Nfl Sunday Afternoon Football Ratings Fall To Record Low

The average rating for the National Football League’s Sunday afternoon games finished the season at an all-time low.

Final Nielsen Media Research figures showed the National Football Conference package on Fox was down 5 percent from last year, which marked the previous low. The American Football Conference package on NBC was also down 5 percent from the previous AFC low last year. The Fox and NBC packages join ABC’s “NFL Monday Night Football” in hitting low points this season.

The decline in ratings is not likely to have any bearing on the current negotiations for a new television contract with the NFL. All of the broadcast partners are in an exclusive negotiating period but are expected to pay extraordinary increases since CBS, which lost the NFC to Fox after the 1993 season, is eager to get back in the game. After a $4.4 billion tally for the last four-year contract, the new deal is expected to cost $7 billion.

Television sports insiders cite the growing competition for sports fans’ attention as the reason for football’s decline.

Also, some insiders believe the NFL does not have enough known stars to spread among the league’s 30 teams to keep casual fans tuned in.