Are concussions scaring the younger generation into not playing football?

By Sophia Cook November 17, 2019

Over the last decade, the National Football League (NFL) has been under attack due to the detrimental effect of concussions. Because of this, there has been a concern that the NFL may start to lose revenue and even go extinct over the next couple of decades. The fact of the matter is that at the high school level, football is starting to see a decline of participants.

A study done by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) concluded that high school football has seen a decline across the United States of America. Over the last decade, 11-player football individuals have declined by 6.5%. During the 2009-2010 season, high school football had 14,226 schools participating, as well as 1,110, 527 participants. In the 2017-2018 season, the numbers dropped to 14,079 schools and 1,039,079 participants. This is the lowest amount of high school football participants since 1999-2000. If the stats continue, football will have less than one million participants in 2020.

Even with a focus on safety to prevent brain damage, there is still a fear from parents to enter their children into football. Because of this, the concern for the NFL is will they lose their talent pool and lose interest from fans in the process? This could ultimately lead to the league’s demise if they are not careful.