The NFL Kicks Off The New Season With Craptastic Ratings
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September 8, 2018The NFL’s regular season kicked off Thursday night. I didn’t really watch the game. I went to Zumba and got cake and PSL with a friend (life is about BALANCE, friends), so I missed the first half and caught a bit of the last four minutes, but that’s it. It seems like I wasn’t the only one who opted to do something other than watch the game.
The ratings are in, and it’s definitely not what the NFL was hoping for. Only 19 million viewers tuned in, which according to Deadline, is 13% DOWN from last year’s season opener. What’s more, this was the worst season opener (numbers-wise) in 9 years.
In fast affiliates, the season opener drew a 6.6/27 among adults 18-49. A drop of 14% from the final demo numbers of the September 7, 2017 game.
When you factor in rising streaming and digital viewership, last night’s audience for current Super Bowl champs the Eagles v. the Falcons drew 19.5 million.
NFL ratings last night hit nearly a ten year low for an opening game. Were down another 8% off last year’s game.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) September 7, 2018
Ratings for the NFL’s opening game have declined nearly 25% since Colin Kaepernick took a knee two years ago. Probably just a coincidence though. https://t.co/S6YIsq0M8p
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) September 7, 2018
NFL opener's Nielsen ratings sink to '10-year low' as Falcons and Eagles players forgo protests during anthem https://t.co/ZhHDjxvGWI
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) September 7, 2018
The NFL just got hit where it really hurts https://t.co/PwoWKkcshl
— New York Post (@nypost) September 8, 2018
Everyone is admitting it’s pretty bad, but they’re partially attributing it to the weather delay and the fact that it was a low-scoring, relatively boring game. Is that wishful thinking on their end? Maybe so.
Fox News did a poll, asking viewers if they would watch NFL games this season and over 80% said no.
Everything REALLY kicks off tomorrow, so I guess we’ll see if this sticks.
h/t Deadline
