Others already stated it well, but yeah, it's the national draw that matters a lot more in the SB than the local market size. Atlanta might have the worst out of market fan base of the remaining teams.
Every Super Bowl draws well. This isn't like baseball or the NBA, where the matchups can really alter the championship ratings. The Super Bowl gets big ratings pretty much no matter what.
I mean relative to the last ~5 Super Bowls. I imagine the Pats-Hawks one did great. Hawks-Denver was probably decent, although it became a blowout. Can't imagine the SF-Baltimore one was super huge, although it turned into a good game and had the Harbaugh angle. Pats-Giants I assume was enormous. Steelers-GB too.
Dallas would be a monster draw no matter who they face, so on that idea alone I agree, but I'd imagine having them facing New England instead of KC is still a pretty material difference.
I think the best representation of the ratings would be how teams rated in primetime games. The Cowboys fucking killed primetime games. As in, it wasn't close. The Patriots killed on Sunday and Monday nights as well (but nothing like the Cowboys).
Super Bowl ratings have been substantially flat the past five years; there was a slight dip four years ago, but that was probably due to the power outage rather than the matchup.
Yeah been pretty close. According to sportsmediawatch, the highest of those 7 was the Pats/Seahawks at a 47.5 rating and the lowest was Saints/Colts with a 45.0. All the rest were between 46.0 and 47.0.
Yeah, these ratings are my point. Nothing in the USA gets a 70 share but the Super Bowl, which has hit that share or has been close to it for 7 years. The matchups aren't that critical.
So, a lot of people apparently dislike the Patriots and are sick of their winning, so why have they gotten, and are expected to get, probably the best viewership of any AFC team in a super bowl?
People tune in for teams they love or hate--watching your rivals lose is the next best thing to watching your team win. Same reason Duke and the Yankees draw huge numbers.
You can't just measure popularity by the primary markets. Most importantly, teams like the Packers and Cowboys draw on a significant national fan base. 538 did an interesting study of which teams are televised in each market and found that the Packers are the 3rd most televised team in the NFL after the Cowboys and Giants, while the Falcons are only the 16th.
This is a nice story but how supported is it by data? I'd imagine it's more likely that there's just a huge number of bandwagon fans.
This version doesn't even have a cool dance like last time they made the Super Bowl and nobody cared. Even prostitutes weren't feeling them.
I don't know. I haven't wanted to watch the Yankees for years unless they're playing the Red Sox. Same was with Kobe's Lakers unless they're playing the Celtics. Same with any AFC East team unless they're playing the Patriots. Peyton's Colts, same. Maybe just me.
Exactly - he had to pay. If you're playing in the Super Bowl the next day and need to pay for it, that's proof positive nobody cares about your team.
Since that's not happening soon, I'd settle for 70,000 people singing "roger is an asshole" too loudly for announcers to ignore.
And not under a bridge in California or Florida (except somewhere like Sierra County, CA at 7,000 feet).
Isn't there a bridge in Florida where all the sex offenders live under? He can go there.
I root for the Yankees/Lakers to lose but don't actively watch them do so.
I like the - we don't care about the money - but we'll exact every last dime from the non billionaires threatening their lives and safety for our amusement who might need it someday soon.
I'm almost certain you were correct the first time. He sees the reduction in income partially offset by a reduction in expenses. So they must give money back to the networks, but his silver lining is that the owners get to reduce player salaries.
Like an inmate's first night in prison, the players know they're going to get screwed. Is this another way to get the player's to agree to an 18 game schedule?
The quote isn't that difficult. He's saying that there are probably too many commercials and if that's what decided, they'll have to get the networks to show fewer commercials. That would mean reducing the size of the TV contracts (since they are based on the revenues that the networks can get from commercials) - thus the comment about giving money back.
Bucs are not the cowboys or Pats but are a fun team with high profile QB. And they're on Hard knocks
Exactly. The Jags are a dumpster fire but the Bucs are actually semi-high profile right now and on the rise, at least from a PR standpoint. That number is a bad sign.
