NFL Rumors: Pro Bowl Could Be Eliminated After Declining TV Ratings

The All-Star Game for America's most popular sport could soon be no more. The NFL is considering the possibility of eliminating the Pro Bowl, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports.

The league is looking into ways of improving Pro Bowl week, and those ideas include getting rid of the game altogether, according to Rapoport. The Pro Bowl is typically scheduled for the Sunday in between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl.

The Pro Bowl has been much-maligned throughout the years. It’s often missing many of the NFL’s top stars. Players on the two Super Bowl rosters aren’t allowed to compete in the game, and countless other Pro Bowl selections skip the contest. The Pro Bowl is far less physical than any other NFL game as players look to avoid injuries in what usually isn’t a very intense affair.

But for all the criticism that the game receives, the Pro Bowl is actually quite popular compared to other major sporting events. The 2022 Pro Bowl drew an average of 6.69 million viewers across all platforms.

Compare that to the first round of the 2022 NBA playoffs, which generated an average of 3.49 million viewers per game. It marked the NBA’s most-watched opening round of the postseason in four years.

Ratings for the Pro Bowl have declined, likely prompting the NFL to investigate making changes. Two years ago, an average of 7.97 million viewers watched the Pro Bowl on ESPN and ABC. There was no Pro Bowl in 2021 because of the pandemic. More than eight million people watched the Pro Bowl in 2019 and 2018.

The 2022 NBA All-Star Game drew similar ratings to the Pro Bowl with average viewership of 6.28 million viewers on TBS and TNT. An average of 8.2 million people watched the 2021 MLB All-Star Game.

The most recent Pro Bowl took place at Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium. It was played almost exclusively in Hawaii from 1974-2013.

The next Pro Bowl is scheduled to take place on Feb. 5, 2023, at Allegiant Stadium.