National Football League

NFL television ratings down, Giants - Packer contest falls flat

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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It would be great to be a fly on the wall at 345 Park Avenue these days. Television ratings are down across the board around the NFL, and not just with millennials. Ratings for the marquee “Sunday Night Football” match-up between the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers were down significantly from last season.

Has the NFL reached a point of viewership saturation?

NFL Television Ratings

According to Bloomberg, in a report posted on Oct. 11, 2016, “TV networks are giving away more commercial time this NFL season than a year ago to make up for one of the worst ratings declines in a decade, a rare sign of weakness for the biggest draw on television.” While some analysts are blaming the presidential debate for viewership decline, others see a deeper trend in the lagging television ratings.

The unrivaled success of “Monday Night Football”, spawned a similar Sunday night edition. When an NFL is played in London, football is on Sunday television from 9:00 a.m. until 12 midnight. The next day, viewers are treated to additional match-up, followed three days later by a Thursday night contest.

The addition of the Thursday night contest may have been the tipping point.

Lack of Quality Football impacts Ratings

Unlike other sports, football players require a longer recovery time because of the physicality of their sport. Thursday night games do little in the way of injury recovery, as well as limiting the amount of practice time to prepare for an opponent.

And the annual Thanksgiving Day games featuring the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys used to be a once-a-season thing.

No one can reasonably argue that the quality of football has improved over the past 20 years, it hasn’t. Yet with TV ratings soaring for regular broadcasts, NFL executives lured networks into latching onto this cash cow.

According to USA Today in an article originally published on Oct. 3, 2014, “Blame the NFL for subjecting us to this in the first place. This is what happens when you fill a demand that didn’t exist. No one was asking for Thursday night football, even before everyone realized the quality of play would be poor.”

But all good things must come to an end. The NFL product looks likes the next dot.com bubble; poised and ready to burst.

Giants – Packers Ratings Down

Notwithstanding the presidential debate on Sunday night, the game between the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers remains an iconic match-up. In the midst of a polarizing presidential campaign, one would think that this contest, between long-time and popular, NFL teams would hold its own.

Not so fast according to CNN Money on Oct. 10, 2016, “The Green Bay Packers’ 23-16 victory over the New York Giants brought in an average audience of 16.6 million Sunday night. This was the lowest viewership for the broadcast since 2013.”

Average viewership for the Sunday night game last season was about 22.5 million viewers. The second presidential debate drew 66 million viewers at roughly the same time. Therefore, a reasonable ratings drop off could be expected.

Oct 9, 2016; Green Bay, WI, USA; Green Bay Packers running back James Starks (44) is tackled by New York Giants defensive end Olivier Vernon (54) during the fourth quarter at Lambeau Field. Green Bay won 23-16. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Final Word on Ratings

The report brings up an interesting conundrum: “Whether Sunday’s ratings are good or bad news is really a matter of perspective. On one hand, “SNF” still brought in a big number against huge competition, but on the other it continues a disconcerting trend of dipping viewership for the league.”

Right now, no one knows the answer for sure, but the ratings decline looks like an organic one. Too many games, too many uninteresting match-ups and mistake-prone football look like culprits.

Adding to the misery could be the poor play of teams in large media markets like New York and Chicago. In addition, the baseball playoffs might be a factor. No one will know for certain until the season is over, but key factors thus far make this a trend worth following.

Follow me on Twitter @CurtMac23 for the latest NFL news.

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