Why do we need such a long preseason?

As the NFL is smack dab in, preseason. We are all tied to the TV and the websites to see how are teams will fair during this most important time right? RIGHT??? I guess not. Yet the NFL is trying to milk the preseason for what it is worth. Charging regular season prices for game where the 1st team is only on the field for a series maybe a couple but no longer than a half. Sounds like highway robbery to me!!! It is a blast to tune into a preseason game and see the stadiums fill all the way to, well, 10 to 15 percent capacity. I guess those few are just desperate enough to try to make it a memorable experience.

I can understand the need for a preseason. You need to work out issues of timing on the offense and this is a good way to tune but it is essentially a 1/4 of a season. You just try that in the NBA or MLB. I don't think that will fly. Another drawback to such a long preseason? Go to any sports website and check the injuries. You will see a number of players already out. Some are out the whole season. You could get by with a couple of games to help timing issues and evaluate some of the players on the bubble and that would help greatly. Somehow I don't think that will fly with the powers that be. Heaven forbid you take away all that revenue from the stadiums bursting with all those fans.