America Likes The Bucs
October 21st, 2021
The nation is watching.
Throw this on the stockpile of things since March 17, 2020, that Joe never dreamed of seeing with the Bucs.
The Bucs are either becoming the new America’s Team or they are very close. The NFL yesterday announced how many more folks are watching the NFL. The league has become the 500-pound gorilla of television programming because, apparently, folks cannot get enough of the sport.
TV ratings are up across the board some 11 percent over last year. Mind you, pretty large cities were still locked down and forced to stay inside and watch TV last year. Yet after most of America has opened back up to some level, the TV ratings are even better. Wow.
(Joe wonders if part of this is that gambling has been legalized in so many states? People are more likely to watch the jughead Jags and the sad Dolphins if they have scratch on the game.)
Of the five most-watched games this year, the Bucs are involved in three, including the most-watched game of the year when the Bucs traveled to New England to face the Belicheats. Nearly 27 million watched that game.
The No. 2 most-watched game, Cowboys at the Bucs, pulled in nearly 25 million for the NFL’s season-opener. And 22.6 million viewers, the fifth-most-watched game, saw the Bucs get pushed around by the Rams.
So have the Bucs become America’s Team? If not, the Bucs are surely one of the most popular teams.
Joe honestly never saw that coming.
October 21st, 2021 at 12:21 am
TV ratings were down across the board last year because cord cutting was at an all time high as people looked to save money.
October 21st, 2021 at 12:24 am
Whoda thunk it? Not just a decent team but great. really? For a decade plus, the playoffs seemed laughably far away. I remind myself to stay humble but it’s tough because this team is bad arse.
October 21st, 2021 at 12:25 am
Everyone I know who stopped watching only blamed the millionaires kneeling
October 21st, 2021 at 12:26 am
The #1 watched game people saw the corrupt refs try to give the Patriots the game. There was major criminal activity going on that night. Instead of Roger Goodell leaking emails, he should have these refs thrown in prison
October 21st, 2021 at 12:26 am
True indeed
October 21st, 2021 at 2:08 am
It must be the NFL is gay commercials. New demographics.
October 21st, 2021 at 7:20 am
Doubt it on “America’s Team.” One game was DAL — who always draws an audience, be they good or bad. Then there is Tom Brady (not so much the Bucs, playing the “other America’s Team”). And of course Rams-Bucs was just a key matchup. So I don’t think it’s people flocking to love the Bucs as much as it is these other things. That said, no question the Bucs have become more popular over the past two years (TB12 and actually winning have a lot to do with that)–but America’s Team? Not yet anyway. Shocking to me is with all the whiney, wimpy, hypersensitive folks on team names and 10 year old “shocking” emails from a football coach…that people aren’t now wanting the Bucs and Raiders to change their names because of the nature of….pirates. NEVER!
October 21st, 2021 at 7:51 am
JOE,
Perhaps Tom Brady is the true “America’s QB”. It’s OK to admit you were wrong about Jameis and break the moniker back out for Mr. Brady. We’ll still love you.
October 21st, 2021 at 7:55 am
The Bill’s game may tip the meter as well.
October 21st, 2021 at 8:17 am
Never understood everyone’s fascination with the Cowboys. I get back in the day when they were good, but all these years that they were awful is crazy to me. The only person who thought they were good was Aikman. Every game he covered he tried to make them out just one player or one win away from being Super Bowl winners! Then Buck would agree, but it was always hard to hear his muffled voice because his head was up Aikman’s butt
October 21st, 2021 at 8:21 am
The Bucs are good, and they are loaded with All Star players. Who wouldn’t want to see this team play 🙂
October 21st, 2021 at 8:35 am
I think the increasing popularity of Fantasy Football may be at least partially responsible. I used to watch Buc’s games and matchups of top tier teams. Now I find myself tuning into to other games if one of my fantasy players is on just to see how they’re doing. I know in my league, even people who are not particularly big pro football fans are watching games if their fantasy players are involved.
October 21st, 2021 at 8:42 am
Miller5252 Says
“Never understood everyone’s fascination with the Cowboys. I get back in the day when they were good, but all these years that they were awful is crazy to me.”
People are loyal to the team they grow up with usually.
Lots of people can’t understand Bucs fans life-long loyalty to the team…which has been historically bad for a very long time outside of the Dungy/Gruden years.
That, and Cowboys (in general) were historically created by Americans.
October 21st, 2021 at 8:48 am
People watch Brady. That’s it, that’s all.
October 21st, 2021 at 9:19 am
I don’t either. I understood in the 90s (the last time the team was actually relevant) because they were winning meaningful games but these days there are people who have never been within 200 miles of Texas who put on Cowboys gear and root for that team.
I can’t wait for that team to fall apart like they always do.
October 21st, 2021 at 11:43 am
People like high scoring games and teams. The Bucs put up points!
October 21st, 2021 at 12:55 pm
@NICK F, no, thats not how ratings work. Ratings include “cord cutters”.
October 21st, 2021 at 6:11 pm
But I thought so many people were boycotting the game due to “shoving politics down our throat” in the form of social justice campaigns, same-sex equality campaigns, and not requiring players to stand for the national anthem?
Is it possible that most of the country decided to put their differences to the side and embrace what they do have in common, a love of football?
How strange…
October 22nd, 2021 at 6:20 pm
Kneeling Millionaires disrespecting all who died before them fighting for their very freedoms was sickening to watch.