It’s no surprise since I’ve been looking at the start time of the game for weeks, but it occurs to me this morning that the Super Bowl will probably wrap up on the East Coast around 10:30 pm and that’s a little late for a school/work night and when you’re trying to maximize viewership. Why doesn’t the Superbowl just have a normal Sunday afternoon late game start time of 4:00 EST / 1:00 PST? It seems to me like this would only increase viewership opportunities. Or am I missing some obvious rationales? Do tell, Dopers…
Because owls are nocturnal?
10:30 on the east coast isn’t very late. During the regular season, the games on Thursday, Sunday, and Monday nights finish later.
Primetime is when championship games in most sports happen to maximize viewer eyeballs. Pushing it later also feeds the whole party event theme that gets a lot of viewers who don’t normally watch football. It doesn’t matter if people are there for the game or just to be social while eating nachos between funny commericals, they are still watching. That means ratings and money
There’s more to the country than the East, I understand.
No offense, OP, but I’m going to guess the time they play it DOES maximize viewership. The folks who run the NFL have turned it into the most lucrative sports league in the history of the world and have made the Super Bowl the most watched sports event in the world that is not an international contest. I am really, really confident they know the best time to start the game.
Just for fun, count the number of your co-workers who call in sick or show up late tomorrow, including management.
Aw heck RickJay, no offense taken. It’s hard to take offense when your post makes a solid logical point. It’s that sort of observation that my OP was looking for.
And thanks all…
Yup, this is the answer.
In the early years of the Super Bowl, they held it earlier in the afternoon, but they’ve discovered that having most of the game occur during TV prime time got even better TV ratings.
Actually, I’m pleased that the Super Bowl starts at 6:30 tonight. Every game of the 2017 World Series started around 8:30 Eastern time, as did, if I recall correctly, every postseason game my Washington Nationals participated in. I was toast by the seventh inning stretch.
Indeed; baseball starts their playoff games far too late in the evening, IMO. I suspect that they want to ensure that the game isn’t seen as starting too early for the West Coast, but with how long World Series games tend to go, ending a game at midnight or later ET is a good way to lose families.
But a 4:30/7:30 start for WS games means that many of us on the West Coast will either still be working or stuck in traffic for the first couple of innings. There is no perfect solution but a 5:30 start is a fair compromise.
Most of the baseball games are during the week so they lose most of the country if it’s earlier. There is no perfect solution.
When I was stationed in Germany we were given the morning off on Monday.
This is true. I remember when the World Series was played only in the afternoon. It was moved to the evening when people would be home from work and kids home from school in order to get more eyeballs watching. It’s also why MLB ordered Wrigley Field to install lights for the 1988 season, as they would not be allowed to host any playoff games involving the Cubs without them. The Cubs would have been forced to play home playoff games in Cominsky Park or in Busch Stadium in St. Louis instead.
In addition to what’s already been stated, don’t forget that the later the start, the more pre-game fluffery time.
So I’m sure they consider all the angles to maximize revenue.
mmm
FWIW Phil Mushnick, sports media writer for the New York Post, says the NFL wants to minimize tv viewing parties because parties reduce the number of tv sets in use(i.e. lower ratings). Fewer parties at night since people get tired, go home, etc. I have no idea if this is actually true and I get the impression Mushnick goes to bed at 830PM. But he could have talked to someone in the NFL or networks.
One problem with starting the World Series at 530PM eastern is it would interfere with local news which are money makers for local stations. There is also the FCC prime time access rule, set up in the early 1970s prohibiting nerworks starting before 800PM. Meant to booster local programs, it has been a boon to shows like “Wheel of Fortune” snd the ilk.
I just wish they’d have it on Saturday instead of Sunday.
Ratings measure number of tvs but also the percentage of tvs that are on and tuned to that channel. Considering the prices for ads, I don’t think that the SB is worried about ratings and the obviously consider that there are watching parties.
10:30PM is really early after 25 beers…