As hit TV series inevitably decline each year, the NFL has been heading in the opposite direction. Regular-season games averaged 17.9 million viewers, the biggest total since 1989. The playoffs averaged 37.7 million, a record, including last week's AFC championship (a huge 54.9 million). And even Sunday's Pro Bowl claimed 13.4 million, the best since 2000.
Pro football games marked eight of last year's top 10 TV programs (the rest were the Oscars and a post-Super Bowl Undercover Boss).
"Each week the ratings continue to grow, to the amazement of everyone," says top sports buyer Kevin Collins at ad firm Initiative.
Super Bowl XLIV drew 106.5 million viewers last year, breaking a record set by 1983's M*A*S*M*A*S*H finale. So it's natural to expect this year's momentum, coupled with a classic Packers-Steelers matchup, to strike gold.
"You've got two great clubs, two heartland teams with big national fan bases and both playing great," says NFL chief marketing officer Mark Waller.
The gains are having an effect on TV: NBC's ratings plunged 30% in the past three weeks from its Sunday Night Football-fueled fall, and ESPN's Monday night games, also at record highs, have helped make CBS' competing Hawaii Five-0 the most-recorded show on DVRs.
Fueling the boom at the gridiron, now growing faster than rival leagues:
•A broader, more unified marketing push has targeted casual fans, women, kids and Hispanic viewers. Ratings among women are growing faster, and they now account for 34% of the NFL's audience, more than any other sport.
•Top cities' home-team ratings have soared, fueling national gains: Local viewership of the New York Giants jumped 18% this season. In Boston, the Patriots were up 16%, and Chicago's Bears grew 15%.
•Technology. Games look great on those shiny new HDTV screens, and social media has fueled interest.
"The entertainment world has become splintered so much that the shared experience for the country has been sports," says Fox Sports chief Eric Shanks. "It's like the biggest Hollywood blockbuster being delivered into your living room on Sunday."
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