Ratings hit a new low for the NFL’s Hall of Fame Game.
Thursday’s Broncos-Falcons Pro Football Hall of Fame Game averaged a 3.4 rating and 5.33 million viewers on NBC, down 17% in ratings and 21% in viewership from last year (Bears-Ravens: 4.1, 6.77M) and down 32% and 35% respectively from 2017 (Cowboys-Cardinals: 5.0, 8.25M).
The Broncos’ win ranks as the lowest rated and least-watched Hall of Fame Game since it last aired on NFL Network in 2012 (Saints-Cardinals: 1.2, 1.97M).
Excluding the 2007 and 2012 games on NFL Network, it was the lowest rated Hall of Fame Game since at least 1996. The previous low was a 3.9 for Vikings-Seahawks in 1997.
As noted by Sports Business Daily writer Austin Karp, it also ranks as the least-watched since that 1997 game (4.9M).
Just four years ago, the Hall of Fame Game averaged a 6.6 and 10.98 million on NBC (Vikings-Steelers). That was the final year the game took place on a Sunday night. Ratings and viewership have dropped double-digits in each subsequent year.
It started the decade on a high note, averaging a 6.8 and 11.44 million in 2010 (Cowboys-Bengals) — still the largest audience for the event since the turn of the century.
Even with the lower numbers, the Hall of Fame Game outdrew half of last year’s MLB League Championship Series games (six of 12). It did not stack up as well versus the NBA conference finals, topping only two of this year’s ten games.
It also won the night on television, though that is no real accomplishment in the month of August. Its 1.5 rating in adults 18-49 declined 25% from last year (2.0), while its 1.1 in 18-34 fell 27% (from 1.5).
[Numbers from Nielsen via Programming Insider 8.2]
