The tremendous undefeated season of the New England Patriots has helped the National Football League get a lot of attention and TV networks to make a lot of advertising money.
So far the Patriots are 14-0, with two games remaining in their bid to become the second team in history to go undefeated. The only team to do it so far is the 1972 Miami Dolphins, who ended up winning the Super Bowl that year.
All the TV partners of the NFL have had great years as a result of the interest in the Patriots. The broadcast partners are CBC Corp. (CBS-A), NBC (GE), ESPN (DIS) and the NFL Network.
This year has been a banner year for all the NFL broadcast partners, as ESPN enjoyed the biggest audience in cable history when the Patriots played the Baltimore Ravens, with 12.5 million home tuning in.
NBC was the beneficiary of the Patriots game against Philadelphia on November 25, where it broke a record for a Sunday night game by 44 percent.
The game against fellow unbeaten team at the time, the Indianapolis Colts was the highest rated game for Sunday afternoon since 1987.
Three of the Patriots games are also the highest rating TV shows of the 2007 season, according to the league.
"They are just a steam engine going down the tracks," said CBS Sports President Sean McManus. "The Patriots have been a great story for us. They're the driving force behind our ratings."
The increased interest in games has allowed the networks to charge premium prices for their ads; a huge, bright spot in a declining ad market exasperated by the writers strike.
Comment Preview