Year-to-year ratings are not linear or easily compared. Spring 2020 was the beginning of the worldwide pandemic. Comparing ratings XFL 2023 to ratings 2020 doesn’t look at the psychology of that time. (I would talk about that, but there’s not enough ink for my quill). I’ll now show you the numbers, and we’ll look at whether the variables offset each other.
Ratings XFL 2023
I took as my reference for these cable TV broadcast numbers, these ratings from the authoritative TV ratings Guide. The chart numbers on the left are viewers (by millions) 18-49; on the right, the total audience is in millions. The ratings are in the top 50 of cable viewing but nowhere comparable to usual live sports.
XFL: ESPN Orlando v. Houston .23 .75
XFL: FX Orlando v. Houston .11 .39
XFL: ESPN Seattle v. DC .29 1.06
As I noted in my earlier article on the XFL media, FX is not a usual destination for sports watchers. It could be a tough sell for XFL watchers. The XFL expects (and most media members do as well) a growing fan base to find their team’s next game time and station. This seems logical, especially when the XFL promotes it repeatedly during the broadcast.
Ratings XFL 2020
The 2020 XFL opener between Dallas and DC gained a 2.1 rating and 3.30 million viewers on ABC, according to Sports Media Watch. Notably, ” The first four XFL telecast windows declined at least 50% in viewership from the equivalent windows of the previous XFL three years ago. The inaugural game, Vegas-Arlington on ABC Saturday afternoon, averaged 1.54 million viewers — down 54% from the inaugural game”.
Those were huge 2020 TV ratings and not a direct correlation to 2023. There are several factors at play here, and I’ll make a brief discussion about a couple of reasons why it might not be as bad as it appears.
XFL 2023 Ratings (broadcast vs streaming)
Sports broadcasting in 2023 is booming. According to PR Newswire, “broadcast content viewing rose 2.1% in January, led by a 55% jump in sports viewing”. Later in the same article, the context was given, the NFL playoffs dominated broadcast sports programming, making up the top 10 telecasts for the category in January. Looking back to the 2020 landscape, streaming was starting to make inroads at that time. This study by Samsung points out that 42% of TV watching only was through linear TV.
The latest numbers from Forbes say that ESPN + has 24.9 million subscribers, and those numbers are imperfectly accounted for in ratings. Estimates suggest that in 2022 U.S. adults will spend an average of around three hours watching TV each day.
According to a Statista.com article, “This figure has generally fallen in recent years and the downward trend is forecasted to continue in the years to come. The only exception to this trend is the year 2020 when consumption increased due to a growth in media consumption during the coronavirus outbreak. ” Though now we think about the ramp-up of the Covid crisis in summer and fall of 2020, it was a staple of the nightly news, and TV watching spiked during the winter of 2020.
XFL 2023 Ratings (Wildcards)
2023 is the first year that streaming minutes exceed linear viewing. (Tik Tok, Netflix, youtube, etc.) Thus the XFL can gain traction through viral clips, or highlights posted to Youtube. It’s possible that they could gain traction via online channels, picking up fans in short bursts too small for Nielsen measurement. Also, social media engagement makes an interesting argument that there could be fans only watching clips on Twitter or other short-form channels.
The XFL has recognized this and has advertised accordingly. They’ve spent $120,000 on advertising efforts so far in 2023. For many, that seems an astoundingly low figure for a national league launch. They’ve focused on a social media push. (according to a great article on Digiday.com).
XFL 2023 Ratings (Conclusions)
The XFL seems focused on social media to grow its brand. The initial rating results are not good. But with a continued hyper-focus on branding, player personalities, and not just linear TV, they might firm up their ratings and even grow. The XFL had better hope so.
For More Great Football Content
Follow us on Twitter at @GridironHeroics for more great content. We appreciate you taking time to read our articles. To interact more with our community and keep up to date on the latest in Football news, JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP by CLICKING HERE
