Which American professional sports league is the most popular in the world? About five years ago, that answer was obvious.
The NFL pre-lockout was on the top of the sporting world, and it seemed impossible to think it could fall off. The 2010 season was one of the most exciting in recent memory and was full of firsts.
The Seattle Seahawks, a 7-9 team, became the first team with a losing record to make a postseason. In the Wild Card round, they upset the New Orleans Saints to become the first sub-.500 team to win a playoff contest.
The playoffs showed more upsets than just Seattle, however, which was on the verge of becoming a power in the league. The New York Jets emerged to knock off the perennial AFC powers Indianapolis and New England before falling to Pittsburgh. The Steelers eventually fell to Green Bay in the Super Bowl, where Aaron Rodgers proved himself to be a top quarterback in the league.
There was extreme parity throughout the year, as not a single team was undefeated after week five, a year after two teams went into week 15 of 2009 with undefeated records.
Yet, there was a lockout before the 2011 season that threatened the start to a new year. From there, ratings soared when football returned. After that season, however, ratings began to drop, making it seem as though the NFL has already peaked in viewership.
The 2016 NFL season kicked off nearly two weeks ago in one of the most anticlimactic season openings in recent memory. The first game saw the Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos defeat Carolina in a rematch, albeit without Peyton Manning. Sunday’s Week 1 games saw a ratings decline for the first time in five years.
According to Pro Football Talk, the Thursday Night Football game between the Jets and Bills saw a 25 percent decrease from last season’s opening game between the Chiefs and Broncos. Pro Football Talk also reports that ratings for Monday Night Football’s opening games, along with the first Sunday Night Football game of the season, saw declines from last season.
The first Sunday night game of the season between the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots was its lowest rated in seven years. This is despite a game full of story lines that included New England quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo’s first NFL start and an Arizona team looking to become a force in the NFC. The next week’s game between Green Bay and Minnesota fared even worse, and that contest was the Vikings’ first in their new stadium.
The high NFL ratings of years past may also be somewhat of a smokescreen. If not for fantasy football and sports betting, the ratings might be even lower; who would be watching a game between the Titans and Lions unless they had DeMarco Murray or Matt Stafford in their lineup?
Between the Deflategate drama, domestic violence epidemic, controversy surrounding commissioner Roger Goodell and mediocrity of the product on the field, fans are just not as enchanted by the NFL as they have been in years past.
One reason cited has been the national anthem protests from Colin Kaepernick, which caused some potential fans to boycott, but that can be disproven by his jersey sales rocketing to the most in the league. The issue of fans not tuning into games would precede any current protests, and if anything, it might draw in more interest for people invested in the anthem protest issue.
Meanwhile, NBA ratings from last season’s playoffs, MLB ratings from July-on in 2016 and early college football ratings are soaring. The MLB has seen a bit of a surge, especially in local markets, despite a season that has seen few pennant races; just the Wild Card races remain unsettled. The college football season also got off to a terrific start, disproving theories of cord-cutting being a primary reason for the NFL’s decline.
Despite off-the-field drama potentially being a turn-off for potential NFL watchers, the pure quality on the field might be the most prominent reason to turn fans away. Unless, of course, you can’t wait to watch the Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys play in primetime with backup quarterbacks.
Marisa Ingemi covers field hockey for the Daily Free Press. She is also a sports radio host on WTBU and involved in BU Athletics social media department. An avid sports fan, Marisa is also the manager of the acclaimed lacrosse website InLacrosseWeTrust.com and the Boston Bruins beat writer for InsideHockey.com.
Contrary to your opinion piece, I am not tuning in solely because of the anthem antics of spoiled players.
Yes I will not watch this season and maybe never. The black power protest pushed away the average fan.
Hit the Traitors at NFL and networks where it counts
I am done with NFL. It’s not a sport for middle class white guys to watch anymore with all the black power protests. They can protest all they want. I just wont be watching ever again.