NFL Ratings Rise From Its Slump, Post Best TV And Digital Numbers Since 2015, Says Nielsen

deadline.com:

The National Football League is rebounding from several down years and appears to be recovering the audience it lost during the pandemic.Fresh off the news that NBC’s Sunday Night Football once again was a ratings powerhouse for the National Football League comes word that the rest of the schedule also scored gains.The Wall St.

Journal reports that television and digital ratings for NFL regular-season games jumped 10% compared with last season. That’s the league’s best numbers since 2015, according to Nielsen data.However, the gains have to be put into perspective.

The league has struggled over the last few years, and was particularly hit hard last year.In 2020, disappointing NFL ratings were forcing television networks to restructure deals with advertisers to make up for the smaller audience, according to a Wall Street Journal report.Also affecting the NFL was the time suck of the 2020 presidential election coverage that drew viewers away from games toward news programming; the game postponements caused by the coronavirus pandemic; and backlash from some fans over the league’s social justice efforts, including its embrace of Black Lives Matter.

All contributed to the viewer erosion.Ad-free streaming services were also blamed for luring away the audience, as was the overlap with other sports like basketball and hockey that traditionally ended before the NFL season started, but were extended in 2020 to make up for scheduling lost to the pandemic.The NFL turnaround means more revenue.