Football On the Rise

Football ratings continue to escalate for this young season on both the pro and college side. It's easy to credit the new season and the usual uncertainty, but there has to be more to the story. This past Monday's (9/16) game between Philadelphia and Atlanta drew more than 15 million viewers (12% over the 2023 regular season average), and the third "most watched" telecast in more than 50 games. Even the pre-game show viewership rose 8% over the first week.

The Broadcast Booth will go with TWO reasons this is happening. One is the overall decline in network TV content. Although the endless supply of reality and competition shows are fresh, the premiers of drama and comedy shows keeps getting later and later in the year. Fewer episodes are produced making constant repeats a regular thing. Football is fresh and live programming. The other reason would be the increased presence of betting, especially in-game and parlays. Having the pro leagues endorsing betting activity (partnerships, sponsorships, etc.) has increased the desire to follow the games more closely, which is exactly what the networks were hoping for. Between the betting services and the increase in fantasy football, they have created a ratings monster.

On the college side, those that get the CW Network telecasts might want to take note of the game this Saturday (9/21) between TCU and Southern Methodist which starts at 5 PM ET. The play-by-play voice for this game will be none other than Thom Brennaman.

Swift Improvement For Football TV Ratings

 NFL total viewing audiences had a noteworthy increase over the course of this season, especially when it comes to female viewers. Many point to the Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce relationship as being the driving factor. It is a major contributor, but there is a lot to be said for the fact that female viewership grew by roughly 30% across the NFL for the regular season, which means it was more than just Chiefs telecasts. For example, the Detroit vs. San Francisco NFC Championship Game telecast on Fox was its highest rated since 2012.

The Broadcast Booth theory on why female viewership is up is completely separate from the presence of Taylor Swift, which is the significantly stronger presence of female sportscasters around the dial. The number of female sportscasters has risen dramatically over the past five years, whether on local TV newscasts (sports anchors) or on sports talk radio stations and networks. There have been more and more instances of women discussing NFL teams and games (along with the other sports) with other women. 

What this added presence has done is to make the games more relatable to women. Coincidence or not, the abundance of female sportscasters has taken down the "man's world" image of pro sports, especially the hard hitting games of the NFL. These sportscasters, reporters, and talkers are at it every day, while Swift attends no more than one game per week.

Nick Saban didn't waste any time, joining ESPN to participate in College Football Game Day among other broadcasting assignments. Here's hoping that the constant screaming of the crowd and the many other distractions of the Game Day show will be better contained to allow viewers to be able to hear and understand the analysis of someone the caliber of Saban.

 

The situation regarding telecast rights for a group of MLB teams got a bit better this week as Baseball looks to recover from the Sinclair Broadcast Group bankruptcy situation. Diamond Sports Group has agreed to handle the telecasts for the World Champion Texas Rangers, along with the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Guardians, paying reduced rights fees for the coming season to help ensure a profit or break even. These one-year deals give these teams a few more months for a long-term media partner to surface. 

Cable Cost Considerations Coming

There might be some relief on the way for sports fans tired of the increasing costs just to watch their favorite teams on TV or devices. More sports sources are working harder to make their network(s) and services available direct to consumer separate from the high monthly charges through cable/satellite distributors. 

 

Reports continue to surface that ESPN will be ready to introduce a direct to consumer service within the next year. The significance is that subscribers would no longer need to access via their cable/satellite distributor. ESPN is starting the new year by locking up an eight year deal with the NCAA to televise 40 NCAA championships to include various sports (such as volleyball and tennis) with men's and women's games.The staggering $115 million annually for this deal is nearly triple the current deal in place. 

Even with financial cutbacks at ESPN over the past year, there are reasons for committing to this deal. Those include having a leg up for upcoming negotiations for the NCAA Basketball Tournament and the college football championship series, the latter of which ESPN has a strong urge to retain. 

Meanwhile, in New York City, MSG Network and YES Network are close to forming a surprising but interesting partnership to offer their independent live streaming services to other providers around the country. Both networks now offer their services direct to consumer, with YES costing $24.99 per month and MSG Network costing $29.99. Rumors are that the two might combine to have a discounted cost to receive both services. We have no idea how much ESPN would charge for a subscription which does not require cable, and doubt that it will be inexpensive.

However, with many cable/satellite monthly bills coming in at well over $100 per month, being able to subscribe to a couple of a fan's "most important" sports network could very well cost less than half of that. Many sports fans don't want to continue paying for a group of channels showing the same reruns every day when they don't need to. Even a $50 per month savings amounts to $600 per year saved.

 

Looking ahead to Week 18 Sunday (1/7), it is quite surprising that the lackluster NFC North Division is receiving such prominent coverage from CBS and Fox. Although the Detroit vs. Minnesota (early) game has playoff implications for both teams, it will be the primary telecast with Joe Davis and Daryl Johnston on the call to most of the country. Among the late games, it is shocking that CBS selected the Chicago vs. Green Bay game as its primary doubleheader game, sending the lead team of Jim Nantz and Tony Romo to most of the country. The Bears chances of making the post-season are extremely slim. Frankly, this telecast is likely to be crushed by Fox having Dallas vs. Washington for its doubleheader game.