INDEPENDENCE: While NFL ratings continue to slide, NBA and Major League Baseball are enjoying the type of viewership they haven’t seen in 15-20 years.
It’s too early to tell yet whether the trends are connected, but what’s clear at this point is fans seem to be turning away from the NFL. LeBron James said he believes it might be due to the stringent rules that have taken some of the fun away from the game.
“I don’t know the reason. I’ve heard some of the comments from some of the players, as far as the game, the fun part of it is kind of being taken away,” James said. “And I know when I played football, I played it for that reason — for the competition and for the fun of it. And if the main guys are saying, I’ve seen a couple of the main guys talk about how the game is not as fun. It’s all political, things of that nature, at this point.”
Lower numbers
Twenty-five of the 26 prime-time NFL telecasts have posted lower numbers than ratings from last year, according to Sports Media Watch. The decline in viewership comes at a time when Commissioner Roger Goodell’s approval rating continues to sag with players, when the league is littered with domestic dispute cases, when quarterback Cam Newton acknowledged recently he doesn’t feel safe on the field and when the league has been the focal point of a number of protests over social issues.
James, however, is focused on rules that have taken the fun out of the game for players and fans alike.
“You definitely don’t want to take the fun away from the game,” he said. “That’s why we all fell in love with sports in general is because you have fun with it at the beginning. But I’m not the commish, I’m not on the board. Football is such a great sport, but I don’t have the answer for why fewer people are watching.”
Big ratings
James and the Cavaliers’ Game 7 championship victory against the Golden State Warriors was watched by 30.8 million viewers, making it the most-watched Finals game since 35.9 million tuned in to watch Michael Jordan win his last championship in 1998. Similarly, 40 million people tuned in to watch the Chicago Cubs beat the Indians in Game 7 of the World Series, producing the highest ratings for a baseball game in 25 years.
Of course, ratings for the championship games in both the NBA and MLB combined still can’t touch the Super Bowl, which drew 111.9 million viewers in February.
James attended three of the four World Series games in Cleveland, but isn’t ready to say that baseball and basketball are closing the gap on football, which has been king in sports for at least a decade.
‘Needed a push’
“I’ve known baseball for years, they needed a push. I think with the World Series and playoffs in general it definitely helped,” said James, named on Monday the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the second time in as many weeks this season. “Being a part of three of the World Series games, the Cubs and the Indians, I think that history of them not being part of the World Series and not winning it definitely helped, and also being two Midwestern sports teams as well helped as well.
“And then the games in general, when you go out and compete and you’re watching these two clubs go at it, that definitely helps the ratings. People want to see what happens next, what’s the storyline going to be tonight? That helped.
“And also with our sport, our sport has done some great things the last couple of years as far as playoffs and especially in the Finals. We’re just trying to continue to build our game as well. I don’t want to talk about a shift and things of that nature … but I know what happens in our sport and I can have a sense of what happened with baseball this past season.”
Clinton campaign
James attended the Dallas Cowboys’ win against the Browns on Sunday before moving down the street to campaign on behalf of Hillary Clinton. He brought along teammate J.R. Smith and his daughter, who both attended the Browns game with James. It was the first time he met Clinton.
“She’s a great lady. She’s very appreciative of us being able to do something like that,” James said. “Especially here, in this state, just show my appreciation for what she’s trying to accomplish. She has so much on her plate right now there’s not much dialogue you can have in that short of time.”
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.