A surprising percentage of NFL fans say they're not watching the Super Bowl
According to a new study by Seton Hall University, viewership for Sunday’s Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles might be down this year.
The university surveyed 706 Americans from across the country via cellphones and landlines from Jan. 29 to Jan. 31.
Only 54 percent of respondents said they are planning on watching the Super Bowl, down from 68 percent when the same question was asked a year ago.
The poll has a margin of error of 3.8 percent.
Our @HallSportsPoll shows 16% of @NFL fans say they won't watch the #SuperBowl. Rick Gentile, director of Seton Hall Sports Poll, calls 16% a “significant number” that “should be a concern to the league, the broadcasters and especially the advertisers.” https://t.co/L70BE24nNf
— Seton Hall (@SetonHall) February 1, 2018
Of those who said they follow the NFL “very closely,” 16 percent said they won’t be watching the Super Bowl.
Rick Gentile, director of the Seton Hall Sports Poll, said the league and its advertisers should be worried about that figure.
“16% of people who identify themselves as NFL fans is a significant number,” Gentile wrote, “and reflects the trend of declining ratings that we’ve seen all season.
“That this seems to be impacting Super Bowl viewership should be a concern to the league, the broadcasters and especially the advertisers.”
If you're still boycotting NFL, can you hold out through Super Bowl? Are there enough who can to affect viewership? NBC doesn't seem worried. https://t.co/UXeloeEcm1
— Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) January 31, 2018
A 16 percent decrease would be more drastic than the 10 percent hit that NFL ratings took during the regular season.
54% of Americans say they plan to watch the super bowl, according to a Seton Hall Sports poll conducted this week. That is down from 68% when the same question was asked two years ago.Of those who identified themselves as people who "who closely follow" the NFL,16% say they won't
— Brewtownsports (No Blue Check Mark needed) (@Brewtownsports) February 2, 2018
Though the poll did not ask people why they were not going to tune into the biggest football game of the year, the national anthem protests drove the narrative of the NFL season are most certainly a factor.
Of the people surveyed, 44 percent said they disapproved of the anthem protests.
Another growing trend uncovered by the study is that fewer people said they would be watching the game on TV this year. In 2016, 98 percent said they would be watching the game on television, compared with just 90 percent this year. While the 8 percent drop off might not seem like much, it reinforces the harsh reality for cable companies that live television viewership behavior is changing at a rapid pace.
The Sharkey Institute sponsored the poll.
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