12-12-2017, 12:29 PM
So, it’s been made clear by many Bengals fans that they believe the league favors the Steelers.
But why?
The conventional wisdom is that the Steelers are popular and having them in the playoffs and in particular the Super Bowl increases ratings and therefore means more money for the league.
But is that actually true? Check out this list of the 13 highest rated Super Bowls.
The Steelers, despite having appeared in 8 Super Bowls, are listed only twice in that list, and both of those games occurred during the 70s. None of their three appearances from this century even cracked the top 13. Denver actually appeared in more of them than the Steelers, with their game against Carolina (!) actually making an appearance. Even Seattle, with only 3 total appearances, made the list as many times as the Steelers. And get this - one of the Cincy-SF tussles actually got much higher ratings than ANY of the Steelers Super Bowls.
Recent Super Bowls that got higher ratings than any Steeler Super Bowl this century:
Pats-Seahawks
Pats-Giants
Broncos-Panthers (!)
Seahawks-Broncos (!)
It’s difficult to say what effect popularity of teams has on the Super Bowl ratings, but what is clear is that having the Steelers involved does not automatically guarantee ratings dominance. So why would the NFL risk getting caught at what amounts to fraud for such a dubious ratings ‘advantage’?
Have at it, conspiracy theorists! What else ya got?
But why?
The conventional wisdom is that the Steelers are popular and having them in the playoffs and in particular the Super Bowl increases ratings and therefore means more money for the league.
But is that actually true? Check out this list of the 13 highest rated Super Bowls.
The Steelers, despite having appeared in 8 Super Bowls, are listed only twice in that list, and both of those games occurred during the 70s. None of their three appearances from this century even cracked the top 13. Denver actually appeared in more of them than the Steelers, with their game against Carolina (!) actually making an appearance. Even Seattle, with only 3 total appearances, made the list as many times as the Steelers. And get this - one of the Cincy-SF tussles actually got much higher ratings than ANY of the Steelers Super Bowls.
Recent Super Bowls that got higher ratings than any Steeler Super Bowl this century:
Pats-Seahawks
Pats-Giants
Broncos-Panthers (!)
Seahawks-Broncos (!)
It’s difficult to say what effect popularity of teams has on the Super Bowl ratings, but what is clear is that having the Steelers involved does not automatically guarantee ratings dominance. So why would the NFL risk getting caught at what amounts to fraud for such a dubious ratings ‘advantage’?
Have at it, conspiracy theorists! What else ya got?
