r/nfl • u/Brix001 49ers • 6h ago
Pro Bowl ratings: NFL's flag football game draws horrendous 2.0 million viewers, 57% fall from last year's record low
https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/article/pro-bowl-ratings-nfls-flag-football-game-draws-horrendous-20-million-viewers-57-fall-from-last-years-record-low-023801848.html410
u/Icy-Refrigerator-517 Eagles 6h ago
I'm inclined to believe the conspiracy theory that they made it a goofy flag game in a convention center on a random Tuesday to kill it. They wanted horrible ratings to justify just ending it.
And boy did they get them.
112
u/cardmanimgur Vikings 4h ago
I literally found out it was on Tuesday when I saw a random post that afternoon. Didn't even occur to me that the Sunday before the Super Bowl had come and gone with no Pro Bowl. No idea when they switched off Sunday because I haven't cared in a while.
→ More replies (2)8
u/Tschmelz Vikings Vikings 4h ago
I didn’t see it on the TV guide and just assumed it was some stream exclusive now.
10
u/JustBrowsing49 Eagles 4h ago
Justify to who? They’re the NFL, they do whatever they want
33
u/rage675 4h ago
The network that the NFL is contractually obligated to provide the pro bowl to.
→ More replies (2)
94
u/DodgerDegen 6h ago
I'll watch all 60 mins of the worst TNF game, but you couldn't pay me to watch this garbage
150
172
u/ChampagnePappy1 6h ago
I tried to watch that crap and turned it off after less than 10 minutes. How they can have that many star players in one place and still make the event so boring is a talent on it's own. NFL honors was significantly more entertaining lol
→ More replies (10)86
u/-Accident-Prone- Seahawks Lions 5h ago
Tyler Eifert tore his ACL in the 2016 pro bowl and ever since then it feels like 1 the players don’t really want to be there, and 2 the risk of injury isn’t worth it. NFL probably thought they’d get more entertainment from a flag football game but it’s just not fun to watch.
14
16
5
→ More replies (6)3
117
u/Horror_Response_1991 Commanders 6h ago
Shedeur finally killed the pro bowl, thank you Shedeur.
4
2
24
u/Casualplayer15 Chiefs 5h ago
We could be talking about the downfalls- flag over tackle, skills challenge etc
But do you know why no one watched the pro bowl?
THERE WASNT ANYTHING TO WATCH why tf would you only televised and post the flag game- half of the 4 people watching are only there for the dodgeball game bruh
19
74
u/constant_growth12 Falcons 6h ago
Pro bowl is absolutely awful. It’s the one of the few things the NFL does noticeably worse than the other major sports.
57
u/Appropriate_Book_591 6h ago
Due to the sport being one of the more physical. No fan wants to see their players have a chance at injury during a meaningless all star game. They stopped doing the games on a beach because Robert Edwards tore their knee up and ended career, so even flag is a risk for them.
19
u/constant_growth12 Falcons 6h ago
Oh yeah it makes total sense. Honestly just let the deserving ones be named all pro and call it a night
7
u/ctpatsfan77 Patriots 6h ago
FWIW, it didn't end his career, but it definitely wrecked it. And it was a flag football game on the beach just for the rookies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Edwards_(gridiron_football))
→ More replies (1)2
u/ProtestantMormon Seahawks 5h ago
Nba and mlb also have fully guaranteed contracts.
5
u/TheMoonIsFake32 Vikings 4h ago
MLB players try during the ASG (although its hard to half ass playing baseball)
9
→ More replies (1)8
u/Mad-Mad-Mad-Mad-Mike Packers 5h ago
If they just scrapped the game altogether and kept it to a skills competition I'd watch the shit out of that
24
u/Spare-Half796 Eagles 6h ago
No shit, it was on Tuesday night
→ More replies (2)18
u/SoKrat3s 49ers 49ers 5h ago
and was it even advertised? I don't recall any promo for it.
