Through week seven of the NFL season, owners are starting to feel the pinch of declining attendance and ratings. The NFL remains the gold standard of TV, not just in sports, but all entertaining programming. But the NFL’s drop in audience could set off a chain reaction that won’t be good for the $14 billion league — or the TV partners who pay billions for TV rights.
Partner networks ESPN, CBS Sports, NBC Sports and Fox Sports promise advertisers and sponsors certain audience numbers. If those numbers are not reached, the networks have to cough up so-called "make-goods," or free ads, to advertisers who didn't get their money's worth. There's nothing TV networks hate more. And although there are not as many players kneeling anymore during the National Anthem, there's still enough protesters to keep patriotic Americans from tuning in or buying tickets. Stay tuned… Here are the week’s results:
Kansas City Chiefs 30 @ Oakland Raiders 31 (Thursday Night Football)
Sunday Games:
Baltimore Ravens 16 @ Minnesota Vikings 24
New Orleans Saints 26 @ Green Bay Packers 17
New York Jets 28 @ Miami Dolphins 31
Carolina Panthers 3 @ Chicago Bears 17
Arizona Cardinals 0 @ Los Angeles Rams 33
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27 @ Buffalo Bills 30
Jacksonville Jaguars 27 @ Indianapolis Colts 0
Tennessee Titans 12 @ Cleveland Browns 9
Dallas Cowboys 40 @ San Francisco 49ers 10
Cincinnati Bengals 14 @ Pittsburg Steelers 29
Seattle Seahawks 24 @ New York Giants 7
Denver Broncos 0 @ Los Angeles Chargers 21
Atlanta Falcons 7 @ New England Patriots 23
Monday Games:
Washington Redskins 24 @ Philadelphia Eagles 34
