Packers-Vikings sets cable record
by ZombieMonta on Oct 6, 2009 9:59 PM EDT
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If you really needed assurance that the NFL is the king of American sports, you got your answer last night. The Monday Night Football broadcast of Brett Favre's victory over his old team drew a phenomenal 13.2 Nielsen Rating and 21.8 million viewers (via Sports Media Watch). That makes it the most-watched cable program of all time, the most-watched ESPN program of all time, and the first cable program to ever crack 20 million viewers.
You really have to take a step back to appreciate how remarkable 20 million viewers is -- particularly on cable. Green Bay and Minnesota are two of the smallest markets in the NFL, and yet their meeting garnered far more viewers than any NBA Finals or World Series game from the past several years. There's no way the NBA could produce 20 million viewers, not even if Kobe Bryant and LeBron James met in the finals -- can you imagine if the Minnesota Timberwolves and Milwaukee Bucks met in the finals? David Stern would be drawing his suicide note. Same thing with baseball: a Twins-Brewers series would be a ratings nightmare.
The National Football League is the only sports league that can survive and thrive while its big market teams suck it up. That's why there's a stadium in Jacksonville and Carolina and Green Bay, but there's no team in Los Angeles and (technically) no team in New York. In every other league, when a big-market team doesn't get to the championship, the ratings are catastrophic -- even if a Brett Favre is on one of the teams. But not in the NFL. The NFL can do just fine.
Also, with the win, Favre became the first player in NFL history to beat all 32 teams at least once. It's funny. You'd think as long as Favre has been around, he should have run out of milestones to reach by now. For the most part, he has, although one major one still remains: Jim Marshall's record of 282 straight games. Earlier this year, Favre broke Marshall's record of consecutive starts, which had been at 270 straight. Currently, Favre is on consecutive game No. 273 -- nine shy of tying the record.
(Photo by Jamie Squire, Getty Images)
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Can you imagine if the Minnesota Timberwolves and Milwaukee Bucks met in the finals? David Stern would be drawing his suicide note.
And it was an entertaining game too. Between that game, and a great 1 game playoff win for the Twins on Tuesday, it’s been a great sports week in Minneapolis.
by Brandon on Oct 7, 2009 1:13 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Interesting thing about the Monday Night Football Ratings
I know Sunday Night Football is supposed to be the NFL Showcase Game week to week, but to me, Monday Night Football is still Monday Night Football, even with the switch to ESPN from ABC.
The whole football world is watching Monday Night , and the whole Monday Night culture of gathering for games continues – I don’t think the Sunday Night game separates itself enough from the games played earlier in the day.
by LeftHandedTexan on Oct 7, 2009 10:21 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I said to myself about half way throught the first quarter
This is going to be the highest viewed MNF game ever.
Well that was an understatement!
Ray Rice is so agile. He's a whole new breed for agile you need a new word to describe his agility... UBER-AGILITY!
by BaltimoreSportsFan on Oct 7, 2009 4:06 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
One thing about Favre's record
He is the first player to beat all 32 teams, but they kept saying on MNF and Sportscenter that he’s the first QB to beat every team in the NFL, which isn’t true. When Joe Montana retired in 1994, he had beaten all 28 teams that existed in the league at that time. The next season, the expansion Panthers and Jaguars joined the league, followed by the Ravens in ‘96 (or the new Browns in 1999 if you don’t accept the Ravens as an expansion team), and finally the Texans in 2002. So, Montana never beat those 4 teams, but he never had the opportunity to – at the time he retired, he had beaten everyone he could beat.
I wonder if there are any other QB’s who beat every team that existed at the time they retired.
"[The Giants] beat us down. We were beat by a grown-man team, a team we want to be like one day. They came in here and took it to us. Out-manned us, out-gunned us. ... It wasn't even close." - Raheem Morris, 9/27/09
by cjmulrain on Oct 7, 2009 6:35 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Another interesting tidbit
I’m sure I remember hearing that Montana had won in every stadium in the NFL when he finally beat the Broncos at Mile High, also on MNF. What a game that was! Two 4th comebacks in row by Elway, and then Montana. Doesn’t get much better than that!
For ideas on statistical analyses, email me at wolfpacksteelersfan@gmail.com.
by WolfpackSteelersFan on Oct 7, 2009 7:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
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