With millions of people stuck inside due to the coronavirus pandemic, the kickoff to the 2020 NFL season failed to capture a strong ratings share of TV viewers on Thursday night.
On an evening when Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, was not even half full because of the coronavirus pandemic, TV viewers chose to click elsewhere as players for both the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs engaged in social justice protests before the game.
The preliminary numbers for last night’s prime-time game broadcast on NBC show that 16.4 million viewers tuned in to the game, which is a 16% drop in comparison with the kickoff to the 2019 season on Sept. 9 of last year. The figure marks a 10-year low for both NBC and the NFL.
That number should trend higher as the full scope of data from viewership is released later in the day, but the early figures are a worrying sign for an advertisement-rich league that is dependent on fan engagement.
The Chiefs, a team that has taken steps to eliminate racially divisive fan traditions this summer, adorned their field with “End Racism” logos in each end zone. Players for the Houston Texans refused to take the field during the playing of the national anthem, and a second anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” also known as the black national anthem, was played as players for the Chiefs stood.
Video circulated on Twitter Friday morning of socially distanced fans booing as players stood linked arm-to-arm during a pregame “moment of unity.”
The NBA has also struggled to retain viewership this summer after restarting in Orlando, Florida, in July.
