Why Are NFL Ratings Falling?

The NFL has always been the most reliable way to attract viewers to their TVs, but for the second season in a row, pro football's reliability as a ratings generator is being called into question. Ratings are down across the board so far this seas, continuing a trend that started last year. As a result, experts in a number of fields have been trying to figure out why. Is it because of sideline political controversy? Is it because of declining quality within the game? Is it because of a rash of natural disasters? Or is it just a natural evolution in the way Americans consume media?

Via Fortune.

The NFL has long been the cornerstone of the U.S. pay television market. Viewers’ loyalty to their favorite teams and the tradition of watching games on Sunday afternoons (and Monday nights) provided stability and certainty for stakeholders across the TV ecosystem.

Mass-market advertisers could plan fall marketing campaigns knowing that NFL games would reach just about everyone. Broadcasters and cable channels (such as ESPN) could enter into long-term deals for broadcast rights knowing that people would “always” want to watch football, creating an anchor tenant for the rest of their programming lineup. Last but not least, pay TV providers have long used their exclusive distribution rights to NFL games as both a carrot (to attract new subscribers as DirecTV did with its wildly successful Sunday Ticket package in the 1990s) and a stick (to keep existing households from canceling service regardless of the cost or frustration many folks have with their pay TV provider).

The question today, however, is what if this entire edifice is just a house of cards? NFL ratings have fallen significantly across all providers over the past seasons and so far 2017 is not looking any better. The only positive element to that decline may be that fewer people have to watch the sad sight of the Los Angeles Rams playing in front of a mostly empty stadium at the Coliseum. There are endless theories about the decline, from the rising popularity of video games to player safety to (ridiculously) the Colin Kaepernick situation.

My own view is that declining NFL ratings are the logical outgrowth of the decline in legacy linear television overall. This larger decline has been going on for over a decade now; is rooted in a fundamental shift to anytime, anywhere viewing on broadband devices; and affects all legacy TV programming to one degree or another. In short, contrary to the hopes (or delusions) of some in the TV industry, the NFL is not immune to these larger societal and viewing dynamics.

Get the rest of the story at Fortune.

What's your theory about the decline of NFL ratings? Tell us in the comment section below.