By Zach Weigel
It’s hard to believe Week 13 of the NFL season is now in the books, and it’s even harder to believe the NFL is experiencing significantly lower ratings than in previous years. Seemingly, every year ratings for the Super Bowl eclipse those of the previous year, so how can it be that NFL ratings are down?
Well, for starters, the raucous election cycle must be at least partly to blame for decreased viewership; however, this can’t be the only reason the country’s most popular sport is on the decline. Intuition would also lead one to believe that all of the hubbub concerning concussions is driving ratings down, too. We may not want to admit it, but rule changes aimed at protecting player safety have changed the way the game is played, subsequently turning some fans away. Nevertheless, college football ratings aren’t down, so what is different about the NFL?
First, in order to pinpoint the source of the NFL’s slippage, it is useful to break up viewership by age. Demographic analytics from MarketingChart.com reveal that the sharpest viewership decline is among those ages 35-49. Now, it is true that younger generations consume media differently from older generations, often using social media and online platforms as opposed to traditional television. So it makes sense that younger-age viewers are forgoing football more so than older viewers. Yet, if this were the catalyst behind the ratings slide for the NFL, then one would think it would also be the case for college football ratings. It’s not, though. In fact, college football ratings are way up. Thus, the NFL is clearly different.
As to why the NFL is different, perhaps fantasy football can shed some light. With fantasy football, the focus of a game becomes less on the content of the game and more on the box score. Fans focus on the box score and highlights rather than the actual narratives of a game. In a sense, it seems fantasy football has quantified the game such that statistics take precedence over experience. With technology at our fingertips, fans don’t need to watch a game to see how their fantasy players or favorite teams do. Rather, they can glean a synopsis of the game after the fact.
And since we live in a society in which time is of the essence, why would people take the time to watch an entire game or games when they can just get the information they need from an app on their phone? Moreover, with all the penalties, booth reviews, injury time-outs, and commercial breaks, who has the attention span to watch a three-hour game? Plus, games used to be just on Sundays with one Monday night game a week, but now games are more spread out with the addition of Thursday games making it harder for us to consume all the action.
So maybe it’s not the election or changing demographics driving the NFL ratings decline. Maybe it’s not even the NFL’s fault. Maybe fantasy football has changed the way that we consume the NFL to the point that it’s starting to take away from ratings. As a result, it is possible we’ve learned to pay more attention to results and statistics at the expense of truly watching a game.
