After what seemed to be a month of Pro Bowl bashing, the result was higher ratings and the largest viewership of the game in ten years. It also continues the trend of record ratings for the National Football League this season. And while moving the game to the week before the Super Bowl wasn’t popular among ex-players and most of the media, people flocked to their cable and satellite boxes and tuned to the game on ESPN. You didn’t have players from the two respective Super Bowl teams, but it didn’t matter, they weren’t missed.
Here’s the release from the NFL.
NFL ALL-STAR GAME IN A DECADE12.3 MILLION FANS TUNED IN – UP 40 PERCENT FROM 2009MOST-WATCHED ALL-STAR GAME IN CABLE HISTORYFollowing a record-setting regular season and playoffs, the NFL posted the most-watched Pro Bowl in a decade.The 2010 Pro Bowl on ESPN was watched by an average of 12.3 million viewers, the most for a Pro Bowl since the 2000 Pro Bowl (13.2 million viewers on ABC) and a 40 percent increase from last season (8.8 million viewers on NBC).The 12.3 million viewers also marks the largest viewership for any All-Star game ever on cable television.This year, for the first time, the Pro Bowl was played in the Super Bowl city the week before the Super Bowl. The game at Sun Life Stadium in South Florida drew 70,697 fans – the highest attendance for the game in more than 50 years (1959).
Certainly NFL Commish Roger Goddell couldn’t have asked for this when he moved to Pro Bowl this year from Hawai’i to Miami and to the week before the Super Bowl. This might become permanent after 2012.
UPDATE, 2:40 p.m.: Here’s ESPN’s press release on their Pro Bowl ratings.
ESPN Delivers Highest-Rated and Most-Watched NFL Pro Bowl in a DecadeLast night’s 2010 Pro Bowl telecast on ESPN delivered the highest-rated and most-viewed NFL all-star game in a decade. Based on fast national ratings, the Pro Bowl delivered an 8.2 household coverage rating (7.1 U.S. household rating), 8,123,000 households, and 12,297,000 viewers — making it the highest-rated and most-watched NFL Pro Bowl since the 1999-00 game on ABC (8.6 household rating, 8.7 million households, 13.2 million viewers).
ESPN’s 2010 Pro Bowl — a 41-34 AFC victory over the NFC All-Stars — out-delivered NBC’s 2009 telecast by 32% among households and 40% among viewers. ESPN’s rating was 40% greater among the key male and adult demos, including 72% higher among viewers 18-34.
ESPN’s happy, no doubt.
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