Texans didn't get screwed. We were a non-playoff team last year and we aren't a draw on national tv. Heck, we aren't even a big in market draw relative to other teams.
I've run through that schedule multiple times and I can make a plausible argument for anything between 9 and 11 wins without feeling dirty.
But is New Orleans that much of a draw on a national level (outside of New Orleans)? They're getting the early 2000's Dallas Cowboys treatment, and still getting the obligatory 1 SNF game despite not being a playoff team for 2 years. Chances are the Texans late-season Pats game is a prime flex candidate (to the 3pm national game, or the SNF game) if they're doing well.
Yes. The Saints had nearly a 20% drop in tv ratings and were still the #2 ranked team in the NFL last year behind the Packers. The Texans were the 20th ranked team.
I presume Kansas City is similiar? (another non-playoff team getting a SNF game). Basically they're benefitting from the small-town factor where EVERYBODY in Wisconsin, New Orleans, and Kansas City watches their team's games. That skews the "ratings" % as much as anything.
Drew Brees is a national draw. That said, the Texans are also working with the fact that they only have 4 playoff teams on their schedule. You generally are going to want at least one of the teams to be a playoff or exciting team, and the Texans don't have many options: Indy, Indy, Cinci, and New England. NE already has 5 national games, so it's hard to argue for another one for them. The Texans got Indy and Cinci (and they are arguably the least exciting playoff team out there). So the only other logical game is another game against Indy, and there's not much reason for that. A team like KC has 3 - but two of them are against Denver and Greenbay. KC is not the primary draw in those games. And their 3rd game is a division rivalry with two pretty good teams - unfortunately for the Texans, neither Tennessee or Jacksonville make for compelling rivalry games.
3 of the 4 primetime games the Saints had last year were in the top 50 watched tv programs of the year. Neither of the Texans games registered. The draws on national tv (in terms of total viewers) tend to lineup pretty well with the local market ratings.
The Chiefs also had 3 games make the top 50, with 3 games over 20 million total viewers. The Texans didn't get a game to 18 million, despite playing Pittsburgh on Monday Night and Pittsburgh had like 4 or 5 games over 20 million. I don't know why this baffles people, but Houston is not a good sports market.
J.J. Watt is a much bigger name/star. Brees may now be below Rivers in terms of QB rankings. Sure, he was once great... but no non-saints fan is tuning in to an NFL game to catch a glimpse of Drew Brees. I'm still pretty surprised the NE game is simply a 12 pm regional game. Again, chances are that gets flexed if the Texans are doing well. And New Orleans/Brees isn't the primary draw in their game... doesn't change the fact that the NFL still looks at the ratings game a little bit more than simply going for the best matchups... and in the end, they end up with a lot of duds of games on national tv that causes an eventual course correction/helluva lot of flexing.
They're just not a small-town rabid sports market.... but there's still much more money to be made being an owner of a pro team in Houston, vs. an owner of a pro team in KC, NO, or Nashville. Also, lets stop calling "monday night football" a national game.... its not even the 3rd best game of the week now. SNF or CBS/FOX 3pm game is usually the best slot... and with the ratings TNF is getting (close to SNF), they'll soon get warrant a chance to garner more than simply division games.
Maybe true for a hardcore NFL fan. But in the mind of a casual fan? Drew Brees - and any star QB - is a bigger draw than a defensive end, no matter how good he is. Ratings regularly confirm this. Of course they look at ratings - as they should. The point of TV is to show games that people want to watch. If people don't want to watch the Texans, it's silly to put them on national TV.
I mean that's fine if you want to knock MNF, but plenty of them are in the top 50 with other teams, just not the Texans.
Why would you stop calling a nationally-televised game a nationally-televised game? It's not called "best game of the week football that happens to be on Monday night". I can't even follow what you're arguing the last few posts. Texans just aren't very popular nationwide (unless you want to change the definition of nationwide to "houston metro area") and Major/justtxyank have stats to back that up. Who cares how much an owner can make in Houston over New Orleans? Doesn't change the fact that more people want to watch the Saints over the Texans.
Regardless, the Texans had one game that started at 3, one Thursday night game and one Monday Night Football game. Other teams made the top 50 broadcasts one on of those games, but the Texans whiffed on all 3. That doesn't mean the Texans suck or that Bob McNair is a bad owner or Houston sucks, it's just the nature of the beast. Houston sports don't draw well LOCALLY compared to other markets and they don't draw well nationally. We are just a weird sports town. It is what it is. Accept it. It shouldn't upset you. But, Nick is wright that MNF is trending down in terms of audience, but that's also because it is on ESPN. Only one MNF made the top 50, Eagles Cowboys. Ratings are great for ESPN, but they don't have the carriage nationally that CBS/FOX/NBC have.
Because typically "national" games have been the "best" games, and MNF used to be what SNF is now... but with the way the NFL tv deals have been re-structured and with MNF moving to cable, its no longer the stage it once was. And the quality of games they're getting is now reflecting that. Small markets are tuning into their teams games more than Houstonians... that should not be misconstrued as "popularity" as much as overall franchise value (which reflects everything from ticket sales, merchandise, radio deals, stadium deals that get impacted by city size, etc.). Despite lower "ratings", the Texans will likely carry more weight than the Chiefs.
Exactly... just like ratings are great in New Orleans and Kansas City, but that doesn't necessarily equate/compare to overall raw numbers of tv watching patrons in bigger cities/markets. I agree with Major's points about those teams do have the better matchups this year compared to the Texans' options (other than New England).
Except in terms of RAW VIEWERS, New Orleans, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Green Bay, etc. dominate the national tv numbers. This is raw viewers, not percentages. The teams with 20 million+ viewer games is not limited to New York and Chicago, it includes Green Bay, San Fran, ARIZONA!!!!, Carolina, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Detroit, etc.
