Sunday Night Football was the exception on a weekend of soft NFL preseason ratings.
The Cardinals/Raiders NFL preseason game drew a 5.0 overnight rating on NBC Sunday night, up 4% from Bengals/Cardinals last year (4.8) but down 14% from Vikings/49ers in 2013 (5.8). The 5.0 is the second-highest of the preseason on any network, trailing only the Steelers/Vikings Hall of Fame Game (6.9).
Arizona’s win was the only preseason game on a major network this weekend to have a year-over-year increase. Texans/Saints drew a 4.1 overnight on FOX earlier in the day, down a tick from both Chargers/49ers last year and Saints/Texans in 2013 (4.2).
Shifting to Saturday, CBS drew a 2.6 overnight for Seahawks/Chargers — down 16% from both Saints/Colts last year and Rams/Broncos in 2013 (3.1). According to Sports Business Daily, the Seattle market was excluded from Saturday’s rating due to inclement weather.
CBS also had a 3.3 for Friday’s Lions/Jaguars game, down 8% from Raiders/Packers last year (3.6) and down a third from Seahawks/Packers in 2013 (4.9).
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily, Sports Business Daily)
