The TV ratings for the first “Sunday Night Football” game of the NFL season were down in a big way.
According to Deadline, the Rams beating the Cowboys on “SNF” was watched by 14.81 million viewers on NBC, and scored a 4.7 in the early ratings, which means roughly 4.7% of households with TVs watched. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
That’s a 28% decline in the ratings and a 23% decline in viewership from the 2019 opener. As always, numbers are subject to change as more information comes in, but these numbers aren’t pretty.
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This is what happens when you make everything political. The NFL put two of the biggest names in all of pro sports in a primetime game against each other, and people still didn’t care as much as last year.
When you turn sports into political debates, people tune out. It’s that simple. We’ve seen it time and time again.
It’s not a mystery. People want to watch sports to have fun. They’re not watching to get lectured.
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It might only be one game, but the NFL is in serious trouble if this is a trend that continues all season long. If the numbers are down this much, then Roger Goodell has a major problem on his hands.
Maybe, just maybe, players shouldn’t do things, such as kneeling during the national anthem. that alienate fans.
At the end of the day, the fans are the customers. When you upset the customer, they leave. It’s super simple.
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We’ll see how the NFL responds, but it’s not off to a great start. That much is crystal clear.