door to talk about the future of football. By his calculation, the NFL is too full of itself...

"I think the NFL is 10 years away from an implosion," Cuban said Sunday evening when his pregame conversation with reporters, which covered a broad range of topics, swayed toward football. "I'm just telling you: Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. And they're getting hoggy.

"Just watch. Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. When you try to take it too far, people turn the other way. I'm just telling you, when you've got a good thing and you get greedy, it always, always, always, always, always turns on you. That's rule No. 1 of business."

Cuban was specifically referring to the NFL's recently expanding its television package. He considers it a poor business decision for the NFL, which consistently dominates TV ratings, to play games on days other than Sunday and Monday.

Already rumored to be in the market to sell some of it's Thursday night games, or perhaps extra wild card games if playoff expansion occurs, the league currently has five deals going to cover Sunday morning/afternoon games, Sunday Night Games, Monday Night Games, and Thursday Night Games.

As a fan I admit that the Thursday Night Games seem to be a bit misplaced, but other than a couple of stinkers I probably watched them all.  I'm not always a fan of the Sunday/Monday night games either, but I watch.  Why?

It's football baby.  I would agree with the premise of Cuban's statements if we get to the point of 5 nights a week of football during the regular season, but will I protest or not watch?  Probably not.  If the league can put together a good matchup 5- days a week I would probably watch each game.  Why?  Because there is nothing like the NFL.  Admit it now, you begrudgingly watch the NCAA Tourney or The Olympics only because The Broncos aren't playing.

The only way the NFL can dilute the product is by putting the spotlight on sub-performing teams.  There are plenty of stories and strong teams each season for the league to build up the hype behind at least 3-4 weekly matchups.

So long as the league keeps the pulse on the rivalries and elite matchups that occur every week, I don't see a reason why football 3-4 times a week would become too much.  Besides, there are only 17 weeks of regular season action as opposed to about 30 for the NBA.

Quite frankly, the NFL isn't around too long in the year to sour it's action.

As long professional football exists, the NFL will do fine.