[ad_1]
Article content continued
One of every three Canadians watched at least some of the tournament. Even more notable is the performance of the World Juniors on laptops, tablets and smartphones. NHL Network set all-time tournament records of 16.8 million impressions, more than 707,000 engagements and 1.66 million video streams. It’s yet another indication of the growth of digital and social across all sports.
Yet no one is more bullish heading into the weekend than the NFL. In dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, “the Shield” put its head down and allowed its teams to host games at their home stadiums. It even gave teams the option of selling tickets to physically-distanced fans if their state health authorities permitted it.
There were some wobbly moments, but give credit where credit is due. The NFL completed its full allotment of 256 regular-season games in the standard 17 weeks and is now basking in the glow of what will be the biggest wild-card weekend in league history.
Expansion to a 14-team playoff structure means six wild-card games this weekend instead of the traditional four. It also means even more mainstream and social media coverage to kick off its five-week Super Bowl tournament. The wider swath of eyeballs on the games this weekend should translate into a solid set of TV audiences over the next month.
Unlike most other sports in North America, the NFL should not see much if any decline in its TV and fan engagement numbers at Super Bowl LV in Tampa on Feb. 7. No matter which two teams make the NFL championship game, it will be a 100-million plus audience proposition.
[ad_2]
Source link
