Pro Bowl Ratings Explode

[Dpantherman]

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on February 1, 2010 12:22 PM ET ProFootBallTalk.com

Joke about the Pro Bowl all you want -- we did plenty last night -- but this new format may be here to stay.

The overnight ratings for the Pro Bowl are in, and they are sky high. ESPN got a 7.9 rating, 39% higher than last year's game which had the advantage of being on NBC, which reaches more homes.

ESPN had the advantage of playing the game in primetime, but the number is a coup for the network. The rating was more than double what it was the last time the Pro Bowl was on ESPN.

No matter the reasons, Commissioner Roger Goodell can point to the ratings and attendance at last night's game as proof that moving the game up a week was a success. (Sure, the crowd often acted like they were at a funeral. But nearly all the seats were full in the first quarter. The fourth quarter, not so much.)

Goodell said Saturday that the league may keep the Pro Bowl on the Sunday before the Super Bowl next year in Hawaii. After these ratings, we'd be surprised if it didn't happen.

And with that, we will stop talking about the Pro Bowl for a long time.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/02/01/pro-bowl-ratings-explode/

Its going back to Hawaii next year, but you can bet with ratings like this, the timeslot and date (before the super bowl) will remain.

UPDATE:

@ NFLprguy:

The 12.3 million viewers for last nite's Pro Bowl marks the largest viewership for any All-Star game ever on cable television.

http://twitter.com/NFLprguy

[jasonluckydog]

Good to see you didn't leave

[Dpantherman]

Good to see you didn't leave

yea. i was being a smart ass. and i've been stuck in the dorm 2 days straight b/c of the ice/snow storm. stupid...

[Cap'n]

hey man. welcome back

[Cat'sGrowl]

Aww man =(

Now we won't see any Panthers play in the Pro Bowl next year!

[Brooklyn Bully]

More people attended, better ratings, and we still got to see a "decent" game. The new format is here to stay I bet.

[AKPantherFan]

i like the prime time game - and honestly the sold out crowd helped! It seemed more like a real game...

[PanthersFanNY]

Is Nannerpuss your alter-ego?

[Dpantherman]

Is Nannerpuss your alter-ego?

what do you think?

[Kevin Greene]

Aww man =(

Now we won't see any Panthers play in the Pro Bowl next year!

I like the call.

[RedMage138]

I for one hated the new defensive rules. No nickel or dime, wtf is that?

[Dpantherman]

the wildcat was also banned

[Panthers128]

The game absolutely sucked. It was a waste of time watching it, they don't run the ball any (Wade Phillips = moron) and on one play I saw Jon Beason hustle and tackle Rice from the Ravens then Ray Lewis ran up and seemed offended by Beason making a tackle.

NFL has the worst all star game, they shouldn't even play a game, just do a bunch of skills competitions. Football is not a game for sandbagging.

Then with all these ***** rules, our player Julius Peppers still gets injured. Didn't help at all.

[njpanther]

I can't believe anybody actually watches the pro bowl.