Off Hours: Pigskin season is well upon us

OK, I’ll admit it. Much as I love being outdoors, and nice as the weather has been, I’ve already started the transition to one important part of my winter routine: hanging out around the TV on Sunday and Monday nights. It’s football. I’d intended to resist until the weather changed, but then the 49ers were on the Monday night broadcast a few weeks back, and that was it.
Suddenly, football is everywhere. The PeeWee leagues have started, and the kids look so darn cute in their uniforms. Prep football is under way as well, and I always get to a few of the SLV games to catch my pal Zane Prunella in action. (Last year’s night game under the lights was a fun deal for players, family, and fans — something I hope we see more of.) At some point, pretty much everyone’s favorite college team will be on TV, and there’s even interstate minor-league football now.
But it’s the pros, the National Football League, that gives millions of us a reason or excuse to sit down and watch TV each Sunday and Monday night from now through the end of the year. Many of us won’t even know who’s playing until we turn on the set. If it’s the home team, great, but a pretty good share of us will happily watch no matter who it is.
Part of that is the level of excellence. A stinker can happen any time, but generally, the competition is well matched and the games are competitive and well played. Better than most other sports, football translates well to TV, and the NFL embraced its television future very early on. As a result, its popularity with viewers has gone on long enough for it to become a tradition in many households.
Kids love and cling to family traditions, things that are predictable and stable in an unpredictable world. A lot of us have positive childhood memories related to watching football on TV — the festive dynamic and positive vibe, the rituals with family and friends in attendance.
So I was in good company when I succumbed to the attraction while the weather is still warm — again.
How good? At a time when new channels and entertainment options dramatically splinter audiences, the NFL seems bulletproof. According to Nielson, the television ratings authority, the preseason football games — all of them — were the No. 1 most-viewed program in their market each week. This year’s season opener was the league’s most-watched kickoff weekend in 23 years, with an average of 19.5 million viewers per telecast (different games are aired in different parts of the country).
Nielson monitors a wide array of demographic data for the Super Bowl, providing detailed information on viewers nationwide. For starters, 106.5 million of us watched. And while football continues to skew toward male viewers, men represented only 55 percent of those watching the 2009 Super Bowl: An estimated 48.5 million females watched as well, up 4.3 million from the 2008 contest. About 8.3 million viewers in Hispanic households saw the game, 44 percent of them female. African American household viewership was 11.2 million, 48 percent being female.
Nielsen also found that higher-income households were more likely to tune in to Super Bowl XLIV. A whopping 74 percent of folks with a household income of $500,000 or more tuned in to the game, compared with 45 percent of all households. With each step down the income ladder, viewership declined. And a note of interest to pet owners: With Michael Vick not in the game, viewers who owned a dog or cat tuned in to the Super Bowl at a rate 18 percent higher than those with no dog or cat.
Actually going to a game with family or friends can be an unparalleled kick in the pants, too. The stadium experience, the tailgate party and the enthusiasm of other fans can almost offset the cost of tickets, and the hassle of parking, and the $8 beer, and missing the big plays while standing in the bathroom lines, and the nightmare of getting out of the parking lot afterward.
But in my book, a big high-def TV usually trumps 50-yard-line seats and VIP parking. One gets the best view, from multiple angles, and replays. The analysis comes from real experts, instead of the obnoxious jerks sitting behind you. It’s family-friendly, and with a pizza or some fingerfood, it’s a party. There are even breaks every now and again, time to grab and gobble some grub or make a run to the restroom or the kitchen.
It’s a theory I’ll be researching further over the next few months.
Steve Bailey of Boulder Creek has spent plenty of time in recreational activities. Contact him at

sb*****@cr****.com











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