Our friend and colleague Peter King thinks no one should think all that much about Johnny Manziel. The numbers prove otherwise.
Via Sports Business Daily, Manziel’s Friday night CFL debut generated an average audience of 406,000 viewers on ESPN2. That was an all-time record for any CFL game on any ESPN network.
In contrast, only 263,000 watched The Basketball Tournament finale on ESPN, and a mere 159,000 tuned in to FS1 for a Big3 basketball game. MLB Network had 468,000 for Yankees-Red Sox.
“Could we stop now?” King wrote in his most recent Football Morning in America column. “Or at least put it in the roundup section, with a sentence or two max after each start? Nothing against Manziel; I wish him well. But the lingering American Manziel mania seems misplaced and confusing. I have been on the road for two weeks at NFL camps, and I have heard not a soul mention his name or wonder in conversation how he is doing up in Canada.”
Manziel may not be relevant to NFL teams, but he remains relevant to NFL fans. No NFL draft in recent memory performed like the draft of 2014, all because of Manziel. And he continues to fascinate many, primarily in the younger demographic.
The fact that Manziel threw four interceptions and was yanked from a 47-3 meltdown in his CFL debut should go a long way toward minimizing the fascination. But the audience averaged 406,000 despite the fact that Manziel and his Montreal Alouettes stunk. It may take a few more blowouts to make those numbers bottom out.