For all the positive reviews about the new draft process and the elimination of the AFC-NFC format that made the 2014 Pro Bowl a much more competitive and intense game, its television ratings still showed lagging support.
Extramustard.si.com reported that game between Team Rice and Team Sanders drew 11.7 million viewers, about a half-million fewer than in 2013.
The league made some changes in the game's format to inject some life into it. The game now will use a pair of Hall of Famers each game who will draft against each other for Pro Bowl players. Jerry Rice and Deion Sanders went against each other in the inaugural Pro Bowl under the new format.
The draft was said to motivate a lot of the players who thought they should've been drafted higher or ahead of another player. The game itself was a 22-21 outcome in favor or Team Rice and ended with two touchdowns, a two-point conversion and a missed field goal attempt at the end of the game.
Commissioner Roger Goodell, who had threatened after last year's game to cancel it, was impressed with the rejuvenated interest, and NFL analysts agreed the 2014 game had more excitement.
But the ratings did not support the perceived improvements.
However, extramustard.si.com also pointed out that the 2014 Pro Bowl's ratings still were better than most so-called "big-time sporting events." The report stated that Game 7 of the 2013 Eastern Conference Finals between the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers drew 11.6 million viewers. The highest rated game in the Western Conference finals was less than half that at 5.2 million.
Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals registered 8.16 million viewers. The American League Championship Series between the Boston Red Sox and the Detroit Tigers averaged 7.7 million viewers per game, and the NLCS between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Los Angeles Dodgers averaged 5 million viewers.
And finally, extramustard.si.com pointed out that the NFL's version of an all-star game easily topped those from other sports. Major League Baseball's All-Star game last season had 11 million viewers, the NBA's game had 8 million and the NHL's 2012 game (the lockout to begin last season cancelled the 2013 game) had 1.3 million viewers.
So even if the game becomes lackluster again, if the viewers watch, the Pro Bowl may not have its plugged pulled anytime soon, after all.
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