NFL Popularity America's Choice

By Dean Michaels

Super Bowl XLIV - February 7, 2010, New Orleans Saints vs Indianapolis Colts
Super Bowl XLIV - Saints vs Colts

The National Football League is America's most popular sports league.

Comprised of 32 franchises that compete each year to win the Super Bowl, the world's biggest annual sporting event.

Business Week magazine calls the NFL "one of America's best-run businesses."

So, just how popular is the NFL?

NFL Televison Viewership (2009)

NFL games averaged 16.6 million viewers -- up 2 million viewers per game from last year and the NFL's highest viewership average since 1990 (16.7 million). The viewership increase -- 14 percent vs. 2008 -- is the largest one-year jump ever.

FOX, NBC, ESPN, and NFL Network each had their most watched NFL regular seasons ever while CBS had its best season since 1993.

NFL regular-season games accounted for the 11 most-watched sporting events since Super Bowl XLIII.

NFL games on broadcast TV (CBS, FOX and NBC) averaged 18.4 million viewers. On cable, NFL games on ESPN averaged 14.4 million viewers and 5.5 million viewers on NFL Network. Super Bowl XLIII is the most-watched program ever (151.6 million total viewers).

The 18 most-watched programs in TV history are all Super Bowls. Super Bowl XLIII was watched in 230 countries and territories in 34 languages.

Super Bowl

More people watched Super Bowl XLIII (151.6 million viewers) than voted in the 2008 Presidential election or went out to celebrate New Year's Eve.

There are 7.5 million parties on Super Bowl Sunday, with 43.9 million party-goers (National Retail Federation)

1.5 million TV sets will be sold the week leading up to Super Bowl (National Retail Federation)

Sales of big screen TVs show fivefold increase during Super Bowl week (National Electronic Dealers Association)

Super Bowl is top at-home party event of year, ahead of New Year's Eve (Hallmark Cards, Inc.)

Average Number of Attendees for a Super Bowl party is 17 (Hallmark)

Super Bowl Sunday is the second-largest day of food consumption behind Thanksgiving (American Institute of Food Distribution)

On Super Bowl Sunday, Americans consume 8 million pounds of guacamole (California Avocado Commission)

Antacid sales increase 20 percent the day after Super Bowl (7-11 stores)

Super Bowl weekend is the slowest weekend for weddings (multiple sources)

Estimated 14,500 tons of chips and 4,000 tons of popcorn eaten on Super Bowl Sunday (multiple)

Entertainers Reap Benefits Of Performing at NFL Events

The Boss scores!

The new CD ("Working on a Dream") of Super Bowl XLIII halftime performers BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND debuted this week (2/1/09) at No. 1 on Billboard's Top 200 Albums list thanks to its exposure during the game. The CD has already sold 224,000 copies.

2/16/08:

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers finds itself at the summit of Billboard's Top Pop Catalog chart with its "Greatest Hits," which shot up 196 percent in the week following the Super Bowl with sales of 33,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The band's "Anthology: Through the Years" jumped 240 percent to 7,000, taking the No. 6 spot on the same chart. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Petty collects his biggest trophy this week for halftime show entry "Free Fallin"': The track shifted 63,000 digital copies, a gain of 305 percent, and bows at No. 10 on Hot Digital Songs. "I Won't Back Down," "American Girl" and "Runnin' Down a Dream," which made up the rest of Petty's halftime set, all registered similarly notable climbs in the digital realm (REUTERS, 2/16/08).

2/9/05:

Following Paul McCartney's Super Bowl XXXIX halftime show, "products bearing his name were flying off the shelves at Amazon.com." Sales ranks for his CDs' "All the Best" and "Wingspan" jumped from 3,115 to 331 and 1,060 to 144, respectively (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 2/9/05).

NFL vs. Award Shows

Super Bowl and Conference Championships compared to entertainment award shows.

1. Super Bowl XLIII (Feb. 2009)

2. NFC Championship Game (Jan. 2010)

3. AFC Championship Game (Jan. 2010)

4. 2009 Academy Awards, 2/22/09

5. 2009 Grammy Awards, 2/8/09

6. 2010 Golden Globes, 1/11/10

7. 2009 Emmy Awards, 9/20/09

Source: NFL & Nielsen Media Research, most recent event airing

15 Most-Watched Shows of the Fall TV Season (9/7/09-1/3/10)

1. FOX Sunday National (mostly Vikings-Packers), 11/1