There, I said it. What a stupendous waste of time, watching eight hours or so of pro football back to back on Sunday, plus whatever other nights of the week this useless sport takes up. It’s slow, boring, pointless. It’s filled with criminals. It injures young men who think they are immortal and leaves them shambling husks in later life. It takes up an inordinate amount of Rush Limbaugh’s air time to no purpose. And now, fittingly, its ratings are cratering in the wake of the Seahawks-Cardinals game Sunday night:
Undoubtedly, because of the blowout, the night was not so great for NBC and the NFL. In fact, in fast nationals, it was a season low among adults 18-49 for SNF, and one it’ll be hard pressed to make up when the final numbers come in. In a season that has seen SNF tackled by a series of big margin games, last night’s match-up was down 32% from the fast nationals of last week’s SNF. It was also down 39% from the 8.6/25 that the Dallas Cowboys victory over the Philadelphia Eagles game of December 14 rose to in final nationals.
Yes, the overall ratings remain high among boob tube watchers, but as Barnum said, there’s a sucker born every minute. What’s ominous, though, is that the audiences are skewing older:
Just as countless parties are tackling it over its handling of the recent Ray Rice controversy, its recent disclosure that its players are more likely than the general population to sustain severe brain injuries, and the news that Minnesota Vikings player Adrian Peterson has been indicted on charges of child abuse, the NFL may have to contend with something potentially even more devastating.
Younger viewers are walking away from broadcasts of its games.
The average audience between 18 and 49 for NFL broadcasts across CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN and the NFL Network has declined by about 10.6% over the last four seasons, according to Nielsen data prepared by Horizon Media, to about 7.7 million in 2013 from about 8.62 million in 2010. Meantime, male viewers between 18 and 24 watching the sport have also fallen off, tumbling about 5.3% in the same time period, to approximately 847,000 in 2013 from 894,000 in 2010.
“This segment is not passionate about the NFL like older age groups,” says Kirk Wakefield, executive director of sports and entertainment marketing at Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business. “The social status of NFL teams and players may be deteriorating compared to other pastimes or interests that are more personally engaging.”An NFL spokesman did not respond to a query about the ratings declines.
Good. Get a life, get a job, or just read a book. You’ll thank me for it.
More at PJ Media on football:
Next Big Culture Clash: Banning Football
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