Yes, more people watch exciting football games. And, yes, fewer people watch boring ones.
That rule was proven yet again on Sunday night, when the Rams -- 11 weeks after a Week 11 54-point explosion -- were limited to a field goal as part of the lowest-scoring Super Bowl of all time. According to Dominic Patten of Deadline.com, the nationwide overnight rating of 44.9 becomes the lowest since Super Bowl XLIII, between the Steelers and Cardinals.
It’s also a 5.2-percent ratings decline from last year’s game between the Patriots and Eagles in Minneapolis.
The five highest-rated Super Bowls, per Deadline.com, were Super Bowl XLIX (49.7), Super Bowl 50(49.0), Super Bowl LI (48.8), Super Bowl XLVII (48.1), and Super Bowl XLV (47.9).
The poor performance of the Super Bowl comes at the end of a season that featured increased ratings due to increased scoring and generally exciting games. The league will be hoping that the trend continues in 2019, and that unlike this year it lasts through the title game.