No One Watched Buccaneers-Jaguars, Which Drew Worst Rating Since 2004 Tape-Delayed Game
By Kyle Koster
The ratings are out for Thursday’s preseason game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneersand Jacksonville Jaguarsand they’re as bad as one would expect, possibly worse. The matchup of perennial non-playoff qualifiers earned a 1.6 and 2.6 millions viewers, per Sports Media Watch.
It’s the lowest ratings for a nationally televised NFL preseason game since 2005, when a tape-delayed Colts-Falcons contest drew a 1.5. A year prior, a Jets-Colts game notched a 1.3.
Much was made of the NFL’s ratings dip last year. Conventional wisdom is that we’ll see an uptick come fall. All the caveats are obvious. The preseason is always a tough sell, the Jaguars aren’t particularly interesting, it was a Thrusday, etc., so there’s no reason for league and network execs to think the sky is falling.
If anything, we can say the Bucs’ Hard Knocks appearance isn’t immediately translating to wider interest on gamedays.