Goodell Defends NFL Ratings, Citing Strength Within TV Ecosphere

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell feels that the "strength of our game is even getting stronger" despite two straight regular seasons with sharp TV ratings drops. Goodell during an appearance on ESPN Radio noted there is "no one specific thing" for the ratings drop, as it is "across the board" for all programming. Goodell: "Once in a while, you see certain things that will jump from time to time. But at the end of the day, I don't think anything could match the ratings experience of the NFL, not even close. We're 37 of the top 50 television shows, number one overall on Fox on Sunday afternoon of all television, number one on Sunday night. ... You always look to see what's happening in the industry. I think there are changes that are happening more rapidly than any of us ever thought in the television industry, but it still stands that the NFL game is standing above the rest of the crowd by a long shot.” He added, “The thing that I still marvel at is when I say 37 of the top 50, 10 years ago, that was 11 out of the top 50. So you talk about how obviously television has changed, but you see the dominance of the NFL continue" ("Golic & Wingo," ESPN Radio, 1/30). Goodell said he is "not buying" that the decrease is due to oversaturation, though he admitted it "can be a contributing factor" ("The Herd with Colin Cowherd," Fox Sports Radio, 1/29).

STRUCTURAL DAMAGE: RECODE's Peter Kafka noted that pretending the NFL -- or "live sports in general -- is immune to the same trends affecting everything else on TV isn’t tenable anymore." MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson said, "The NFL is experiencing a structural decline in viewership." Kafka wrote it is "going to be an issue for the NFL, since TV networks that have been bidding ever-increasing amounts to show live games may pull back, at least from some of the packages the NFL offers." The NFL has been "hoping that digital bidders like Amazon, Facebook or Google will step in to goose prices," and "they might." However, it is "harder for them to get excited about a declining asset." MoffettNathanson, "like most sober analysis of NFL ratings, doesn’t blame the ratings decline on the Trump/Kaepernick/anthem controversy, since there’s zero evidence people actually tuned out for that reason" (RECODE.net, 1/29).

THE STARS COME OUT: ABC and ESPN combined to average 8.6 million viewers for the Pro Bowl on Sunday, which moved to an afternoon slot after many years in primetime and provided a simulcast for the first time. This year's game also had some competition from the NHL All-Star Game and PGA Tour golf from Torrey Pines in that afternoon window. Despite that, the '18 audience is up from 7.4 million viewers on ESPN alone last year, which had competition from the SAG Awards. This year also is up from 8.0 million viewers for the '16 game on ESPN, which had competition from "Grease Live" on Fox, as well as the NHL All-Star Game. Sunday's game is down from 8.8 million viewers in '15, when ESPN had no real primetime competition. The last time the Pro Bowl aired solely on broadcast TV in '14, NBC drew 11.4 million viewers for the game despite head-to-head competition from the Grammy Awards (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).