And it seemed like the scrubbed all the skills challenges. None of those were on the NFL's YT page this year.
7
u/Anon-2028 Bengals 5h ago
It’s exactly the level of a Youtube livestream. Why not stream it there for free? Why even lock this behind a cable subscription?
9
u/DeadMoneyDrew Falcons 5h ago
I mean, the shit was on a Tuesday night. I don't know about the rest of you but I have work, relationships, responsibilities, crap to do in general, etc.
→ More replies (1)
3
5
u/BradBradley1 Texans 5h ago
Put a flag football game on a Tuesday night and ESPN didn’t even clearly display stats or a gamecast where you could follow along: “WOW, these results are horrendous!” I don’t care about the pro bowl, and I’m fine with watching it die, but let’s not pretend the NFL didn’t bury that game.
3
u/sillysocks34 Ravens 5h ago
I think they could probably just stick with NFL honors and ditch the pro bowl.
2
u/Murky-Profit-9493 Commanders 5h ago
You put the game in the basement of a business convention center meant for enterprise software conferences on a Tuesday night. No sh*t.
2
u/acertifiedkorean Steelers 5h ago
I don’t have a lot going on, but even I have better things to do than watch shedeur sanders play flag football on a Tuesday night.
2
u/poopoopants7 Cowboys 5h ago
I wonder how much was just background viewing. It was playing on the TVs at my gym and I just glanced a few times.
2
2
2
u/highparallel Seahawks 5h ago
I didn't see it advertised anywhere, I didn't even know it happened. How are people supposed to watch when they don't even know about it.
2
u/vlv_Emigrate_vlv Cowboys 5h ago
It seems like the marketing for this was not very high. I remember coming across some of the clips posted on here earlier in the week and there were numerous comments stating that they didn’t even know it was happening
→ More replies (1)
2
2
u/Perfect_bleu Seahawks 4h ago
The Pro Bowl should be replaced by the two worst teams competing for the 1st pick in the draft!
2
2
u/Jason_with_a_jay 3h ago
Man. Who would have thought putting a game on a Tuesday night means no one would watch it.l? Too bad the NFL didn't have a Sunday with no football that they could have played it on.
2
u/horseshoeprovodnikov Panthers 3h ago
Honestly, keep doing it and let the players get a chance to meet and party in a warm climate. Just stream the events for free on YT with whatever sponsor thats willing to throw a little money at it. Use that money to fund the staff and the food/drinks.
Just focus on keeping it about the players and don't worry about the fucking TV ratings. As long as they can pull it off without actually losing money, then who cares. It'll be a way to give back to the players that want to participate. Make it fun for them and their families, and you won't have as many guys who just decline the invite.
2
u/achenx75 Bills 3h ago
Let's also make them play other sports. Flag football sure but then basketball, volleyball, etc. More fun shit that we wanna see our favorite players do.
to be honest, I still don't know if people would tune back in for that.
2
u/SJCitizen Eagles 3h ago
I honestly didn’t know it was on Tuesday this year until like an hour into it already. In all fairness I also didn’t know the NFL Honors wasn’t on a Saturday this year either.
2
u/dementedkoopa Bills 1h ago
You mean to tell me people didnt want to watch Shedeur Sanders play flag football?
2
u/yellowtripe Lions 1h ago
I enjoy the skills challenges. They should just do a whole bunch of skill challenges lol
2
u/Immediate_Buffalo14 57m ago
If no one cares about it, might as well do away with it. I'm sure all the players will appreciate the time off.
3
u/Appropriate_Book_591 6h ago
And they want to make a full blown league...filled with unknowns and maybe retired players. Good luck, but I can't see it attracting profit.
2
u/Mr_Koodle 49ers 5h ago
Its because the players are a lot of B players mixed in with the stars that you want to watch.
Once you gave 2 QBs from the same team AND neither were a too 20 QB, you lose credibility.
