Week 1 of the NFL season is in the books. As of this morning, so too, are the ratings.
Despite a reported six percent spike from last season's Sunday Night Football game from the 18-49 age demographic, the New York Giants-Dallas Cowboys game dropped 6.3 percent — from 23.1 to 21.65 million — according to the New York Post.
It's important to note, by the way, last year's SNF game was between New England and Arizona. I'm not an expert, but those appear to be significantly smaller markets than New York and Dallas.
It's also important to note, however, that the 6.3 percent drop is significantly less than the 16 percent decline from the 2015 SNF season debut. Take a wild guess: which teams played in that 2015 matchup?
If you answered Giants-Cowboys, you either looked it up (cheater), or have a very good memory.
Last Thursday, the NFL premiered to an 11.5 percent reduction in the ratings compared to 2016 and was the lowest NFL opener since 2009.
So what does this all mean? Does this mean the boycott people like Hank Aaron, Tom Joyner and Sybil Wilkes of the Tom Joyner Morning Show, DL Hughley and many others are taking part in is working?
I guess it depends on whom you ask.
Protesters against the blacklisting of Colin Kaepernick claim this is an indication that the ratings drop is due to our efforts, according to the Unstripped Voice's Change.org petition. There's a whole different section of NFL boycotters who are ignoring games on TV in protest due to players like Kaepernick "disrespecting the flag" during the anthem. They also proclaim victory over the ratings plunge.
WEEI's Alex Reimer also makes a case in his column that while these two issues, along with Hurricane Irma and the whole concussion thing, may all be contributing factors to the declining viewership, the issue may simply be due to the league putting out a bad product.
Look, I won't pretend to know the cause of the ratings slip. But without cold, hard evidence, I'm not going to allow someone else to tell me this boycott that, at minimum, hundreds of thousands of people have pledged to stop watching isn't having some kind of effect on Mr. Nielsen (as in ratings, guys). More important to me is people who are boycotting let their voices be heard and continue to be visible.
The goal is to get these NFL owners to wake up and, as ESPN's Max Kellerman said, "be better" than their reputations.
Week 2 begins in two days. Let's continue to have as much impact as we possibly can on Thursday, Sunday and Monday as well as the weeks to follow.
In the meantime, here's a link if you get bored and need something to resist temptation with something alternative to watch.
— Joey Baskerville; joey.baskerville@gmail.com
Despite a reported six percent spike from last season's Sunday Night Football game from the 18-49 age demographic, the New York Giants-Dallas Cowboys game dropped 6.3 percent — from 23.1 to 21.65 million — according to the New York Post.
It's important to note, by the way, last year's SNF game was between New England and Arizona. I'm not an expert, but those appear to be significantly smaller markets than New York and Dallas.
It's also important to note, however, that the 6.3 percent drop is significantly less than the 16 percent decline from the 2015 SNF season debut. Take a wild guess: which teams played in that 2015 matchup?
If you answered Giants-Cowboys, you either looked it up (cheater), or have a very good memory.
Last Thursday, the NFL premiered to an 11.5 percent reduction in the ratings compared to 2016 and was the lowest NFL opener since 2009.
So what does this all mean? Does this mean the boycott people like Hank Aaron, Tom Joyner and Sybil Wilkes of the Tom Joyner Morning Show, DL Hughley and many others are taking part in is working?
I guess it depends on whom you ask.
Protesters against the blacklisting of Colin Kaepernick claim this is an indication that the ratings drop is due to our efforts, according to the Unstripped Voice's Change.org petition. There's a whole different section of NFL boycotters who are ignoring games on TV in protest due to players like Kaepernick "disrespecting the flag" during the anthem. They also proclaim victory over the ratings plunge.
WEEI's Alex Reimer also makes a case in his column that while these two issues, along with Hurricane Irma and the whole concussion thing, may all be contributing factors to the declining viewership, the issue may simply be due to the league putting out a bad product.
But the biggest explanation for the NFL’s ratings fall is probably the most obvious: the product is bad. Sunday’s action was atrocious, highlighted by abysmal quarterback play and empty stadiums.As fantasy football isn't part of my boycott, I tracked scores and stats from an app. Some of the numbers from quarterbacks were downright putrid. And that's not even from some of the scrubs that, somehow, started a game despite it being quite evident they were unqualified to do so. Reimer's stat below in particular is just ... wow.
Quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger, Tom Savage, Andy Dalton, Scott Tolzein and Joe Flacco –– all of whom started for AFC playoff contenders –– only completed 56 percent of their passes and threw up eight interceptions in comparison to just three touchdowns (Roethlisberger was responsible for two of the scores).I didn't have to watch the games to know some of these games had to be unbearable without the caveat of fantasy football giving viewers something to even bother paying attention to, much less care about.
Look, I won't pretend to know the cause of the ratings slip. But without cold, hard evidence, I'm not going to allow someone else to tell me this boycott that, at minimum, hundreds of thousands of people have pledged to stop watching isn't having some kind of effect on Mr. Nielsen (as in ratings, guys). More important to me is people who are boycotting let their voices be heard and continue to be visible.
The goal is to get these NFL owners to wake up and, as ESPN's Max Kellerman said, "be better" than their reputations.
Week 2 begins in two days. Let's continue to have as much impact as we possibly can on Thursday, Sunday and Monday as well as the weeks to follow.
In the meantime, here's a link if you get bored and need something to resist temptation with something alternative to watch.
— Joey Baskerville; joey.baskerville@gmail.com
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