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.
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