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Research and Ratings

Packers, ’Hawks close on Saints in ratings

The preseason TV ratings leaderboard is tightening up among NFL teams.

The Green Bay Packers averaged a 28.5 rating for local broadcast coverage of their first two preseason games this year, while the Seattle Seahawks averaged a 28.2 rating, pushing both clubs closer to perennial preseason ratings leader New Orleans, who’ve seen a dip in their numbers this year.

Fresh off consecutive Super Bowl appearances, Seattle’s local preseason ratings have increased five straight years.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
The Saints’ 32.3 two-week average remains tops in the league, according to an analysis of data provided by the league and individual team rights holders. However, that mark compares to a 37.8 rating for last year’s preseason and averages that were above 38 for the three seasons prior.

New Orleans’ 34.7 week one rating (at Baltimore) was down 14 percent from last year’s opener. Week two (vs. New England) earned a 29.9 rating, the team’s lowest-rated preseason game in at least six years.

The 19 highest-rated preseason games locally leaguewide from 2010 through 2014 were all Saints games. That’s 19 of 20 New Orleans games between 2010 and 2014, and the one that didn’t register was Week 4 in 2012, when Hurricane Isaac caused power outages in New Orleans, so Nielsen could not track viewing in the market.

The Saints this spring ended their nine-year preseason relationship with Cox Sports Television and signed a multiyear broadcast agreement with Fox affiliate WVUE, which is owned by Saints’ owner Tom Benson and operated by Raycom.

In Seattle, meanwhile, the Seahawks’ have generated four consecutive preseasons of ratings increases, culminating in a 24.1 average last year. That rating was the club’s highest ever. From 2010-14, the team’s ratings more than doubled, and the team went from being ranked in the lower third of the league to No. 2 last year.

This year, the team’s 31.8 week one rating (vs. Denver) was the team’s highest-rated preseason game ever.

One of the biggest beneficiaries has been KCPQ-TV, as the Seahawks’ rights holder. The Tribune Broadcasting-owned Fox affiliate began a five-year deal with the team in 2012, and the Seahawks have made the playoffs every year since, including advancing to the two most-recent Super Bowls. The market’s NBC affiliate, KING, carried Seahawks preseason games almost continuously from 1981 to 2011, but the team made the playoffs only once in the final four years of the contract.

NFL TEAMS' PRESEASON LOCAL RATINGS
TEAM 2015 (2 WEEKS) 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010
Arizona Cardinals 12.0 12.2 9.3 9.1 11.2 13.2
Atlanta Falcons 6.9 6.6 8.5 6.8 9.1 8.4
Baltimore Ravens 17.0 17.6 20.7 14.3 21 20.4
Buffalo Bills 24.3 16.6 15.2 13.8 13.6 14.9
Carolina Panthers 11.0 12.6 14.5 12.5 14.5 14.9
Chicago Bears 12.3 13.6 13.7 11.8 14.1 11.6
Cincinnati Bengals 16.1 17.7 15.5 12.9 15.6 18.2
Cleveland Browns 23.1 21.9 17.1 17.2 17.7 18.8
Dallas Cowboys 15.4 12.2 9.6 14.3 18.3 17.9
Denver Broncos 19.5 22.9 18.6 18.7 19 19
Detroit Lions 12.9 11.7 11.5 10.4 12.1 9.4
Green Bay Packers 28.5 19.2 16.4 25.0 22.6 23.1
Houston Texans 17.2 15.7 17.5 13.7 15.7 13.1
Indianapolis Colts 14.8 13.5 15 19.8 13.2 15.5
Jacksonville Jaguars 17.3 16.3 12.9 14.2 15 13.1
Kansas City Chiefs 17.5 20.7 22.3 18.3 20.6 21.3
Miami Dolphins 8.5 7.0 7.8 7.6 11.1 9.5
Minnesota Vikings 16.5 17.4 16.4 13.3 16 18.2
New England Patriots 13.8 14.7 14.8 12.5 13.7 11.9
New Orleans Saints 32.3 37.8 38.6 38.8 39.0 37.2
New York Giants 4.0 5.2 6.1 5.4 5.4 5.4
New York Jets 4.0 4.7 4.9 6.2 5.2 4.6
Oakland Raiders 4.2 4.0 2.6 5.5 8.7 5.5
Philadelphia Eagles 16.4 14.2 13.3 13.9 14.3 11.5
Pittsburgh Steelers 15.9 20.1 23.7 27.1 27.8 29.6
San Diego Chargers 12.5 16.0 12.9 12.3 19.7 14.7
San Francisco 49ers 10.4 10.6 10.8 8.2 9.2 10.5
Seattle Seahawks 28.2 24.1 22.3 13.1 12.5 11.9
St. Louis Rams 8.8 9.0 9.4 8.7 12.4 9.4
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 13.3 9.0 9 7.2 9 7.8
Tennessee Titans 16.7 15.6 16.9 15.4 20.2 20.1
Washington Redskins 10.2 9.3 11.6 9.7 15.5 12.8

Note: ESPN aired 18 games during the time period tracked, and the majority of those broadcasts were simulcast by the local rights holder for each club. For those simulcast games, the local ratings for each broadcaster were combined for tabulation here.
Source: SportsBusiness Journal analysis of data provided by the NFL and local rights holders


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