Tag: ratings

Broncos OLB Von Miller is 3rd-best pass rusher in ‘Madden 21’

Broncos outside linebacker Von Miller is the third-best pass rusher in ‘Madden NFL 21.’

Denver Broncos outside linebacker Von Miller is tied with Chicago Bears edge defender Khalil Mack as the third-best pass rusher in Madden NFL 21. Miller and Mack both have 97 overall ratings in the video game.

The only pass rushers with better overall ratings than Miller and Mack are Houston Texans defensive lineman J.J. Watt (98 overall) and Los Angeles Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald (99 overall).

Miller has the eighth-best power move rating in the game (94), just above Mack (93). Miller’s overall rating hasn’t changed from last year’s game.

Related: Broncos have 2 players on list of fastest RBs in Madden 21.

Miller is the Broncos’ highest-rated player in the game, above safeties Justin Simmons (90 overall) and Kareem Jackson (87 overall). Complete ratings for Madden NFL 21 will be announced later this week.

Madden 21 will be released for Xbox and PlayStation consoles on Tuesday, Aug. 25. Since its debut in 1988, the Madden franchise has sold more than 130 million copies of the popular NFL video game.

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Broncos have 2 players on list of fastest RBs in ‘Madden 21’

Broncos speedsters Phillip Lindsay and Khalfani Muhammad are among the fastest running backs in ‘Madden NFL 21.’

The Denver Broncos have two players on EA Sports’ list of the 10 fastest running backs in Madden NFL 21.

Broncos running back Phillip Lindsay has a speed rating of 93, putting him in a seven-way tie as the third-fastest running back in the video game. Khalfani Muhammad is also tied for third with a 93 speed rating.

The fastest running backs in the game are Raheem Mostert and Matt Breida, who both have speed ratings of 95. Complete ratings for the game will be announced later this week.

Muhammad competed against 15 other NFL players at a 40-yard dash competition last summer. Muhammad made it to the final of the offensive bracket of the competition but lost to eventual champion Marquise Goodwin. That competition likely put Muhammad on Madden‘s radar.

Three years ago, Muhammad ran a 4.34-second 40-yard dash at California’s pro day. That’s faster than Lindsay, who was clocked running a 4.39-second 40-yard dash at Colorado’s pro day two years ago.

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LEAK: Broncos’ best players in ‘Madden NFL 21’

Here are the Broncos’ best players in ‘Madden NFL 21.’

EA Sports is rolling out ratings for Madden NFL 21 this week and a website called “Madden School” has leaked some ratings ahead of schedule. These rumored ratings have not been confirmed so take them with a grain of salt.

For the Denver Broncos, star outside linebacker Von Miller is still the team’s highest-rated player at 97 overall. Miller is no longer a member of the “99 Club” but he is still one of the best pass rushers in the video game.

Broncos safety Justin Simmons is the team’s second-best player, rated 90 overall. Fellow safety Kareem Jackson is rated 87 overall.

Here’s a look at the team’s top-10 players in Madden 21, courtesy of Madden School:

  • Von Miller: 97
  • Justin Simmons: 90
  • Kareem Jackon: 87
  • Phillip Lindsay: 85
  • Melvin Gordon III: 84
  • Jurrell Casey: 84
  • A.J. Bouye: 84
  • Courtland Sutton: 84
  • Bradley Chubb: 81
  • Bryce Callahan: 80

It’s interesting that running back Phillip Lindsay is rated higher than Melvin Gordon, who is expected to start this season. Gordon was clearly not happy with his rating in Madden. Last year, Gordon was one of the top running backs in the game — now he’s not even the top RB on his own team.

Complete Madden NFL 21 ratings will be revealed later this week.

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The 2020 NFL Draft may set ratings records

ABC, ESPN, NFL Network, and the NFL are set to own the sports world in late April with the NFL Draft

No one can go outside. There are no sports events on television and there is nothing on the horizon. The country is essentially staying at home and there are only so many things to watch on Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, or the streaming app of your choice. There is one respite, one light at the end of the tunnel, one major sporting event that gets great ratings and will absolutely dominate the sports landscape for the next month: the 2020 NFL Draft.

