via CNN International
I think a lot of us can agree that Super Bowl LIII wasn’t the spectacle that people were hoping for. To a lot of people in the United States, the Super Bowl signifies the biggest sporting event of the year. However, with recent details about the viewings of this year’s night of football coming to light, it’s been revealed that this year’s Super Bowl has garnered the lowest ratings in history, only pulling 98.2 million views. To put this into perspective, Super Bowl LII received 103.4 million views. That is a loss of 5.2 million views, making it one of least viewed Super Bowls since 2008.
So, why such a huge loss? Well, there are a number of factors to be taken into account, one of which being the controversy of the Rams placement in the game. On February 3rd, the night of the Super Bowl, a protest broke out in the French Quarter. It appeared that a number of New Orleans locals had felt the Saints were cheated from a spot in the game after a blown call in their match against the Rams that caused the Los Angeles team to win. To show their distaste of their team being cheated, many Saints fans flooded Decatur Street to protest the Super Bowl, leading to a massive drop of views from that area of the U.S.
But surely one town couldn’t make such a difference in views, right? Well, New Orleans wasn’t the only town to avoid the big game like the plague. Kansas City, home of the Chiefs who had lost to the Patriots, were also turned away from watching the game. Their numbers, while not as extreme, showed an 11% drop in viewership.
Finally, to put it bluntly– no one wants to see the Patriots in the Super Bowl anymore! Of course, there are a couple diehard fans that will be happy to see Tom Brady and the gang coming up the ranks annually. However, this is their third consecutive year, and this win gives them their sixth Super Bowl win overall. While many people rode the Patriots hype train around 2014, many can now reach the consensus that they have become a nuisance. No one wants to see the same team every year, let alone the same win. Viewers want to see more underdog teams, those who aren’t talked about enough. They want to see their own athletes have a chance. Hopefully, this next season will give those fans a chance to be surprised.
Overall, this Super Bowl was considered uneventful by many. With a low scoring game in a sport known for its fast-paced action and amazing plays, Super Bowl LIII just felt like a high school game. Even the half-time show and commercials were lackluster. Hopefully, the NFL will take into account their low viewership and try to make next year’s game the spectacle fans are aching for.
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Dane Shaull