It wasn’t too long ago when a part of society was trying its best to cancel the NFL. Some of those petitions were for good reason, but that flew over the heads of diehard sports fans that tune in every Sunday, Monday, and Thursday to see their favorite teams battle it out on the football field. With Super Bowl LVI quickly approaching, the past few NFL Divisional games have stirred up some wild anticipation for the sports tradition.
Kicking off the dramatically unpredictable weekend, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and the San Francisco 49ers won 13-10 against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers, while the Tennessee Titans and QB Ryan Tannehill lost to the Cincinnati Bengals led by Joe Burrow, 19-16. The showdowns earned an audience of 36.9 million and 30.8 million, respectively.
The bubbling rivalry between QBs Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen did its part in drawing in impressive viewership ratings. In an overtime upset, the Kansas City Chiefs beat out the Buffalo Bills 42-36, garnering a whopping 51.7 million viewers during the tail end of the game — the highest amongst the games over the weekend. Meanwhile, about 38 million people tuned in to watch Matthew Stafford and the L.A. Rams pull a slick win over Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a 30-27 point game.
The Bengals will face the Chiefs for the AFC Conference Championship game on Sunday, Jan. 30. California, on the other hand, will be set ablaze statewide when Southern California’s Rams take on Northern California’s 49ers, adding to the theatrics of the NFL’s spiciest season in a while.
The NFC Championship game is scheduled to take place at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Sunday. Fans of the 49ers recently packed out the Rams’ stadium during playoffs in support of their team, which ended up leaving them with a win.
To mitigate that, Rams’ ticket operations temporarily restricted tickets sold to those outside of Southern California, causing a stir among fans from other states and 49ers supporters. The tactic is failing, however, with projections from ticket seller Vivid Seats showing about 65 percent of the stadium filled by 49ers fans. Pandemic who?
Drama continues (isn’t it so exciting) as advertisers rush to secure any bit of AD spots left for the upcoming championship games. Rumor has it that the perky bidders, consisting of insurance and crypto-based companies, have handed over as much as $2.5 million for their 30 seconds of fame.
Whoever wins the AFC and NFC Championship games will compete in the Super Bowl scheduled for Feb. 13 at SoFi Stadium, while the Pro Bowl takes place at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada on Feb. 6.
Sheesh! What a time to be alive.
