Preseason Bucs TV Ratings Still Top Lightning
May 21st, 2018
Bucs fans keep hope alive
The frenzy for the Tampa Bay Lightning is all over town, even on this website with two great Bolts podcasts by Todd Wright and Tom Lang.
But Team Glazer has nothing to worry about.
The folks at Nielsen who monitor TV ratings (which are all digital now, no more paper diaries), shared their data on Saturday night’s huge Lightning-Capitals playoff broadcast on the local NBC affiliate, WFLA-TV, Ch. 8.
NBC was pumped for a stunning showing. Here’s how they shared it on Twitter:
Tampa delivered a 12.0 local rating for last night’s Game 5 on NBC, the market’s BEST rating for a non-SCF NHL game on record on the network. Washington posted a 7.1 local rating. NBC was the No. 1 network in both markets during the game.
So how does that 12.0 rating compare to Bucs preseason games? Well, consider that the full slate of 2015 preseason Bucs games averaged an 11.4 rating on WFLA, and that included the garbage fourth preseason game.
The Bucs’ preseason opener that year on WFLA peaked with a 16.1 rating during the broadcast and delivered a 12.8 rating for the full game.
For a little perspective, Greg Schiano’s dreadful 2013 Buccaneers averaged a 19.1 local rating per regular-season game. In 2015, Game 1 of the Lightning in the Stanley Cup Finals drew a 17.9 local rating in June, a record for a Lightning game. Midway through last football season, Sports Illustrated reported that the Bucs’ local TV ratings were up from the previous season, one of only three NFL teams on the rise in their home market.
Yes, the endless Lightning hype is fun and warranted, but Tampa remains a football-first town.
Man, if the Bucs could ever pull themselves out of this 10-year playoff drought, this town would erupt like it did in 1997, when Father Dungy and the Bucs broke an even longer postseason drought.
May 21st, 2018 at 8:22 am
Pretty syre Glazers would prefer lower TV ratings and a higher seat occupancy.
I’ll give Glazers credit for not being satisfied with the progress of team and
giving Licht green light to give team a makeover where needed.
May 21st, 2018 at 8:23 am
correction : Pretty sure
May 21st, 2018 at 8:31 am
Just proves that Tampa is not a class A sports town.
May 21st, 2018 at 8:39 am
In Tampa Bay, Football is king!!!!!!!!
GO Bucs!!!!!!!!!!!
May 21st, 2018 at 8:43 am
All this proves is there are more fans that would rather watch bad football, then good hockey. What the puck? Not many hockey fans, that’s not surprising.
May 21st, 2018 at 9:03 am
Tampa is a Class A sports town. You must’ve forgotten the days when the Bucs were winning. Florida is a football state.
May 21st, 2018 at 9:07 am
The NHL needs to find a way to make it onto broadcast television as the NFL has. The greater the viewership, the greater the fan base. The Glazers realized that a few years ago when they lifted the antiquated black-outs after losing a large chunk of their fan base.
I am one of the few individuals who refuses to pay for television. Why? I don’t watch TV daily and I get about 35-40 channels with my antenna; 8-10 of them I would never watch but, the rest resembles what is on cable television. I would love to see more lightning games except that they are often buried on some obscure cable channel. I would certainly consider “pay for play” to see my teams but, I’m not paying $100 for a monthly service that I wouldn’t use 90% of. This would be a great new, viable money stream for these cable companies but, for some reason they don’t go there. I may be in the minority here but, I am sure that I am not the only one.
May 21st, 2018 at 9:30 am
All NFL teams make obscene amount of money off the television contracts.
It surpasses the NHL by miles. Not just in Tampa. You might as well compare super bowl ratings to the Stanley Cup.
Glazer’s have nothing to brag about.
May 21st, 2018 at 10:25 am
VERY confident that would be a negative.
Bucs made $244 million last year on TV revenue (not counting preseason).
It’s no longer the 1970s where the gate is the main source of revenue.
May 21st, 2018 at 10:39 am
Things are still changing. No doubt Tampa…Florida…and the entire South are football crazy fans. Other sports have to earn local respect like the Lightning.
Does Miami support the Panthers the same way? Not really.
When i was a kid in grade school in the 50’s only one sport really counted…MLB.
In the late 50’s with Johnny Unitas and that great NFL championship game in 58 football started taking over. College football had always been a big draw but the NFL didn’t really explode until the 60’s.
The Lightning success does not really effect the Bucs because football…the NFL…is now king. MLB is a different matter totally. Our market does not have corporate headquarters like Boston, NYC, Philly and other larger markets. No big biz to buy up corporate suites and tickets to give to their customers. Teams in Tampa have to make it off of our local fan base and our limited disposable income. We are not a particularly wealthy town.
Research shows this town simply cannot support three franchises and given today’s sports climate MLB is the odd guy out.
