Anticipation for the upcoming NFL season is growing by the day as teams continue rolling through training camp and shaping their roster before final cuts are made. You wouldn’t get the sense that fans are excited about the return of football based on “Hard Knocks” ratings, however.
The season premiere drew low ratings two weeks ago, and viewership isn’t growing as the show progresses, either. According to Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal, Tuesday’s episode – the third of the season – was the least watched in the series’ history.
Only 179,000 viewers tuned in on HBO, which is down 29% from the week prior and 35% from the premiere. Overall, this season is down a whopping 66% from last year with the Raiders.
"Hard Knocks" continues to set record lows.
Episode 3 averaged 179,000 viewers on HBO (streaming still not being released by HBO Max).
That is the least-watched episode on record. 29% lower than Ep. 2, which was show's prior low.
After 3 episodes, series is -66% from 2019
— Austin Karp (@AustinKarp) August 27, 2020
HBO and NFL Films were dealt a rough hand this year due to the pandemic, which caused the league to cancel the preseason and shorten training camp. There are only 14 padded practices for each team, which limits the amount of on-field action camera crews can film.
This season has been admittedly slow without preseason storylines and joint practices, but it’s shocking to see how far viewership has dropped off. Undoubtedly, the NBA and NHL playoffs – as well as the MLB season – are ratings from “Hard Knocks,” but with two teams on the show, it’s still surprising the numbers aren’t better.
