Overview
- Tuesday’s telecast averaged 2.0 million viewers across ESPN, ESPN Deportes and DisneyXD, a 57% drop from last year’s 4.7 million.
- This was the first Pro Bowl since 2007 not played on Sunday and the first since 2017 to air exclusively on cable without ABC carriage.
- The league staged the event at San Francisco’s Moscone Center as a test to present flag football as a standalone product and to build toward the 2028 Olympics.
- The audience trailed recent NBA and MLB All-Star showcases and even the WNBA All-Star Game and NASCAR All-Star Race, while edging only the NHL’s 2024 All-Star Game.
- Player opt-outs and diminished credibility persisted, highlighted by rookie Shedeur Sanders’ selection despite poor season numbers, fueling renewed questions about the event’s future.