May 21st, 2018 at 10:50 am
Actually the Rays do very well rating wise on their broadcasts. And have an extremely favorable stadium deal. They don’t hurt nearly as bad as they claim.
As pointed out, the bucs bring in 244 million before the first person buys a ticket.
As I recall they paid 192 million for the team and everyone thought they were nuts.
Business wise these folks are Lebron/Jordan. No doubt.
Does not translate into smart football decisions unfortunately.
But the concept that Tampa is not a strong sports market because the NHL team loses the tv rating battle to the NFL is silly.
May 21st, 2018 at 10:57 am
It’s just a question on when not if the Bucs are gonna blow up big time.
May 21st, 2018 at 10:59 am
So all it proves is people sit home and watch their sport of football. But the Bucs can’t sell enough tickets to fill half their seats. The Lightning sell out every game.
And I guarantee the Bucs lose more and more fans every year while the Lightning gain them.
May 21st, 2018 at 11:14 am
GO BUCS!!!!
May 21st, 2018 at 11:29 am
The Tampa Bay area now has over 3 million people, making it the 20th largest in the United States. It is growing at a rate of 2% per year. ($60,000.00)
The Glazer boys can go 2-14 ad infinitum and still be awashed with cash every year.
The Lightning can win the Stanley cup every year and still not catch them.
May 21st, 2018 at 12:18 pm
I know its not over yet, but TB is looking pretty good right now…..where ya at fatty Baker?
Have to give props to Vegas though….first year as a team and theyre going to the championship.
Now to watch the houston rockets go all the way….and cavs going down baby!
May 21st, 2018 at 12:19 pm
As someone who grew up in Florida playing hockey, this doesn’t surprise me at all.
Florida is not a hockey state. Never has been, prob never will, unfortunately.
Really hoping to see Vegas vs Tampa in the Stanley Cup Finals
May 21st, 2018 at 1:03 pm
People actually go to Lightning games. Who the hell wants to go to a preseason game to watch a team that hasn’t been to the playoffs in over a decade.
May 21st, 2018 at 1:57 pm
Rather than compare the Lightning to the NFL, why not compare it to other NHL teams.
For example:
Game 5 had a 12.0 rating in Tampa-St. Petersburg, the market’s highest for an NHL game on the NBC family of networks, excluding the Stanley Cup Final. Washington D.C. chipped in a 7.1. Notably, Game 5 beat the Preakness by 12% in Tampa (10.7) but trailed the race by 31% in Washington (10.3). [NBC Sports PR/Twitter 5.20 a, b, c]
I guess Washington DC is not a hockey town.
May 21st, 2018 at 1:57 pm
It is more fun to watch the Lightning win than watch the Bucs lose.
This site has repeatedly posted TV ratings comparisons in an attempt to bash the Lightning. Okay, I understand this is a one sport web site and you guys are trying to justify your commitment to an amazingly poor franchise. I’ve also heard both Joe’s say they don’t watch hockey. Too bad, you’re missing out on a team that gives it their all every time they step on the ice.
May 21st, 2018 at 2:43 pm
What Eric said.
Quit comparing apples to oranges. The Rays also do very well with TV ratings compared to other MLB teams. Tampa is a great sports city, maybe not the best, but very under rated.
May 21st, 2018 at 2:52 pm
The numbers aren’t necessarily a reflection on hockey fandom specifically in the Tampa market- heck look at the Washington mark. Now, I don’t know how they formulate the figures, but on the surface, it seems to at least imply that at 12.0 vs 7.1, there was much LESS viewership there, in proportion to the size of the DC market.
Math aside, my point is that Tampa is a vibrant and healthy hockey market. I’m sure that’s why there’s more Bolts coverage now on Joe’s site and podcasts–all fostered by a fantastic season, exciting playoff run and stellar work by the team/ownership to make the fan and community experience something worth mentioning.
The Bolts have made this football town care about hockey- maybe not as much as a preseason game, but a strict comparison btwn the two is apples/oranges. Football is a national obsession. Hockey is largely niche. Ironically, that’s the inverse in Canada (having also lived in Montreal, I can assure you that hockey is 24/7 up there, where the CFL and even NFL aren’t nearly as popular).
More to the point- LET’s GO BOLTS!!!
May 21st, 2018 at 4:12 pm
You post crap like this every year. The key difference? The Lightning play meaningful games after the season.
May 21st, 2018 at 5:51 pm
Tampa also has the 6th highest ratings in the country. Go Bolts!!!!
May 21st, 2018 at 8:16 pm
2015 preseason? That was Winston’s rookie year, of course that was a highly watched preseason. Talk about making numbers mean What you want lol. What were last years preseason ratings?
May 21st, 2018 at 10:02 pm
If Vinik owned the Bucs would they still add an experienced corner,o lineman and perhaps trade Hardgraves ??? Hmmmmmmm probably