It was just the Kansas City Chiefs Offense that bottomed out on Super Bowl Sunday, so did the ratings.
The game was supposed to be one for the ages, GOAT QB Tom Brady versus the rising star QB Patrick Mahomes. What’s even more remarkable is that Brady is traditionally a ratings booster, some of his playoffs games have broken ratings records.
Not this time.
“CBS averaged 91.629 million TV-only viewers for the Buccaneers’ blowout of the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV, the game’s lowest TV viewership since ’06 when Steelers-Seahawks averaged 90.75 million on ABC. That figure is down from just over 100 million TV-only viewers for Chiefs-49ers last year,” Sports Business Daily reported.
Entering Sunday, Super Bowl ratings had topped a 40 rating for 30-straight years. Sunday’s game was just the seventh in Super Bowl history (55 games) with less than a 40.
— Sports Media Watch (@paulsen_smw) February 9, 2021
Sports Business Journal reporter John Ourand said you can’t “spin” this game, two of the biggest stars in the NFL were playing each other and the game was a flop.
It’s hard to spin these Super Bowl ratings into a positive story. The numbers are down despite a highly-touted matchup of star QBs, snowstorms in the Northeast, etc. But…
— John Ourand (@Ourand_SBJ) February 9, 2021
The NFL ratings have suffered and many believe it’s because they have gone “woke.”
NFL ad revenue is down and television networks are scrambling to restructures deals because of the smaller viewing audience.
Traditionally, NFL games have provided the largest live audiences allowing TV networks to charge advertisers top dollar. The Wall Street Journal claims “pandemic-related” issues have been the main cause for lower profits however, many feel it was the “woke” posture and anthem kneelers that caused fans to just stop watching.
Here’s another hint that the pandemic isn’t the sole source of the NFL’s ratings woes.
NBC saw a 50% decline in audience during Thanksgiving which is usually a big day for NFL fans. A day when most people are home and at a time when most of the country was under some sort of restriction the game only drew in 11 million viewers.
Wall Street Journal | Sports Media Watch
