Tag: Viewership

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.

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.