In 2020, the NFL increased the playoff field from 12 teams to 14 and in 2021 lengthened the regular season with each team playing 17 games over the course of 18 weeks. At least for the regular season, the change seemed to be a positive as ratings for the league were up over 10% from 2020 when the games were played in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic with most teams implementing extensive restrictions on spectators.
It definitely helped to have the Dallas Cowboys in contention for the entire season, with one of the most popular franchises accounting for half of the top 10 rated games for the season. The rise in popularity was also good for online betting sites where bettors can see NFL odds and make wagers on the league.
Other traditional powers like the Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers, Pittsburgh Steelers, New England Patriots and the Raiders, now playing in Las Vegas, were all competing for and eventually securing playoff spots, further helping the ratings situation for the NFL.
Two other exciting young players, Patrick Mahomes and Kyler Murray, along with the ageless Tom Brady, all led their teams to postseason berths, no doubt contributing to reversing a disturbing trend of decreasing viewership for the league.
The Role Sports Betting Played in Ratings
Another factor that can’t be ignored is the increasing interest and publicity surrounding legalized sports betting in the United States. A practice that was once privately tolerated but publicly decried by the NFL is now embraced by not just the most popular professional sports league in the country, but also by virtually every other sport, whether in team or individual competition.
It wasn’t just couch potatoes who were tuning in more frequently, but stadium attendance figures were also up, with average attendance per game increasing almost one percent over 2019, reversing a decrease of 4.7% from 2016 to 2019. There were some mitigating factors, with the Chargers moving into the much larger So-Fi Stadium in Los Angeles after playing at a soccer facility and the Raiders playing to packed houses for the first time in their new home in Sin City.
Even though attendance figures are still 3.5% below the high mark set in 2016, it still has to be encouraging for the league, even though 19 of the 32 teams saw a decline in fans in the seats from 2019.
The happiest people are the group of broadcast networks and streaming services that combined to pay the NFL $110 billion over the next 10 years to carry its regular season and playoff contests after seeing regular season viewership rise to its highest level in six years.
Another contributing factor is the growth of streaming platforms over traditional cable and satellite services, which appear to be decreasing in popularity. With the NFL looking ahead and seeing that trend continuing, it stands a good chance of continuing the increase in viewership as they expand the ways that fans can watch its games on a weekly basis.
Headwinds for the NFL
A lot of factors contributed to a ratings and attendance increase, but the NFL still faces challenges going forward. The two franchises in television’s largest market, the New York Giants and the New York Jets, have been largely uncompetitive for many seasons, with teams in Chicago and Houston also struggling for relevance.
Thursday night games, which extend the week and give the league another nationally televised contest, are largely unwatchable with the visiting teams having to travel on what is usually an extremely short turnaround between starts. While many people will tune in due to fantasy league participation and wagering interests, true fans have a difficult time tolerating the poor quality of play.
Although the Kansas Chiefs’ 42-21 blowout win over the Steelers drew almost 23 million viewers, three of the other five playoff games were also lopsided affairs, prompting many fans to tune out prior to the end of the game, with only two contests going down to the last possession.
Whether it’s an anomaly or as a result of the expanded playoff format will remain to be seen in the coming seasons, with both ratings and attendance figures dependent on competitiveness.