NFL’s first six weeks sees viewership drop

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The NFL averaged an audience of 15 million people for the first six weeks of the season, which is about 8% lower than the roughly 16 million viewers that tuned in during the same time period last year, according to Nielsen cited byFierce Cable.

However, ratings haven’t been down across the board, as ESPNMondayNight Football is averaging roughly 11 million viewers, which is up 6% after the sixth week of last season.

There are a handful reasons why the NFL has experienced a decline in viewership in the first six weeks of the season. Factors could include Hurricane Irma, unappealing game matchups, and perhaps most notably, President Donald Trump’s urging of fans to boycott NFL games.

However, it seems that these viewership declines would have happened regardless of Trump’s comments. Trump’s remarks came during the third week of the season, but ratings in weeks 1 and 2 were down 12% and 15%, respectively, according to Nielsen, suggesting that NFL ratings were already on the decline, regardless of President Trump’s comments.

In addition to the factors listed above, there are several broader trends that may be playing into the declining of NFL viewership:

• A big portion of consumers don’t have an interest in sports programming.Forty-eight percent of respondents indicated access to sports was not important to a pay-TV subscription, while the remaining 52% indicated sports was either “very” or “somewhat” important, according to an RBC study cited byVariety. This waning consumer interest in sports has likely contributed to consumers’ cord cutting, narrowing the pool of potential NFL viewers.
• Viewers are turning toward digital content more and more.Video streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, and even digital platforms like YouTube, are constantly broadening their content libraries to further entice consumers to their platforms. Although these platforms do not have much live sports offerings, their efforts are still contributing to the pulling of consumers away from traditional TV, which is likely trickling down to the realm of live sports and the NFL.

Nonetheless, it’s still early in the NFL season and the league is taking steps to reverse ratings declines. The efforts include cutting the number of commercial breaks during games and searching for announcers that may resonate better with younger audiences. These steps are important, as the NFL experienced its first average viewership drop in 2016 since 2012.

The causes behind the decline of live sports viewership are varied and complex. In addition to cyclical issues at play, sports programming is falling prey to the wealth of new content produced by the rise of new media platforms.

And as more and more TV viewers cut the cord, live sports content itself is moving off the TV screen and onto other devices.

Robert Elder, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider’s premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on the digital disruption of live sports that:

• Assesses the evolving live sports landscape.
• Examines how ESPN’s business model is threatened by the decline of live sports.
• Profiles the promising new players in the space.
• Looks at what’s next for legacy broadcasters.

To get the full report, subscribe to an ALL-ACCESS Membership with BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report AND more than 250 other expertly researched deep-dive reports, subscriptions to all of our daily newsletters, and much more. >> Learn More Now

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