The NFL remains number one. It’s widely considered the best league in American sports. Football serves as the hardest-hitting, most exciting and exhilarating sport. It has tons to offer to fans. Viewerships, marquee match-ups, mouth-watering narratives, and unpredictability all give fans a reason to tune in Thursdays, Sundays, and Mondays. Oh, and unlike the NBA, there aren’t really any lopsided super-teams.
Viewership: “Win or Go Home” vs a Multi-Game Series
The NFL playoffs are decided in a one-and-done format, meaning one game determines who moves on. This creates huge fan appeal and is a big reason why the NFL remains number one. The NBA, MLB, and NHL formats give teams at least three games to move on. This can result in lower viewership for the league. This was apparent last year. With the NBA having the most viewership among “multi-game series” leagues, how does it stack up against the NFL?
In the playoffs this year in the NBA, both conference finals went to a game 7. With, the Western Conference Finals on TNT, and Eastern Conference Finals on ESPN, both networks experienced record-breaking viewership counts.
The Warriors’ Game 7 win over the Houston Rockets, the game drew an average of 14.8 million viewers, which was TNT’s second most-viewed NBA game in history.
In the east, the Cavaliers’ win over the Celtics drew an average of 13.3 million viewers, which served as ESPN’s second-highest NBA viewership average ever. This is NBA fan viewership at its peak, but the NFL remains unmatched.
One game to decide who goes home. This is the ultimate hook for sports fans because there’s no tomorrow, no “game 2,” or a next time. The idea of 60 minutes being between your favorite team and a Super Bowl, it’s both frustrating and intriguing. The NFL has conference finals as well, and this past season, they pulled in astronomical numbers.
An AFC championship match-up between the New England Patriots and Jacksonville Jaguars on CBS drew in a whopping 44.1 million viewers. That wasn’t even a record for the network. On the other side of things, the NFC championship on Fox between the Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings drew in 42.3 million viewers. These averages are over three times those of the NBA. Viewership more than anything speaks as to how fans perceive leagues. If they didn’t like it, they’d turn it off completely. This is separate from the total 103.4 million viewers from the Super Bowl alone.
Intriguing Storylines
Of course, other leagues have off court/field story-lines that catch a fan’s eye, but it’s nothing like the NFL’s.
For example, the “take a knee” revolution that has tilted the world of sports on its axis. Two years ago, Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem amidst the violence ongoing in America. The issue arose and is still at levels at which even the President is acknowledging the issue. Why is this significant for fans? It gave fans a voice to say how they felt about the matter. It brought players, owners, and fans together and apart.
Adding onto this, Nike’s recent “Just do it” campaign featuring Kaepernick was announced right before the opening week of the NFL season. This issue gave fans a platform to talk about police violence, racism, and many other things that America shouldn’t stand for. Police violence was already an issue in America, and with it reaching the NFL, fans further became brothers and sisters in arms.
On top of these, fans get to see endless star player match-ups throughout a season. Going into the AFC Championship game, Jaguars CB Jalen Ramsey promised that he would bring the Lombardi Trophy to Jacksonville. After a win against a Steelers team with arguably the best wide receiver and running back in the league, it sure did seem like it could happen. A young Jaguars defense against the prominent Patriots offense was as mouthwatering as it could get.
Competition is the basis of sports, and the NFL delivers like none other which furthermore contributes to why the NFL remains number one. Not to mention many different feuds that fueled fans. Take your pick: Odell Beckham Jr & Josh Norman, Roger Goodell & the NFL, multiple quarterback battles, and of course, the President vs the NFL.
Unpredictability at its Finest
The closest competition to the NFL seems to be the NBA. However, for any fan, coming out the gate you can already tell who’ll be the best teams. The NFL doesn’t have that case. Yes, there’s the usual dominance of the Patriots, but the league is much more than that. In the past five years, the NFC representatives in the Super Bowl included the Philadelphia Eagles, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, and the Seattle Seahawks twice.
In the season prior to each teams’ Super Bowl appearance, two didn’t make the playoffs, and two made it as far as the divisional round. That’s how unpredictable the NFL can be. No one expected some of these teams to even contend. In the NBA, the Golden State Warriors vs the Cleveland Cavaliers has been the past four NBA Finals match-ups.
The NFL is more than just football to all the fans and people around it. Although the focus is the on-field spectacle, things off the field matter as well. It’s the combination of these things that truly bring people together and what make the NFL great. Fans can never get enough. When it comes down to it the NFL remains number one as America’s top sports league.
It’s only the start of the season. Who could have expected Ryan Fitzpatrick and Patrick Mahomes to be the top two quarterbacks so far?
Don’t agree with me? Have a different view on the top sports league? Debate me.