Football Fans Show Incredible Interest in Pro Bowl Despite its Irrelevance

I don’t get it. I really do not get it. Our man Danny Lee wrote a satirical piece earlier this week explaining that he won’t be watching either the NHL All-Star Game or Pro Bowl. I don’t mind either All-Star game, or any for that matter, but none of them intrigue me. Actually, the skills competitions prior to the games generally capture my attention, but that’s it. Apparently I’m in the minority, because regardless of how irrelevant the Pro Bowl is, how little the players care about it, and little effort they give during the game, the fans absolutely love it.

Last year we pointed out that the Pro Bowl drew massive TV ratings, figuring that the game’s move to the week between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl played a role in the boost. This year, it seems like more of the same. Check out some of the most popular search terms on google in the hours leading up to the game:

For me, watching the Thunder-Heat and Lakers-Celtics was on my sports radar Sunday. The Pro Bowl was not. Clearly that’s not the case for most sports fans who were so concerned with not missing the Pro Bowl they made it the most-searched term and fourth-most searched term. The power of the NFL is unbelievable, and this is just more evidence that the players and owners must come to an agreement on a new CBA because they can’t risk losing any popularity from this booming business.