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The Determinants of NFL Viewership: Evidence from Nielsen Ratings

2004; RELX Group (Netherlands); Linguagem: Inglês

10.2139/ssrn.611721

1556-5068

Shannon Carney, Aju J. Fenn,

Sport and Mega-Event Impacts

Television ratings provide a measure of the number of viewers for every NFL football game, however these ratings do not reveal the viewers' motivation for watching the game. Using Nielsen ratings for locally televised NFL football games, this study investigates the determinants of NFL viewership. Data are compiled for 496 NFL games during the 2000 and 2001 seasons. The results suggest evidence of race, team success, and the closeness of the contest as significant determinants of NFL viewership.