Earlier this week, the NFL announced changes to the the Pro Bowl, moving away from a traditional game and into a skills competition and flag football game. The league and ESPN will work in conjunction with Peyton Manning-owned Omaha Productions on new content. During an appearance on Afternoon Drive on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland, Monday Morning Quarterback’s Albert Breer said the NFL will probably see a hit in ratings for the marquee event.
“The truth is, if you put an actual game on TV, it’ll do better. I would argue that the promotion and the timeslot, the Pro Bowl has always had more favorable conditions when it comes to that stuff,” said Breer. “I don’t know. I remember watching the Quarterback Challenge as a kid and I thought that was awesome. There were certain things that maybe the casual fan didn’t watch but for the more avid fan are really great, cool things to see. And there’s more things they can do, creatively, to get people to watch. I don’t know that the numbers will be quite the same.”
Breer also pointed out that the NFL was more concerned with the quality of the event and the television product than the revenue and profitability of the event.
“For once, I think the NFL tried to look at this from a prestige standpoint instead of a revenue standpoint. I think they were a little embarrassed with the product,” Breer continued. “And I think they felt like this product shouldn’t be associated with what NFL football is. I think it’s sort of the same train of thought they had with preseason games. People expect a certain level of excellence of the product that we’re putting out and we’re not giving it to them on TV here, and if you take the premise of it being a game out of it and make it just a fun event, you don’t have to worry about that at all.”
The 2023 Pro Bowl Games is currently scheduled for the week beginning Monday, January 30th in Las Vegas.