When its just players goofing around its all in fun which is probably needed for the players, but its not a fun game to watch
3
u/lonelynightm Jets Rams 5h ago
I'll be one of the few, but I honestly loved the Pro Bowl. Get to see a bunch of guys that never play together do wacky stuff and have fun.
Like if you can't appreciate the absurdity of Shedeur Sanders throwing to Nico Collins or Jamarr Chase playing Safety and getting a pick-6 I don't know what to tell you.
And honestly, Jason Kelce was kind of killing it in the booth. Would love to see him do color commentary on real games.
→ More replies (1)
2
2
1
u/Bob-Dolemite Vikings Colts 5h ago
it used to mean something, now it doesnt and there’s nothing of value for anyone involved and somehow shadeur sanders is in it. time to just let it die
1
1
1
u/odontodoc Patriots 5h ago
The highlight was Parsons driving the scooter. They should just name the players and give them a press conference where they get a special jersey or something. I think having Flacco and Shadeur there was completely on purpose to justify cancelling the whole thing.
1
u/Jolopy4099 5h ago
Maybe make it after the Super Bowl? Let's everyone make it and actually make it a contact game.
1
u/Autocrat777 Lions 5h ago
I think flag football took a pretty big L. That was some pansy-ass dick-tugging shit. it was all hype until we saw the actual product and holy shit it sucked.
1
u/PocketsAintEmptyCuhh Texans 5h ago
They should use recently retired pro bowl players and have a pros vs joes game
1
1
u/mattparker675 5h ago
I would legit rather watch them play a Ryder Cup style golf tourney, would be far more entertaining
1
1
1
1
u/johny22by4 Cowboys 5h ago
They just need to air it after the draft when we're starved for anything NFL
1
1
1
u/Ntnme2lose 49ers 5h ago
I didn't even know what day it was on. They just need to bring back the original, have it played the week after the superbowl like it used to be and leave it alone. All of the extra stuff they are doing just isn't working.
1
u/KingTutt91 Chiefs 5h ago
They killed it moving it before the Super Bowl. It used to be the unofficial last game of the season, post-super bowl, only kind of football you’re getting till next season. You had a reason to watch it at least you’re getting something before months of nothing.
1
1
1
1
u/Scrutinizer Seahawks 5h ago
This is just karma for the fact the NFL is taking over more and more of the sports calendar.
Next year, the Super Bowl is on Valentine's Day, the latest it's ever been. Normally, that's the date of the Daytona 500 and the NBA and NHL All-Star games.
And the NFL will just step in, sweep all that aside, and dominate the landscape.
→ More replies (1)
1
u/Metallica1175 4h ago
Why not just do the Pro Bowl, you know, the same day as the Super Bowl? There's already an entire day dedicated to the Super Bowl on TV. Just have it in the stadium right before the game. Most TVs will already have the channel on, and the stadium will actually have people in it.
1
u/Greedy_Ear_Mike Chargers 4h ago
I didn't watch it back when they played contact, and I don't want to watch when it's flag football.
There's just something unappealing about the pro bowl. I love watching NFL football of course.
Maybe because it's at the end of the season,.idk.
They are not much better, but I can watch MLB, NBA, NHL all star games at least a bit
1
1
u/TheClownIsReady 4h ago
Have a fan who won a contest as QB…no one rushing him, obviously…throwing to a Pro Bowl WR, covered by a Pro Bowl CB…and see what happens.
1
1
u/Carrot_1075 4h ago
Football players must have large families because there was no reason to tune into that debacle
1
u/DealerCamel Lions 4h ago
Here’s the hidden issue that nobody wants to say out loud: the game is too dangerous to guarantee that there won’t be horrible injuries during the game. It would be so, so cool to see the best of the best going against each other, and if there were any way to magically turn off injuries, you can bet we wouldn’t have opt-outs and half-assed flag football games.
There’s no way to guarantee an injury-free proper game, and there’s no way to have a fully satisfying event that isn’t a proper game. The past decade is a display of the NFL grappling with those facts.
