data-mm-id=”_o84yg5nnf”>News came out today that FOX got a nice ratings boost for its game-of-the-week broadcast featuring Saints-Bucs, Brady-Brees, and all that jazz. It was a moment of celebration for FOX, which billed it as projecting to be the "most-watched telecast of any kind since Super Bowl LIV" in their PR email blast. They could have just said "duh" instead, but whatever floats their boat. The star-studded showdown between Brady's @Buccaneers and Brees' @Saints led America's Game of the Week to a strong start. ? pic.twitter.com/q6NM6youjN— FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) September 14, 2020Of course, Tom Brady's debut with his new team against Drew Brees and the Saints was going to be a ratings draw. It's two of the most commercially recognizable quarterbacks in the NFL playing the most popular sport in the United States, all with Brady playing his first game outside of New England in 20 years for a team that's been hyped as a sudden Super-Bowl contender trying to dethrone the defending division champs and about 25 other storylines I could name but don't care to mention. Why? It's not sustainable. None of it is. Let's start with the most obvious point. Now that we've seen Brady playing for the Bucs for the first time, that mystery and intrigue is gone. What would he look like in a new uniform? How would he play? Was it he or the Patriots' fault he played poorly last year? All those storylines are out the window (even if some aren't answered yet), especially for Patriots fans who tuned in for Brady's debut. Boston was a key factor in yesterday’s FOX NFL ratings increase. They did a 29.2 rating for the Pats on CBS, then flipped over and did a 22.1 for TB12 on FOX. That’s a huge number for a non-local game.— Michael Mulvihill (@mulvihill79) September 14, 2020You think Bucs games, or any 4:25 p.m. games not featuring the Patriots, are going to get that high of a rating in Boston again? Absolutely not. Patriots fans have seen Brady with his new team. They know what it looks like and what it feels like to see their former lover with his new flame. Some will still watch Brady play, but he's not driving those ratings in New England again unless it's in the postseason. This isn't to say NFL ratings will be down massively this year. It's to say don't expect the year-over-year numbers to trend in this direction. We've already seen year-over-year numbers trend down for Thursday and Sunday Night Football in Week 1 and those games featured the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and the consistently massive ratings draw that is the Dallas Cowboys, respectively. Ultimately, NFL ratings are driven by a quarterback's national notoriety. It's why Aaron Rodgers is still a ratings draw and why Patrick Mahomes has work to do. Despite the fact that Mahomes is a better quarterback than Rodgers these days, Rodgers has established himself in the national spotlight through years of great play, funny commercials, and dating B-list celebrities. Mahomes is still young in the commercial game and his career. He recently got engaged so I don't see celebrity dating in his future. Either way, it will take him some time to pull in the casual fan, who are the people that ultimately change these numbers.Brady and Brees were the perfect start for the NFL ratings conversation. They had everything going for them heading into this matchup and the ratings reflect that. However, no regular-season game will produce the same casual intrigue because no other regular-season game can. It took an offseason of hype to get here and the numbers are reflective of that. Nothing more.
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data-mm-id=”_k5btlhx6j”>The Buffalo Bills secured a playoff spot by doing some wounded duck hunting Sunday night in Pittsburgh. They've won 10 games for the first time since 1999 and have a slim chance of winning the AFC East, a feat all non-Patriots teams have only dreamed of pulling off for over a decade. This is all a great delight to Buffalo's passionate fanbase, which has never once allowed lackluster play on the field to get in the way of having a good time or risking great bodily harm. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that a hearty group of maniacs welcomed the team flight back in the wee hours of the morning with great gusto. Still, it's awesome to see. It’s 2 am, 25 degrees, and #BillsMafia still showed out! pic.twitter.com/3B5w2okK4m— Buffalo Bills (…
data-mm-id=”_zpjg8k37z”>The sports world was put on halt Thursday as the pandemic known as coronavirus, or COVID-19, forced every league to postpone or cancel events to help halt the possibility of spreading the disease further. Of course, this put editors and journalists in an awkward position: how do you cover sports when no sports are being played? Today, on newspapers around the nation, we got our answer. Below is a collection of sports front pages from around the United States. Everyone focused on different areas, but overall, the message was similar — sports are canceled. Los Angeles TimesThere's no photo on the cover of tomorrow's @latimessports cover, because as the headline says, "Games over." Love this design treatment by Allison Hong (@allimyh). pic.twit…
data-mm-id=”_mys4ywzs2″>Tom Brady made many headlines when he moved left the New England Patriots to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this offseason. But the four-time NFL MVP made news of another sort on Monday when he announced he was selling $45 "immunity" vitamins while a pandemic rages. Excited to announce the latest from @tb12sports. PROTECT is our new immunity blend supplement created to support a healthy immune system to help you stay strong. https://t.co/Ho8acHdiYn— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) May 18, 2020Brady is hawking what amounts to a bottle of unproven, non-FDA approved pills he claims will "activate your immune system." None of the claims made by the company has been backed by the FDA. As Orlando Weekly pointed out, the pills are basically the same cocktail…
