NFL Television Ratings Expected to Skyrocket
The NFL regular season kicks off on September 9th, but off the field the sport’s economic winners are already being crowned. The pro football business is booming, and the expectation is that the NFL will set new records for fan viewership during the 2010 season. The regular season NFL TV audience enjoyed a 9% increase in 2009, and there are suggestions that they could experience a whopping 15% gain in viewership during the upcoming 2010 season.
This is good news not only for the NFL, but for a variety of businesses that owe their success directly or indirectly to the fortunes of North America’s most powerful sports league.
The strong viewership numbers extend beyond the league’s championship game to more mundane NFL events. The 2010 NFL draft coverage on ESPN and NFL Network also set viewership records, with an estimated 23.3 million people tuning in to the first round. The strong showing of the draft was also blamed for lower than average numbers for NBC’s hit sitcoms ’30 Rock’ and ‘The Office’. More importantly from the networks’ perspective, the NFL draft captured several highly coveted segments of the total TV audience including adults 18-49, adults 18-34 and all male demographics. Even the much maligned Pro Bowl, annually criticized as the most irrelevant major sport all star game, saw a 40% increase in their TV audience from 2009 to 2010.
Other industries are also expecting their NFL related business to boom this season, albeit in a more indirect fashion. Betting on NFL is big business, and sportsbooks from Nevada to Costa Rica are expecting a banner year. Read more
Oakland Raiders draft Hillsdale College’s Jared Veldheer
For the first time in 30 years, a Hillsdale College football player‘s name was called during the NFL Draft.
Offensive lineman Jared Veldheer was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the 3rd round of the 2010 NFL Draft on Friday night. The draft is being held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
“Jared is a fine young man and we are proud to have him representing Hillsdale in the NFL,” said Hillsdale College President Dr. Larry Arnn.
The last Charger drafted by the NFL was Nate Johnson in 1980. Veldheer was the highest draft pick to come out of Hillsdale since placekicker Chester Marcol was picked in the second round by the Green Bay Packers in 1972. Marcol went on to be named the NFC Rookie of the Year that year.
Veldheer was a four-year starter for Hillsdale, starting all 46 games of his career while never allowing a sack throughout his career. He was named the team’s Offensive Lineman of the Year three times and was First-Team All-Region twice. In 2009, he was named First-Team All-American by the American Football Coaches Association, and led the Chargers to a 10-3 record. Veldheer participated in the Texas vs. The Nation Bowl in February, and was as one of three Division II players to play in the game.
Veldheer’s selection in the 3rd round marked the highest any Division II player has been drafted by the NFL since 1999. He participated in the NFL Combine in February, and was the only offensive lineman at the combine to place in the top 10 in every test given to the players. In the weeks leading up to his selection, Veldheer was flown out to Oakland and personally met with owner, Al Davis.
In 2009, Hillsdale qualified for the NCAA Division II playoffs for the first time in its history, defeating Minnesota State-Mankato in the first round before losing to eventual national runner-up Grand Valley State in the second round. The team’s 10-3 record was its best since 1988.
SIRIUS XM Radio covers the 2010 NFL Draft
Listeners nationwide get live coverage and instant analysis of every selection from every round NFL experts Gil Brandt, Pat Kirwan, Tim Ryan and host Adam Schein provide live coverage from Radio City Music Hall in New York Chris Russo to host special pre-Draft Mad Dog Radio show among the fans at Radio City April 22
SIRIUS XM Radio, the Official Satellite Radio Partner of the NFL, will offer comprehensive coverage of the 2010 NFL Draft on April 22-24, providing live coverage and expert analysis of every pick from every round, on SIRIUS NFL Radio (SIRIUS channel 124, XM channel 124 with the “Best of SIRIUS” programming package).
On Thursday, April 22, the NFL Draft will begin for the first time in primetime when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell opens the event at 7:30 pm ET. SIRIUS NFL Radio will begin broadcasting live from NFL Draft headquarters at Radio City Music Hall at 7:00 pm ET and will cover every selection.
On Friday, April 23, SIRIUS NFL Radio’s on-site Draft coverage will resume at 6:00 pm ET and will cover every pick from rounds two and three. On Saturday, April 24, SIRIUS NFL Radio will broadcast every selection from rounds four through seven from 10:00 am ET through 6:00 pm ET. In all, SIRIUS NFL Radio will provide 17 hours of live coverage from inside Radio City Music Hall plus full pre- and post-Draft analysis every day leading up to and throughout the event.
SIRIUS and XM listeners from coast-to-coast will get access to the live announcements of all 32 teams’ selections plus one-on-one interviews with dozens of draftees, general managers and coaches from around the league. SIRIUS XM’s hosts will draw on decades of experience in player evaluation to address each team’s needs and offer analysis. The acclaimed SIRIUS NFL Radio team on the floor at Radio City Music Hall will feature Gil Brandt, the renowned former VP of Player Personnel for the Dallas Cowboys; Pat Kirwan, a former NFL scout, coach and front-office executive; Tim Ryan, a former Chicago Bears defensive lineman and former captain and two-time All-American at USC; and veteran SIRIUS NFL Radio voice Adam Schein.
Before and after each day’s live broadcast from Radio City Music Hall, SIRIUS NFL Radio hosts will be on air to discuss the latest news and give fans from all over the country a forum to call in and react to their team’s 2010 Draft performance.
On Wednesday, April 21, Adam Schein and Gil Brandt will host SIRIUS NFL Radio’s midday show, The SIRIUS Blitz, live from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm ET from the NFL Draft Youth Clinic in Central Park, where they will interview top prospects and report on the latest pre-Draft news.
SIRIUS XM’s all-sports Mad Dog Radio channel (SIRIUS channel 123, XM channel 144) will also be covering the NFL Draft leading up to and throughout the event. Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo will host his daily show, Mad Dog Unleashed, live from Radio City Music Hall before the Draft’s first round on Thursday, April 22 (2:00 – 7:00 pm ET), where he will report on Draft news and rumors and discuss team selections with fans in attendance at Radio City and listeners tuning in from around the country.
The SIRIUS NFL Radio and Mad Dog Radio channels are also available to Premium Online subscribers via SIRIUS Internet Radio and XM Radio Online and on the Apple iPhone, iPod touch and several BlackBerry devices through the SIRIUS XM App in conjunction with your satellite radio subscription. (A “Best of SIRIUS” subscription is required for XM subscribers to listen to SIRIUS NFL Radio.)
As the Official Satellite Radio Partner of the NFL, SIRIUS XM airs live play-by-play of every NFL game from the pre-season through the Super Bowl. SIRIUS NFL Radio, (SIRIUS channel 124, XM channel 124 with “Best of SIRIUS”) airs year-round and is the only 24/7 radio channel dedicated entirely to professional football, offering fans live game action, daily news and analysis, coverage of the NFL Draft, training camps, the NFL Combine, a fantasy football show and more.
For more information visit www.sirius.com/nfl.