Cowboys shape up as cure-all for NFL's flagging TV ratings

When the Dallas Cowboys are good, business tends to be good for the NFL.

That isn't such an enchanting thought for teams that play in Philadelphia, Washington or New York, but it’s the reality — evident again this season — when it comes to the TV-driven league.

Led by last weekend’s thriller against the Pittsburgh Steelers, which went down to the wire and averaged nearly 29 million viewers, the Cowboys have been showcased in the three highest-rated games this season and in six of the top 15.

“Not a shock,” Lee Berke, a New York-based sports media consultant, told USA TODAY Sports.

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Even during lean years — Dallas has three playoff victories since it won Super Bowl XXX following the 1995 season — the Cowboys have always been an attractive draw as arguably the NFL’s most popular team. Yet during a season when overall ratings are down 14%, their eight-game winning streak and league-best 8-1 record have helped lessen the blow. And it doesn’t hurt that new stars have emerged in Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott to add another compelling layer.

Industry experts point out that local ratings have remained strong — people in Cleveland still watch the winless Browns with fervor — but the Cowboys have picked up the national slack.

“It’s good to have teams with strong national followings winning, like the Cowboys and the Oakland Raiders,” said Berke, CEO of LHB Sports Entertainment & Media.

“It’s the stuff that allows you to create marquee matchups.”

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Interestingly, while the Raiders (7-2) seem poised for their first winning season since 2002, it has yet to propel them into a national TV force. Their only appearance among the top 15 rated games was an October contest against the San Diego Chargers that went to 12% of the country but was paired with a Cowboys-Cincinnati Bengals game that went to 80% of the nation.

However Oakland has two scheduled prime-time slots over the next four weeks, beginning with Monday's contest against the Houston Texans in Mexico City. Further success could make the Raiders a team NBC might want to feature in its Sunday night slot later in the season.

Of course, so many factors weigh into the ebb and flow of the ratings, which is why Commissioner Roger Goodell and other top executives haven’t panicked about the NFL's numbers. But now, of course, the league is banking on a post-election bump.

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That’s why it was significant that the Cowboys-Steelers game beat 60 Minutes, which had Donald Trump's first interview as President-elect Sunday, as the most-watched show on TV for the entire week. It proved that the viewers are still there and will come back.

Now if only the NFL can stock its national TV windows — NBC has already begun using its option to flex better games into the Sunday night window — with compelling matchups featuring marquee clubs (like "America's Team") in games that are decided at the final gun.

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Follow NFL columnist Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell

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