The NFL Draft in 2019 set viewership ratings. It moved to ABC so it got the broadcast bump. It was also available across digital partners such as ESPN+. It was televised on ESPN and NFL Network for folks who wanted to watch on cable. The final numbers were great for the league. Over 47.5 million viewers watched over three days. The draft averaged 6.1 million people watching during the entire span of the draft and garnered a 3.9 household rating. Remember, this is to watch names get called and players walk across a stage. It also has fewer people watching as the draft moves along its seven-round journey.

This year, the NFL Draft is going to do even better. It’s an unfortunate situation, but the current social distancing recommendations, stay at home orders and advisory, and shutdown of bars, restaurants, and other activities mean people will be stuck at home. The draft just so happens to be scheduled at the end of April. Everything will still be locked down at that point.

That’s why it’s smart for the NFL to keep the draft scheduled for when it is scheduled. It will be the only event on television. It doesn’t require large amounts of people to be in the same place. The draft can be held via phone and digital connections. It’s an easy win for Roger Goodell and the NFL and it also provides sports fans with some type of outlet that’s not old games. Think about it. Fox just aired the Patriots-Falcons Super Bowl. Television partners are desperate for real content.

The winners here will be ABC, ESPN, and the NFL Network. They get the one event everyone will tune into. Advertising partners should be chomping at the bit to try and pay extra for more exposure. It would be the best use of their advertising budgets that are surely shrinking right now due to the financial situation most companies are going through.

So expect huge numbers. Teams may be put at a disadvantage not being able to meet with players or get in-depth physicals, but the league as a whole will benefit. The 2020 NFL Draft is the only event on the horizon and the NFL will own the sports world more than it usually does come the end of April.

XFL Week 5 viewership numbers and ratings continue to drop

Now it’s time for the XFL to get nervous. We are five weeks into the season and there aren’t any support bands when it comes to viewership and ratings. They started off highest in Week 1 and have dropped steadily since. They haven’t flattened out. …

Now it’s time for the XFL to get nervous. We are five weeks into the season and there aren’t any support bands when it comes to viewership and ratings. They started off highest in Week 1 and have dropped steadily since. They haven’t flattened out. They haven’t shown volatility and jumped up and down. It’s a constant downward slide and that’s not what any television property wants to see happen. This week’s viewership numbers dipped below the dreaded 1 million mark.

Yes, in relative comparison the XFL isn’t in that bad of a spot, but the problem is that it’s looking more and more like a money pit. No one knows when these ratings will stabilize. Sure, they may jump once the playoffs being but no one will understand what happened in the league. It won’t be constant viewers and it will instead be people who either want to watch the car crash or have a morbid curiosity about the playoffs.

We can’t really judge the success of the XFL or its ability to be around for multiple years until we know what the constant average viewership will be moving forward. It’s tough to sell a product to advertisers, sponsorship partners, and distributors until we know the exact reach. As long as the ratings keep going down, it will be a cause for concern.

NFL Combine ratings come in at disappointing numbers

Everyone knows that the XFL has seen a ratings’ dip. The numbers bear it out and there’s no argument that the numbers aren’t great. If that’s the case then logic would say that other sporting events should be trying to have viewership numbers better …

Everyone knows that the XFL has seen a ratings’ dip. The numbers bear it out and there’s no argument that the numbers aren’t great. If that’s the case then logic would say that other sporting events should be trying to have viewership numbers better than what the XFL is offering. In fact, if the XFL is leading into said sporting event, it should have at least the same amount of viewers, maybe more. Yet, we know that didn’t happen and that should be a concern. See, the XFL was on ABC and it led directly to the NFL Draft Combine. Yes, the same combine that is the next big thing for the NFL when it comes to its revenue growth models — outside of adding more regular season and playoff games obviously. The combine is supposed to be the next version of the NFL Draft. It’s supposed to be a big show. It’s supposed to move around the country. People are supposed to tune in and watch. That didn’t happen. NFL Draft Combine ratings were up only three-percent from last year.