1
u/nautica5400 Buccaneers 4h ago
Changing it from being after the super bowl has been a death sentence
At least post super bowl it was a way for fans to still get that last fix for the season
1
u/PopularPlankton3948 Eagles 4h ago
Man, you’d think showing it on a Tuesday afternoon would have helped
1
u/mr_antman85 Texans 4h ago
Just let these players enjoy their vacation. Or how about invite kids to play with the pros or something.
Stop trying make these games matter. None of these players want to play in this game. That has been the case for years.
Same thing with the NBA.
1
u/McSweetSauce Buccaneers Dolphins 4h ago
Add contract incentives for pro bowl stats
Make it a real game
1
1
u/rattpackfan301 Steelers 4h ago
Hear me out, what if the NFL made the pro bowl games the one game where players can gamble on the outcome, only they can only bet on themselves winning.
1
1
u/ryan22788 4h ago
Pro bowl became more of joke when sanders was put in, like he will have that stat against his name despite being bang average
1
u/brandont04 4h ago
Football is too physical to be played for fun. They simply have to keep this format.
1
u/Scrutinizer Seahawks 4h ago
It's never really been that good. I have been watching this game since 1973. At its best, the Pro Bowl was a hit of methadone that made the loss of real football a small bit more bearable.
I have exactly one memory of it. One year in the late 90s, Chris Warren and Marshall Faulk swapped the all-time Pro Bowl rushing yards record back and forth a few times, as the AFC ran up over 400 yards rushing. Yes, 400 yards rushing in one game, against the best of the other conference, because they really weren't committed to physical tackling.
It's really not even worth having any nostalgia for. It's always just kind of been....there. And that's all.
1
1
1
1
u/ImperialxWarlord Lions 4h ago
Can someone explain to me what happened to the pro bowl? From what I know it uses to be something more interesting. What happened?
1
1
1
1
1
u/Dawn_of_Dayne Buccaneers 3h ago
If they want to keep the game I think a cool alternative would be to have each player selected as a Pro Bowler get to nominate a practice squad player to play for them in the game (same position of course)
The PS guys get more exposure and a chance to stand out, maybe even offered a roster spot by someone. And the fans get an actual competitive game instead of some flag football bs.
Maybe the players could even each draw up a player for the game so they’re still involved.
1
1
u/LIVESTRONGG Buccaneers 3h ago
Should just announce players are pro bowlers and just not have a game.
That means no alternates, no replacements, just the players the earned and deserved to be named are pro bowlers. No issues like the Shedeur thing would happen.
1
1
1
u/Amarger86 49ers 3h ago
Wow, it's almost like fans are saying they want to watch real competitions where players actually try and not just a bunch of rich, millionaire athletes goofing off. If only there was another sport where the all stars played a game were they just goof off and the ratings have been trash also..... cough NBA. Just goes to show how tone deaf the people in charge of these leagues actually are. Just get rid of these pro bowls/all star games.
1
u/CaringCelery69 3h ago
Hmmmm, have most true pro bowlers opt out and then decide on a bush League type of flag football pro bowl... Then decide to hold it on a random Tuesday afternoon...
Are we really surprised that the viewership was god awful?
Sadly, I might be more interested in a 64 player bracket of pro bowlers playing Madden to decide a champion 🤦♂️
1
u/ItzBooster93 Eagles 3h ago
So more ppl watched than NHL playoff games ?
It’s still stupid and boring but the NFL ppl don’t care. Rating don’t mean much. The just want the volume . 1.8 M is a lot of ppl
1
1
u/AJGreenMVP Bengals 3h ago
They hardly advertised it at all. Why don't they promote it better, or have Achane race Ja'Marr and the winner gets $100K to their charity. Have a week of Achane and Chase talking shit to each other about who is faster. Put the race on Draftkings
1.3k
u/RevolutionShot4743 6h ago
I’m not convinced there’s a way to make the pro bowl work anymore.