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This Year’s Super Bowl Most Watched Ever

Last weekends contest between the Colts and the Saints was a day for the record books. I’m not talking about the Colts 96 yard drive in the first half, which set a Super Bowl record for the longest touchdown drive or the fact that the Saints won their first Championship, breaking a 41 year drought for the organization. No, this year’s game set the record for the most watched program in television history.

Die hard fans are probably not surprised. It seems obvious that the Big Game should draw television viewers out of the woodwork (nearly 107 million people tuned in).  But very few people realize just how good this news is for the sport.

After all, at its most basic level, football is just a business. And while owners get rich through better ticket sales, the league itself makes its money through broadcast deals with networks.  Networks make their money through advertising.

This year, weekend games dominated in ratings shares regardless of the Network they showed on and regardless of the competition they faced. Moreover, networks that used Sunday games to lead into their regularly scheduled programs generally owned the entire night.

Just ask Fox how significant the difference in viewership was for their iconic Sunday night cartoon line up “Animation Domination” when it got a football lead in compared to when it did not. Better yet, ask CBS, ABC, and NBC how many viewers they lost on such nights and you will find that the role football plays in the ratings dynamic is no laughing matter. You can bet that next year, the bidding for these games, especially in the postseason will be vicious and expensive.

Okay, some of you are thinking, that’s cool I guess, but what does this mean for us regular fans? Two words. More football, more football, more football. Need I say more? Broadcast affiliates are scrambling for the ad revenue to be made off of these games, and you can be sure that this means networks are going to push for more weekend double headers and more extensive coverage of the NFL. If you need any further convincing that the increased ratings are a good thing, remember that the NFL draft will be broadcast in prime time for the first time this year. What more could any football fan ask for?