The NFL even moved the combine to primetime. It definitely did not move the combine for a paltry three percent increase in viewership. It made the move because it was supposed to be the next step for monetizing the workouts. The problem is that it didn’t even outrate the NFL.

There are other problems associated with moving the combine. Some players didn’t perform as well due to the scheduling. That’s unfair to the players. Agents should be a bit angry that the NFL moved the combine to get more interest and expose more viewers to the ins and outs of the NFL Draft process and all their players got was this lousy t-shirt — and some bad numbers for scouts and coaches to question which could cause players to drop in the draft and therefore lose money.

Maybe this is a learning experience for the NFL. They probably need to figure out a way to market the event better. They need something to make it more exciting because fans can only watch so many players run in a straight line in workout gear until they get the point. Only the real diehards are looking at players run three-cone drills, test their vertical leap and make broad jumps. Most fans don’t even know what’s good and what’s bad.

This could be the start of something. The league and television partner — ESPN/ABC in this case — may be thinking that this year was a test-run and next year there will be more viewers. Maybe next year, they will add some excitement, more graphics, something to make it must-see television. Three percent increases won’t do it for the league. Ratings worse than the XFL isn’t what the NFL wants. If the combine is the next big thing, then they need to figure out how to make it more watchable.

Combine TV ratings lag behind XFL, NHL in weekend viewing

TV viewership ratings for the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine lag behind XFL, NHL in weekend viewing

The NFL moved the combine workouts to primetime to build up the audience for the annual scouting event in Indianapolis. And while television ratings for the combine were up over previous years, viewership still lagged behind several other sports programming on the weekend.

Saturday’s broadcast on ABC directly followed the network’s XFL game. Over half a million viewers — nearly one-third of the audience — tuned out. Real football still handily blows away the so-called “Underwear Olympics”.

The featured NHL game of the week on NBC on Sunday afternoon drew better ratings than the primetime combine coverage, too. Per tracking service showbuzz daily  the matchup between the Flyers and Rangers drew a .69 rating, while the combine coverage pulled a .67. Several college basketball games, NBA games, the PGA tour stop and the NASCAR race in California also dwarfed the combine’s viewership.

XFL ratings drop again in Week 4

We kind of knew this was going to happen. Here are the XFL ratings for Week 4. #XFL Week 4 Ratings Saturday 2/29 ABC: Wildcats @ Guardians 1.558 million viewers Fox: Dragons @ BattleHawks 1.802 million viewers Sunday 3/1 FS1: Roughnecks @ Renegades …

We kind of knew this was going to happen. Here are the XFL ratings for Week 4.

Those are the numbers, but let’s add a little context. The XFL had its viewership numbers drop in three out of the four games from Week 3 to Week 4. Numbers actually went up slightly for the game on FS1 on Sunday.

There’s actually some good news throughout the ratings. First, the XFL actually outrated the NFL Scouting Combine on ABC — which followed the XFL game on Saturday. That’s good. People preferred to watch real football over players working out.

There’s also some good news because this could have been a bad weekend for the XFL. The NBA had some marquee games on. The NCAA is entering its drive to conference tournaments and important conference matchups were on this weekend. MLS had its season kick-off which pushed the XFL game to ESPN2 and losing 500,000 viewers for that game isn’t bad when considering the move to a secondary cable network.

The hope for the XFL has to be that this is the bottom. They can tread water with viewership numbers between one and two million and once the playoffs start there should be a natural boost due to curiosity at a minimum. If these numbers are what the XFL is going to do consistently, that’s not half-bad. It takes time to build interest.

There’s another side to this coin. If the XFL downward trend continues, that’s a huge problem. No one wants to watch something that other people aren’t watching. It’s the whole self-fulfilling prophecy where the XFL is losing viewers which will then cause more viewers to not keep interest. What’s the point of watching?

The hope for the XFL is that this is the bottom. This was their most difficult weekend to date. The problem is that might not be true. We are about to enter March Madness. There will be a weekend with the Masters. There will be bigger NBA games. By the time the XFL gets passed the NCAA tournament, they will have other competition to deal with. Week 5 could be crucial.

