Photo courtesy of Globe Sports
The NFL came under fire this past week for its decision to host the Pro Bowl the week before the Super Bowl. It turns out that may have been friendly fire in the eyes of the public.
The NFL announced today that last night’s game on ESPN was watched by an average of 12.3 million viewers, the most for a Pro Bowl since 2000 (13.2 million viewers on ABC) and a 40 percent increase from last season (8.8 million viewers on NBC).
And although the NFL Pro Bowl is not exactly the must-see event of the year, the 12.3 million viewers also marked the largest viewership for any All-Star game ever aired on cable television.
For the first time ever this year’s Pro Bowl was played in the Super Bowl city the week before the Super Bowl. The game at Sun Life Stadium in South Florida drew 70,697 fans – the highest attendance for the game since 1959.