Minnesota Vikings break MNF doubleheader night cap ratings record
I have good news and I have bad news. The Minnesota Vikings are really popular, that’s the good news. The bad news is that a whole lot of people saw the Vikings play really, really bad on Monday night.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the Vikings and San Francisco 49ers game on Monday was the highest rated second game of the Monday Night Football doubleheader in the 10-year history of the doubleheader. The Vikings/49ers tilt drew 14.3 million viewers according to ESPN.
Maybe the most amazing thing is that game two of the doubleheader beat the ratings of the first game. The Philadelphia Eagles and Atlanta Falcons tilt before the Vikings game only drew 13.5 million viewers.
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ESPN claims that about 31 percent of the Twin Cities market tuned into the Vikings game either via ESPN or via the simulcast shown locally on WCCO CBS 4. ESPN did also point out that games viewership did peak early with 18.3 million being tuned in between 9:17 and 9:30.
A couple things account for the high viewership early. One, Atlanta and Philadelphia fans still tuned in who haven’t turned the channel yet. Two, the game being so darn late that people who wanted a glimpse of the Vikings got it early and then got on off to bed. Three, the game was really not an exciting one to watch so anyone very casual about their football might’ve turned off early too. Four, we have really short attention spans nowadays.
We have statistical proof that people want to see the Vikings, but the question the Vikings now need to answer is if it is worth tuning in for the rest of the season after the embarrassing showing in Week One.
Next: Observations from the Vikings' Week One loss