XFL Ratings dip again, but is it cause for concern?

XFL Week 3 ratings dropped from Week 2 ratings which dropped from Week 1 ratings. Where is the bottom?

When the AAF had great ratings for its first week, a lot of people overreacted to the news and said a new era of extra football had begun. Then the AAF flamed out miserably and was the subject of many a long-form commentary. The XFL had some really strong numbers when it came to viewership in its first week and I am happy to report it seems like we all learned our lesson. Everyone seemed to wait with bated breath to find out what XFL ratings would look like in Week 2 and Week 3. Unfortunately for the XFL, the answer seems to be: not great.

Now, here is the silver lining. The XFL had two games on cable this weekend and ratings are always lower on cable because people either don’t have access to it — mostly by choice, but sometimes by circumstance — so they had to expect that ratings would dip since half the games weren’t on broadcast.

The problem is that they’ve now lost almost half of their Week 1 viewers. The product doesn’t seem to be sticking. There needs to be a bottom, but we don’t know where that bottom is.

The easy answer would be to simply try and get more games on broadcast networks, but it doesn’t work that way. The XFL can’t simply tell television distributors what to do to boost league viewership numbers. They can ask. After all, the XFL is probably still doing better numbers than traditional shows, but that doesn’t mean their TV partners will comply. Cable channels need their schedules filled as well and the XFL is the perfect filler.

The real issue is that the XFL may be in a battle with perception. The more ratings drop, the more it looks like the league is struggling. The more it looks like the league is struggling, the less likely fans will be willing to invest their time and effort into finding games and watching them all the way through. That leads to even lower ratings. It’s a circular self-fulfilling prophecy. By the way, the XFL has seven more weeks in its season. There has to be a bottom, but we just don’t know where it is yet.

The good news is that if the league can hold on and get to the playoffs, people will watch — if for novelty reasons only. Once the league lasts a year, it can start to gain more traction and viewers will feel more comfortable investing that time, effort, and hopefully money. It could be a bumpy seven weeks, but the goal should be to hold out for as long as possible. That all depends on how much money the league plans to use in the process of staying alive.

In contrast to national trend, Rockets see higher local TV ratings

Compared to last year, overall local and national TV ratings are down for the 2019-20 NBA season. However, they’re up for the Rockets.

Though television ratings around the NBA are largely down in the 2019-20 season to date, they’re up for local telecasts in Houston.

According to data through the All-Star break compiled by the Sports Business Journal (SBJ), the average rating (2.26) of Rockets’ broadcasts on AT&T SportsNet Southwest is up 4% from the same 2018-19 period.

Last year’s Rockets were coming off more success in the previous season, having won a franchise-record 65 games in 2017-18 and advanced to Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals. By comparison, these Rockets are coming off a 2018-19 campaign with just 53 wins and an elimination in six games during the second round of the playoffs.

Nonetheless, the offseason trade for Russell Westbrook seems to have sparked additional relative interest, especially on a local level. While ratings for Rockets’ telecasts are up by 4%, the league’s overall average on local broadcasts is down 13% from last season.

The SBJ analysis studied 27 of the league’s 30 teams, with data on Utah, Memphis, and Toronto not available. Of those 27, a majority posted ratings drops, and 13 had declines of 19 percentage points or more.

Nationally, television broadcasts of NBA games on ABC, ESPN, and TNT are down 12% this season. According to SBJ’s figures, ABC is down 16%, TNT down 13%, and ESPN down 10%.

Part of the decline in national TV numbers is attributable to Golden State, which has the league’s worst record this season but has still received a healthy share of national broadcasts based on their pedigree as five-time defending Western Conference champions. Per SBJ data, ratings for local Warriors broadcasts are down 66% from a year ago.

The Rockets (34-20) return to play Thursday with a road game against those Warriors (12-43), with tip-off scheduled for 9:30 p.m. Central time in an exclusive national TNT broadcast. Given their record, that game probably won’t help the league’s ratings decline on a national level.

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