I wonder what their excuse will be this time?
The NFL had a disastrous weekend when it came to ratings. Numbers have been down all season and it was more of the same for the wild-card games. The biggest surprise was that the best game (Panthers-Saints) had the biggest decrease year over year. Yes, markets were a big factor, but that was a competitive and entertaining game. Here’s the breakdown:
Titans-Chiefs (14.7) was down 11 percent versus last year’s Raiders-Texans game.
Falcons-Rams (14.9) was down 10 percent versus last year’s Lions-Seahawks game.
Bills-Jaguars (17.2) was down 10 percent versus last year’s Dolphins-Steelers game.
Panthers-Saints (20.4) was down 21 percent versus last year’s Giants-Packers game.
Hmm… so, what could possibly explain that surprise? What is different about the people down in Louisiana and North Carolina than the people in New York City? Aren’t they a little more likely to be patriotic and to serve in the military?
This is a classic case of the consequences of corporate convergence.