The Appeal of the Professional Pigskin – Who’s Watching NFL Football & How to Reach Them with Your Brand Message

The Appeal of the Professional Pigskin – Who’s Watching NFL Football and How to Reach Them with Your Brand Message

 

 

HOMETOWN HEROES

It’s almost time for me to dust off the cooler, lawn chairs, and get the BBQ going. In San Diego I live for the Chargers, and on home game days you’ll likely find me at Qualcomm Stadium as I root on my home-town team.

Now, this year is rather bitter-sweet as this could possibly be the last season I have with them as the “San Diego” Chargers. Now that being said, if this is their final year in San Diego, they’ll likely only make the trek up to Los Angeles to join the Rams in their new home.

 

TUNING IN

As expected, ESPN has a great slew of games lined up for MNF this season. The Rams will be the bookend of the NFL opening weekend as they travel to San Francisco to take on the 49ers. Led by Offensive Rookie of the Year, Todd Gurley and rookie QB Jared Goff, this young Rams team will look to make a splash in the heavily competitive NFC West. As the second game in ESPN’s Monday Night Football double header, all eyes in the football world will be tuned in to what should be a great game to close out the first week of the 2016 season.

One of cable’s best matchups this year will be the October 24 meeting between the Houston Texans and Oakland Raiders. As a Chargers fan, I hold an unrivaled hatred of the Raiders. However as a football fan, I have to say their young roster including QB Derek Carr, WR Amari Cooper and LB Kahlil Mack is one that I’ll be excited to watch for years to come.

On the other side of that game, the Texans defense will once again be led superstar DE JJ Watt and newly acquired QB Brock Osweiler. This game will carry a little extra fanfare as the game is scheduled to be played at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

The match up I’m most looking forward to will be the Cincinnati Bengals vs. the New York Giants. Both of these teams feature high-flying offenses and a pair of the NFL’s top receivers in AJ Green (CIN) and Odell Beckham Jr. (NYG). This November 14 meeting is likely to begin defining these playoff contender’s positions in their respective divisions.

All in all, ESPN will carry 17 games this season, NFL Network will carry 16 games, and ancillary coverage on these networks will run throughout the season.

 

WHO’S WATCHING

With this much coverage, it’s important to take a peek into who is watching the NFL on cable this season.

With a great portion of NFL viewers owning their own home (70%), this viewer a baby boomer (38%), more likely to be married (54%), has no children living at home (56%).

This viewer also favors watching ancillary football coverage on cable networks as they are 72% more likely to watch ESPN networks and a staggering 93% more likely to watch the NFL Network.

Though cable may not carry all of the season’s games, it definitely offers the most ancillary coverage and top primetime games. Pair that with an excellent viewer, and we’ll score a touchdown together.