Pro Bowl games draw 6.28 million viewers

Posted by Mike Florio on February 7, 2023, 12:09 PM EST
2023 NFL Pro Bowl Games
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Pro Bowl games is here to stay. It will never die.

The NFL’s shift from two-hand touch football in full pads to flag football has generated a sufficiently large TV audience to justify a continuation.

Via SportsMediaWatch.com, ESPN generated a total audience of 6.28 million for Sunday’s activities, televised primarily by ABC and ESPN.

That’s down from 6.7 million last year, but up from the “virtual” Madden-style Pro Bowl of 5.96 million.

The NFL’s all-star flag-football game won the weekend, beating NASCAR’s race at the Los Angeles Coliseum (3.65 million) the NHL All-Star Game on ABC (1.5 million).

So, no, the Pro Bowl games are going nowhere. From more than six million viewers to a full stadium of fans, it will definitely be back in 2024.

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64 responses to “Pro Bowl games draw 6.28 million viewers”

  1. I’m calling BS on this! First of all; NASCAR and the NHL don’t touch ratings of the top most popular professional and sports leagues on their best day! Second, ESPN and the NFL has cornered the cable and streaming market around most sports. Also, this doesn’t report on who didn’t watch any of it or had no power to watch due to power outages over the weekend.

  3. Lol. People watched that crap? Wow. Name an all pro team and have them at a stadium to meet fans, sign autographs, pictures, selfies etc. I really don’t understand what would cause a person to watch. Athletic privilege trumps all!!

  4. I think word may spread that it’s fun to watch, mostly because the players looked like they were having fun.

  8. Skewed very well with the 75-90 demo. Guys with velcro shoes really dug it. A velcro-shoe guy in my family was glued to it

  15. “So, no, the Pro Bowl games are going nowhere.”

    I don’t care because I haven’t watched it in 20-25 years and have no plans to start again. I did, however, enjoy reading Eli’s smack talk about beating Peyton.

  19. A great weekend of events. It was actually much more enjoyable than any regular season game, and probably even better than the upcoming Super Bowl that 30 fanbases don’t care about.

  22. It’s the official Garbage Time Bowl!

    It’s like watching the Raiders or Lions play a regular season game.

  23. Pretty much garbage, but Justin Jefferson is electric no matter what he is doing, so people will tune in.

  24. I would have rather have read a book in a language I did not understand. Painful to watch. Had to turn it off.

  25. Haven’t watched a Pro Bowl in many many years. Stopped watching any and preseason games 7-8 years ago. If one of my two favorite team drafts a QB then is the only time I’d watch any preseason. If it came down Oscars (any award show) or Pro Bowl or go to prison, then I’d watch the Pro Bowl.

  27. I had it on while I was cooking. Didn’t recognize anyone other than the Mannings. It’s insulting, but it’s still on — kinda like the news.

  31. I didn’t even know it was on and came across it while flipping through the channels. Watched Kirk Cousins miss 3 targets and that was plenty. On to the next channel.

  32. Yeah I enjoyed watching a sporting event where all the players looked depressed 😬🤦‍♂️

  35. NFL finally learned what the NBA learned years ago. No one actually cares about the all star game so just make it 90% absurd things to where the players are just having fun and 10% actual competition and fans will show up for the entertainment value and players will then actually want to participate (Especially if Derek Carr’s passing competition performance lands him a nice contract extension somewhere). The not so politically correct commentary alone made it that much more entertaining.

  42. I took a look at the postgame highlights just to see what it looked like. Was cool to see the players having fun with it.

  44. I’ve watched the NFL for 40+ years, and I can say that this Pro Bowl charade in 2023 was the worst product they’ve ever produced. Yuck.

  45. This year was kind of a novelty, but novelties don’t last over time. I’m guessing that next year the viewership will be less than 3 million, and it will continue to tank. No true NFL fan wants to watch flag football. The ratings will go down and sponsors will start walking away. The Pro Bowl is simply silly now. End it, mercifully.

  46. I watched a few minutes of the flag football game. My only takeaway was they should have had a swear jar with all the proceeds to go to charity. Some cause would have benefitted greatly from it.

  47. I would still like to know how they come up with these ratings ? I know they send out stuff but nobody I’ve ever known has sent anything in or had a box hooked up I think they just make up there own numbers .

  48. It was not the NFL’s finest hour. The wide receiver challenge was a horrible fail trying to mix a NBA Dunk Contest/MLB HR Derby with a stupid Jazzercize/trampoline routine. Just embarrassing.

  50. There was literally nothing on TV this weekend other than the meaningless NHL All Star Game, a weather affected golf tournament with a few celebrities and a weak pro field, exhibition NASCAR, and regular season college basketball. The Pro Bowl will rate because bars have to put something on the TV’s on a boring Sunday afternoon in February

  53. Saw some commenter suggesting that it skewed well towards older folks. That…doesn’t make sense to me, because this is the kind of corny thing tween and teens would like. Not middle aged grown up people, much less the 75-90 dem. It is kids that like dumb things, and it is kids that worship athletes more or anyone that doesn’t have their own life yet such as family, real job, mortgage etc etc

  55. Would still prefer a runner up bowl with incentives and a classy trophy for the two losers of the Championship round instead. This year it would have been CIN and SF.

  56. I know people watched the Pro Bowl. I’m asking honestly–if you enjoyed it, what did you enjoy about it?

  57. I was not one of the 6.7M viewers. Sorry. The Ballon toss and dodgeball were not compelling TV. Neither did the flaģ football light my fire.

    Glad some of my home town team players were voted there. But as far as watching it. Nah.

  59. My 8 year old son really enjoyed it, probably more than the playoff games so I think the NFL cornered another age demographic with this pro bowl format.

  60. I don’t get what all the hate is about. People being upset because there is a pro Bowl is absolutely ridiculous. Almost every sport does it. I get it if you think it’s dumb and a waste of time well then don’t watch. I haven’t watched a pro Bowl game and many years but I don’t sit there and call people names and throw tantrums because they have it. And for the people crying about a potential injury need to just relax because yes they can get injured but they can’t get injured without the pro Bowl game as well. A lot of football players play basketball in their spare time I don’t hear people crying about that, they get injured working out, playing with fireworks, etc. So instead of crying about it just don’t watch it and don’t give s*** to the people who do enjoy it.

  62. Tuned in highly skeptical, but I must admit: the players clearly were having a good time and it was much more interesting than any Pro Bowl game I’ve seen in the past 30 years, with the notable exception of the Sean Taylor Pro Bowl, of course. At least it wasn’t a bunch of high-priced athletes phoning it in, and the purse was enough to make them want it.

  63. They could draw more than 6.28 Million if they reran a Pro Bowl from, say, 1963 (It’s on YouTube). Very physical. A bunch of HOFers playing full tilt, on grass. In the LA Coliseum. And they wouldn’t have the overhead and production costs

  64. Me and Van Brocklin watched first 10 minutes up here in football heaven, then out. Embarrassing stuff, Archie’s boys should have stayed away . . . will speak to Archie in a few years.

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