The NFL returns to ratings dominance

[AZProgressive]

New York(CNN Business) The National Football League bounced back to ratings dominance following a 2020 season that was disrupted by the pandemic — showing once again that pro football is still the biggest audience draw on television.

The league's viewership for the 2021 regular season was up roughly 10% overall from the year prior, bringing in an average of 17.1 million viewers per game on TV and digital. That is the highest regular season average since 2015, according to the league.

The league also noted that all its games gained more audience than TV's other top-rated broadcasts. During the regular season, NFL games accounted for 48 of the top 50 and 91 of the top 100 most watched telecasts.

"We've kind of gone back to where we would've been if we had not had the pandemic," Patrick Crakes, a former Fox Sports executive turned media consultant, told CNN Business.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/13/media/nfl-ratings-regular-season/index.html

[milestogo]

1. Thank Covid.

[ArizonaLib]

2. Looks like the conservatives who were boycotting the NFL are returning

There are a few in my family who love the NFL but rarely admit to watching it. The discussions I overhear among them reveal otherwise.

[bamagal62]

3. I honestly think it has something to do with

SEC sports viewers...specifically Alabama fans.
For the first time in history the NFL has 3 Bama starting quarterbacks to watch in the NFL. Mac Jones, Tua Tagovailoa, and Jalen Hurts. Birmingham Al is ESPN's largest viewing market and has been since 2008. My 91 year old mother now watches the NFL because of Mac Jones. She is actually listening to the Patriots radio broadcasts. She watches NFL TV sports shows every morning to see what they say about Mac Jones. I'm pretty sure my mother had never watched an NFL game before 2021.
I have started watching NFL games, which I never did before. My siblings all watch now. We all watch to see our favorite Bama players.
I actually commented to my husband over 2 months ago, "I wonder if NFL viewership has gone up because of Mac Jones." Call me crazy. But, when I have 7-8 people in my family that never watched the
NFL EVER, are now watching, how many other families are doing the same?
(And, fyi, not a single one of us are conservatives.)