Eagles preseason game draws big on NBC10; TNT once again defers to the NFL

While fans mock the importance and quality of preseason games, viewers continue to tune in.

Take the Eagles’ first preseason game last week, which aired on NBC10. More than 325,000 households in the Philadelphia TV market tuned in to watch the meaningless exhibition game, easily making it the most-watched program of the evening, according to an NBC spokesperson. In fact, during the game NBC10 delivered three times the audience of 6abc, Fox 29, CBS3, PHL17, and CW Philly combined.

The Eagles second preseason game against the Cleveland Browns will air at 1 p.m. Sunday on NBC10, with Scott Graham and Ross Tucker in the booth and Dave Spadaro on the sidelines. The game will also air live nationally on the NFL Network.

The Birds will finish out the preseason on the road against the Miami Dolphins on NBC10 on Saturday, Aug. 27, at 7 p.m.

Of course, the Eagles aren’t the only team drawing big ratings. On Saturday, the NFL Network aired four preseason games nationally, and none drew fewer than 1 million viewers. The 7 p.m. matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and Pittsburgh Steelers drew 2.15 million viewers. By comparison, Saturday night’s baseball matchup between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox that aired on Fox — which is available in about 40 million more homes — drew 2.08 million viewers.

As The Athletic’s Bill Shea points out, just a handful of live sports events over the past week averaged near those NFL preseason numbers, including the “Field of Dreams” game on Fox (3.1 million viewers), the PGA Tour’s FedEx St. Jude Championship on NBC (2.96 million viewers), and NASCAR’s Richmond race on USA Network (2.39 million viewers).

All for games that don’t count.

So far in 2022, 14 of the 15 most-watched sporting events were NFL postseason games, topped by the Super Bowl, according to Sports Media Watch. And the eight live preseason games that aired on the NFL Network last week drew an average of 1.59 million viewers, up 10% from last year, according to Sportico’s Anthony Crupi.

Here are the live games the NFL Network will air in Week 2 of the preseason (all times are Eastern):

» READ MORE: Eagles-Browns joint practices: Can Jalen Hurts keep it going? Key matchups to watch.

Last season, TNT decided to experiment by moving its Thursday-night NBA doubleheader to Tuesday through December, so it wouldn’t have to compete with NFL games on Fox.

Despite the fact that Thursday Night Football will stream exclusively on Amazon Prime TV this season, TNT is sticking to the strategy by airing its NBA doubleheaders on Tuesday to avoid an unnecessary ratings battle with the NFL. While viewership will obviously be down since the game will be paywalled by Amazon, local Thursday Night Football games will still air on broadcast TV in their home markets (Eagles will play the Houston Texans on Thursday, Nov. 3).

TNT’s first Thursday doubleheader outside of opening night will be Jan. 5.

TNT will air three Sixers games before Christmas, including the team’s Tuesday, Nov. 22 matchup against the Brooklyn Nets, which will (maybe) feature a return to the Wells Fargo Center by Ben Simmons. They’ll also host Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday, Oct. 20.

TNT has yet to announce its broadcast teams for this season, but its entire Inside the NBA crew is expected to return for the 11th year — including Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, and NBA Hall of Famers Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal.

Barkley flirted with joining the LIV Golf tour as an announcer prior to an event at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., last month, but decided against it, in part because he didn’t want to jeopardize his status with TNT, where he reportedly has three years remaining on his contract.

» READ MORE: Ben Simmons, Carson Wentz will return to Philadelphia 8 days apart