After getting sacked last year thanks to the national anthem controversy, concussion concerns, and continued attacks by President Trump, the NFL’s ratings hit back this year and finished 2018 up five percent.
In 2018, the average game drew 15.8 million viewers compared with 14.9 million in 2017. That number was 16.5 million in the 2016 season and 17.9 million in 2015.
While those numbers don’t look great, it is worth bearing in mind that all TV ratings are down thanks to the rise in cord-cutting and internet viewing.
Afternoon broadcasts on CBS and Fox were especially strong in 2018.
Final viewership numbers from the 2018 NFL regular season pic.twitter.com/OzbT3j0bAx
— NFL Media (@NFLMedia) January 2, 2019
NBC’s Sunday Night Football also did well and SNF is projected to finish as primetime’s No. 1 TV show in all key metrics for the 2018-19 season.
Of the top 50 telecasts since the start of the season, 46 were NFL games.
A big reason for the spike could be the resurgence of NFL teams in key markets such as Los Angeles and Chicago as well as the increase in scoring this season.
In the 2018-19 season, NFL teams scored 1,371 total touchdowns, the most for a season in league history. They also scored the second-highest total of points for a season (11,952).
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