After an early decade surge that saw it become sports’ highest rated and most-watched All-Star Game, the Pro Bowl has fallen back into its mid-2000s doldrums.
Sunday’s NFL Pro Bowl had a 4.2 final rating and 7.4 million viewers on ESPN, down 7% in both measures from last year (4.5, 8.0M) and down 18% and 15% respectively from 2015 (5.1, 8.8M). It was the lowest rated edition since 2006 (3.7) and the least-watched since 2007 (7.0M).
The fairly competitive game, which peaked at a 4.9 and 8.9 million from 8:30-9 PM ET, was the sixth straight Pro Bowl to decline from the previous year. Compared to 2011, still the highest rated and most-watched Pro Bowl since 2000 (7.7, 13.4M), ratings have dropped 45% and viewership 44%.
Figures do not include the 113,000 viewers on WatchESPN, a 33% increase over last year. Including those viewers, the game had an audience of 7.6 million.
New Orleans led all markets for the Pro Bowl with a 10.4 rating, followed by host-city Orlando (7.3), Kansas City (6.9), Seattle (6.8) and Richmond, VA (6.7). San Diego, which recently lost its Chargers to Los Angeles, still made the top ten with a 6.6 rating.
The Pro Bowl was the highest rated and/or most-watched All-Star Game in sports from 2010-14. Now, it ranks third out of the Big Four All-Star games, behind last year’s NBA All-Star Game on TNT and TBS (4.3, 7.6M) and the MLB All-Star Game on FOX (5.4, 8.7M).
In adults 18-49, the Pro Bowl had a 2.6 rating — down 7% from last year (2.8) and down 19% from 2015 (3.2). It trailed last year’s NBA All-Star Game in the demo (3.3) but topped MLB (2.2).
(Wknd. numbers from ESPN)