data-mm-id=”_mfzelrqie”>Just how serious is college football's coronavirus problem? Some of the biggest programs – LSU, Clemson, Alabama – in the nation have already been hit with enough cases to put dozens of players into quarantine. Can they actually control it? Or is this just the tip of the iceberg? Laura Rutledge was on Get Up this morning and it sounds like college football's problems are just beginning. Transcribed by 24/7 Sports:””I’m hearing there are many more cases we don’t know about. That’s to be expected, but I think this is more widespread and a larger volume of cases than people realize in college football,” Rutledge said. “I’m getting a sense of concern from players that wasn’t there just a couple weeks ago. There’s actually some players who are…
data-mm-id=”_kvk0wz6vp”>The Dallas Cowboys welcomed 25,000 people to AT&T Stadium for a Monday Night Football game and it appears every single person left much worse for wear. As the seconds ticked away in the fourth quarter of the Cowboys embarrassing home loss to the Arizona Cardinals ESPN spoiled viewers with shots of despondent Cowboys fans. Just scroll through this gallery of pain and despair. The Cowboys got this man STRESSED ??? pic.twitter.com/5NOfb8dgFX— gifdsports (@gifdsports) October 20, 2020pic.twitter.com/nh98PevZxb— Tim Ryan (@TheSportsHernia) October 20, 2020This guy lol pic.twitter.com/qilYY3Dj5F— Ⓜ️arcusD ▶️ (@_MarcusD3_) October 20, 2020Jerry and Stephen Jones pic.twitter.com/4J5WzWrsmy— Ⓜ️arcusD ▶️ (@_MarcusD3_) October 20, 2020pic.twitte…
data-mm-id=”_z0jb5icb1″>A 6-5 week amid pure chaos in terms of the COVID list is worth celebrating. So too is an overall mark of 111-99. With only two more weekends remaining, it's beginning to look like a productive campaign. Closing out with a bang would make it all the more impressive and potentially result in a few extra zeroes in our paychecks. Here are our Week 17 predictions and picks against the spread (all odds via WynnBet).NFL Week 17 Predictions FALCONS (+14) over BILLS The Bills have really hit their stride recently but the complete body of work in 2021 suggests they tend to play down to their competition. Two full touchdowns is a big line, even in Buffalo. With the playoffs on the immediate horizon, this feels like a game the Bills put away early and the Falcons dink …
data-mm-id=”_5grpz802h”>New York City was hit by a thunderstorm Saturday night, and the front put on quite a spectacular lightning show. At one point, a bolt struck the top of One World Trade Center and the video and still photos of the incident are absolutely breathtaking. Check this out:Tonight’s lightning storm over One World Trade #NYC pic.twitter.com/qDrSDRWK2X— Max Guliani (@maximusupinNYc) April 2, 2023That's simply amazing. Check out these still phots:Lightning bolts stoke One World Trade Center during a thunderstorm in New York City, Saturday evening #newyork #newyorkcity #nyc @wtc #lightning #thunderstorm @agreatbigcity @_WTCOfficial pic.twitter.com/w9jKK3QVwy— Gary Hershorn (@GaryHershorn) April 2, 2023Here is a second photo of lightning fanning out from One World…
data-mm-id=”_spx5y5t4g”>Weird stuff tends to happen in the lower levels of professional baseball, and this past Sunday was no different. During a contest between the Tri-City ValleyCats and the New York Boulders yesterday, an umpire got ejected in the first inning. You read that correctly, the ump got tossed. How would this happen, you ask? Well, this umpire got into a very heated confrontation with one of the players on the field. He turned around to walk away but the player followed and kept yelling. The umpire then turned around and struck the player in the torso, nearly leading to a brawl between the two parties. The other umpires quickly intervened and the camera caught the offending ump walking to the center field exit. It was a wild scene. Have you ever seen an umpire get ejecte…
data-mm-id=”_wkducxd6g”>Stefon Diggs took out a security guard in Cincinnati on Sunday Night Football. Josh Allen hit the the wide receiver for a fourth quarter touchdown pass and then again on the ensuing two-point conversion. That's when Diggs took out one of the security guards.Allen. Diggs. Two-point conversion.📺: #BUFvsCIN on NBC📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/T6GLEfxpQv pic.twitter.com/ZUBHSPSa3s— NFL (@NFL) November 6, 2023Security was facing away from the field, making sure all the fans were behaving, when Diggs caught the pass in the back of the end zone, got two feet down and was then pushed down by a defender. That's when he rolled right into the guard's legs. It's hard to say who was more surprised by the collision. bro said ge…
data-mm-id=”_ix3p9pxtz”>One of the biggest stories of MLB's offseason so far has been the San Diego Padres potentially trading superstar outfielder Juan Soto. The national narrative has been that San Diego must trade Soto because of the franchise's financial issues and that the team has zero leverage in deal discussions. We've been told they'll have to give the generational slugger away for peanuts just to clear payroll. I'm here to tell you that is absolute garbage. The Padres don't have to move Soto if they don't want to and won't just give him away.A few weeks ago breathless reports emerged of the Padres taking a $50 million loan to help cover some expenses. That led to talking points that the Padres were essentially broke and needed to slash …