Enthusiasm for NFL not hurt by blowouts
Gambling keeps fans glued to the tube
Off- the- field problems haven’t dented the NFL’s popularity and, it turns out, fewer competitive games aren’t turning too many fans away, either.
Barely noticed beneath the domestic violence, player health and other troubles plaguing the league this year has been a significant decline in nailbiter games and an increase in blowouts.
So far this season, according to STATS, the number of games decided by one score or less ( eight points) are down by 18 per cent from last season and 20 per cent from 2012.
Meanwhile, blowouts ( 20 points or more) are on the rise: There have been 32 per cent more than last year and 12 per cent over the 2012 number. There have been only nine overtime games so far this year, compared to 11 at this point last season and 17 in 2012.
And yet TV ratings remain fairly steady. Nielsen says national games over cable and broadcast have averaged 16.7 million viewers so far this year, down from 17.2 million last year. That’s less than a three per cent decrease, and not enough of a drop to prevent Sunday Night Football from regularly being the week’s most- watched show.
Credit fantasy football and gambling for part of that — there’s always something to be rooting for.
“These two pillars, when combined with massive fan interest from hardcore fans and a steady engagement from casual fans, blunts the downside associated with less compelling competition,” said David Carter, executive director of the Marshall Sports Business Institute at Southern California.
To be sure, the league that prides itself on parity has good races going in every division, and has produced its fair share of good games as well.
Last week, there were three one- point affairs, including San Diego’s comeback from 10 points down late for a 34- 33 victory over Baltimore.
Also, Green Bay’s 26- 21 win over New England in the socalled Game of the Year last week was compelling and came down to the final minutes.
The Thanksgiving Day games? All turkeys.
One of the best lineups for Thanksgiving in recent memory — Chicago at Detroit, Philly at Dallas and Seattle at San Francisco — had playoff implications for all teams involved. The combined score of the three games: 86- 30. None were decided by fewer than 16 points.
“It was unfortunate, because nobody was saying ( anything bad) about those games on Wednesday,” said Jay Kornegay, who runs the LVH sportsbook. “It looked like a pretty strong lineup.”
And, to tell by the TV ratings, it was. All three games pulled better ratings than the games in their time slot the year before.
Thursday night games in general have been bad. Unpopular among players who detest the short work week and the ravages it can cause to their bodies, the average score of those games this season has been 33- 15. Only three have been decided by a touchdown or less while five have produced margins of 20 or more.
The Sunday night games touted as the week’s marquee matchups have produced a steady stream of blowouts, as well. Since Week 2, only one game has been decided by fewer than 10 points. Sunday Night Football, however, regularly wins its time slot.