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.
Forgot to tweet the ESPN XFL viewership from Sunday: it averaged 833K with a .33 adults 18-49 rating with a 9:07pm start.
— SportsTVRatings (@SportsTVRatings) March 10, 2020
The ESPN rating theis past weekend (HH), was 14% below prior week's ESPN2 rating, which ain't supposed to happen.
— Carl LaFong (@CLaFong) March 10, 2020
#XFL Week 5 Cable TV Ratings (Per ShowBuzz Daily)
Sunday 3/8 @XFLBattleHawks at @XFLDefenders on FS1 Sunday Afternoon averaged 767 thousand viewers @XFLVipers at @XFLWildcats on ESPN Sunday night averaged 833 thousand viewers https://t.co/pMeQfJaQtj pic.twitter.com/6mU7NLAAHV
— Mike Mitchell (@MMXFLWriter) March 10, 2020
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.