It turns out that Americans really love watching football, and the debut of the Alliance of American Football only further proves that fact.
As we already knew, the AAF’s debut generated some strong TV ratings Saturday on CBS. Not only did it get strong ratings, it dominated pretty much everything other than Duke’s win over Virginia. (RELATED: San Diego Fleet Quarterback Mike Bercovici Suffers Brutal Hit During AAF Opener)
As Austin Karp pointed out Tuesday, the AAF’s first games had better ratings on TV than the NBA on ABC and pro golf on CBS earlier in the day.
Some Saturday sports viewership numbers:
ESPN: Duke-Virginia men’s hoops: 3.32 million viewers
CBS: Alliance of American Football: 3.25 million viewers
CBS: PGA Tour at Pebble Beach: 2.93 million viewers
ABC: Thunder-Rockets: 2.67 million viewers— Austin Karp (@AustinKarp) February 12, 2019
That tweet just goes to show how much we all love football as a country. It nearly beat the biggest college basketball game of the weekend between two established power programs.
You know you’re doing something correctly when you’re almost getting the same viewership numbers as a big-time Duke game.
That’s just an incredible sign.
The pro football league The AAF has officially started, and a QB almost got beheaded in the first game. pic.twitter.com/bL6e6Y78Uz
— David Hookstead (@dhookstead) February 10, 2019
It was already impressive enough when a startup league beats the NBA. It’s mind-boggling to me they nearly beat Duke.
If you’re involved with the AAF, these numbers must be making you smile from ear-to-ear.
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Can’t stop football, The Alliance is ready to make some noise. | @bleacherreport
The key now will be seeing whether or not the ratings continue to hold strong as the season progresses. We’ll have to wait to find out, but it’s off to a great start.