The Cowboys and Bears will stoke the NFL's playoff ratings fire
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On the heels of a season in which an explosion of offensive production helped lift the NFL’s TV ratings, the smart money says the playoffs will deliver a similar boost in ad impressions. And if the prospect of high-scoring, closely-matched games isn’t sufficiently alluring, the return of two storied franchises to postseason play should go a long way toward goosing the league’s Nielsen numbers.
Making their first playoff appearance since losing a heart-stopping Divisional Round showdown to Green Bay two years ago, the Dallas Cowboys will suit up tomorrow against Seattle in the NFC Wild Card round. It is impossible to overstate the impact a deep Dallas run will have on the TV deliveries; as the NFL’s most indefatigable marketing construct, the Cowboys defy ambivalence in much the same way as do the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Lakers. Love ’em or loathe ’em, football fans are all but preconditioned to watch ’em.
The TV data backs this up. This season the Cowboys appeared in 11 nationally televised broadcast windows, and all that exposure paid off in yet another ratings win for Jerry Jones’ charges. Dallas led all comers with an average delivery of 21.1 million viewers and an 11.7 household rating, topping a field that included the remarkably resurgent Chicago Bears and perennial draws New England, Green Bay and Pittsburgh.
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