What's the Biggest Threat to the NFL's Popularity

The NFL is, for lack of a better term, "America's Game" based on its popularity and has been for several years. But, as the old saying goes, getting to the top of the mountain isn't the hard part, it's staying there (or something to that effect). We asked you to tell us what you think is the biggest threat to the League's dominance on our Facebook page.

In the interest of giving credit where credit is due, this conversation was spurred by a Sports Illustrated article on their website last week asking a few of their contributors the same question.

Many people put the officials in their cross hairs:

Ben Breeden: Terrible calls by the refs and the inconsistency of Roger Goodell.

Ryan Shelton: The p**s poor inconsistency of the officiating.

Todd Cline: Refs horrible calls in every single game.

Tricia Hunt-Tieken: Has to be the officiating, but they are just part-time. If they had full-time officials, maybe that would cause less bad calls because they would have more time to study the rule book.

Mark Wheeler: Flags every play makes it boring

Some thought the League itself could ultimately lead to its own downfall:

Larry Solinger: Its self

James Knox: The NFL itself...

Shane Taraschke: The Nfl.

Kyle Mattingly: NFL No Fun League

Kurt McBride: Roger Goodell

Richard Koewler: Taking the physicality out of the game. Is a mistake and will ruin pro football. People will quit watching. Injuries will happen in a violent sport. Second. If they somehow completely ban gambling for football will take the non football lovers out from watching.

Lucas Macke: The same thing that ends up ruining everything great: GREED. First it's Thursday night football, next will be Saturday night, and maybe Friday night. Then we'll go to an 18 game schedule, then we'll add 2 playoff spots per conference. Add all that to the continuous price gouging of the customer (fans) and you'll see the NFL destroy itself.

Others pointed the finger at the players:

Kimberly Thomas: Deviant athletes, Overpriced tickets, Poor officiating, Letting cheaters get away with everything.

Jereme Volz: The players lack of good decision making!

A couple of you decided it might be a particular team that could spell doom:

Curtis J Butler: The Cleveland Browns.

Brent Christian: The dallas cowboys

Finally, some think there may not be a threat at all (or at least one the NFL can't control):

Thomas Gillingham: I don't see any immediate threat. The fans aren't going anywhere.

Darrell Dale: Collapse of the economy...No matter what everyone will watch and attend if they can

What do you think? Continue the conversation on our Facebook page, or in the comments below.