NFL FOOTBALL: TOO MANY PLAYERS?

A day after a significant drop in the ratings for NBC’s Sunday Night Football was reported, the New York Post is now saying that overall ratings for ESPN’s Monday Night Football are down roughly 10 percent for the season. The problem may be that ESPN is being forced to air unappealing games, the Post observed, noting that undefeated champs the Green Bay Packers have appeared just once this season on ESPN, and No. 2 team Pittsburgh Steelers have yet to appear at all. “When you’re spreading professional football games across four different partners [ESPN, CBS, NBC, and Fox — not to mention the NFL’s own cable network], there’s a limit to how well you can satisfy all four,” Michael Cramer, director of the sports and media program at the University of Texas, told the Post.