NFL considering ending Thursday Night Football amid declining viewing figures
The NFL is considering pulling the plug on Thursday Night Football games over concerns of a saturated marketplace and declining viewing figures.
NFL audiences are turning off mid a saturation of games
The league’s ambition to spread the games throughout the week and strike up as many television rights deals as possible has taken its toll on both fans and players alike, leaving broadcasters increasingly concerned by the declining viewing figures.
CBS and NBC agreed to show five Thursday Night Football games each in a $450m deal with the NFL that runs until 2017.
Viewing figures are not what broadcasters expected though. Within the first month of this season’s kick off, data specialists Nielsen reported that viewing figures were down 10% on last season.
The waning interest is being blamed on the abundance of games and the quality of Thursday Night’s fixtures as a result of the shorter recovery windows for athletes.
According to Mike Florio and Pro Football Talk, a source with knowledge of the situation, has revealed that the NFL is seriously considering reducing the Thursday schedule or eliminating the games entirely when the rights agreement ends after the 2017 season.
The options under consideration include getting rid of Thursday games from the start of the season and offering broadcasters a package starting around Thanksgiving and running through to the end of the season.
While Twitter’s deal with the NFL could be taking some viewers away from the traditional networks, the viewing figures are still suffering a slump. Other reasons for fans turning off live sport have been attributed to a change in viewing habits from consumers.