Only the Super Bowl could have the luxury of considering 98.2 million viewers disappointing.
Super Bowl LIII, held on February 3, 2019, pulled in the lowest viewership numbers in a decade. 98.2 million is obviously still a massive and impressive number, but it’s the first time the number of viewers has dipped below 100 million since 2009. The highest viewership number ever was in 2015, with 114 million viewers.
No doubt people will be debating why the dip happened for some time to come. But there are certainly some good prime suspects. The ongoing controversy over the taking-the-knee protests started by Colin Kaepernick has made a major impact upon the sport (or at least the league) and people’s perceptions of it. Some on both sides were angered by the NFL’s response to the issue. Some felt that the NFL should allow the protest without any interference; others felt that the NFL didn’t do enough to nip it in the bud. Some saw the protests as an important civil rights moment; others saw it as near-traitorous and disrespectful to police and the military. Either way, there are a decent number of people angry enough at the league to boycott the Super Bowl.
Even the half-time show brought some controversy, with some people criticizing Maroon 5, Travis Scott, and Big Boi for participating after other musicians joined Rihanna in refusing to perform.
But even before any of the Kaepernick controversy began, football was beginning to lose its luster as people became more and more aware of the health risks to players. In addition to obvious external damage, studies continue to tie the repeated concussions football players sustain with mental health issues, even violence.
You could also argue that some of the decrease is due to Patriots fatigue. Some people are a little tired of watching New England- and Tom Brady specifically- win all the time.
It may be a little early to diagnose a general downward trend in the popularity of the NFL, but it’s clear the league needs to do something to swing it back the other direction.
But still, 98 million people is 98 million people.
