NFL Sees 5% Increase In Viewers In 2019

Ratings for National Football League games rose 5% in 2019, making it the most-watched season since 2016, the league said.

During the 2019 regular season, an average of 16.5 million people tuned in to watch NFL games, Nielsen data cited by the league, reports The Wall Street Journal.

This is the second straight season of viewership growth for the NFL, after it lost a chunk of viewers in 2017.

At the time, a variety of possible reasons were cited for the decline, including protests during the national anthem, overexposure of NFL programming and challenges in the TV business as consumers shift from traditional pay-TV packages to digital services.

Cable cord-cutting has been a significant drag on TV viewership, causing substantial ratings drops for many networks. The NFL, whose programming airs across various broadcast and cable channels, has been resilient. All of the top 10 telecasts of 2019 through Dec. 29 were football games.

The NFL’s viewership rise comes as National Basketball Association TV ratings declined 15% so far this season. That drop has been attributed by the league and its TV partners to a slew of injuries to marquee players, among other factors.

The NFL is benefiting from a crop of new stars, including quarterbacks such as Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs and Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens. Games featuring the Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots were among the most watched of the 2019 season.