So this is fascinating.

At the Philadelphia Business Journal, Jeff Blumenthal shares some local TV numbers compiled by sister outlet SBJ, and the Philly results are not what you would expect:

“The Flyers’ local television ratings increased by 16% this year despite the team missing out on the playoffs, while the 76ers’ ratings declined by 10% even though they were the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference for the first time in 20 years and seem poised for a long playoff run.

But that is what the numbers show in an expansive report from the Sports Business Journal, an affiliate of the Philadelphia Business Journal, as well as in data provided by NBC Sports Philadelphia, which broadcasts both Flyers and Sixers games.

The Flyers saw an 2.53 ratings share (equivalent to an average of 67,000 households), up 16% from the 2019-20 season. That was good enough for seventh among 24 NHL teams based in the U.S. — trailing only the Pittsburgh Penguins (7.79), Las Vegas Golden Knights (5.08), St. Louis Blues (4.31), Buffalo Sabres (4.30), Boston Bruins (4.19) and Minnesota Wild (2.66). Streaming numbers jumped 76% to 16,600 unique visitors.”

Blumenthal goes on to note that the Sixers averaged 76,000 households per game, though they finished third in this metric across the league while seeing streaming numbers increase by 29%.

On the surface, you would think that since the Sixers were good and the Flyers stunk, that the ratings would the reflect the total opposite of the above data.

Couple thoughts:

  1. Flyers fans are loyal and will always watch the games.
  2. The Sixers had a lot of pointless regular season matchups this year against squads that were not at full strength.
  3. The Flyers games were east coast, regular time games because of the funky COVID setup. No 10 p.m. west coast starts.
  4. There’s probably truth to the thought that a portion of conservative types stopped watching the NBA because of “woke” stuff. It’s hard to prove without large polling, though. We’re kind of guessing when it comes to that topic.

Jeff also writes that NHL ratings were strong in most local markets, while 18 NBA teams saw their local ratings decline. Basketball fans are younger, however, and digital-savvy, and there’s a large contingent of cord cutters and streamers and people consuming the product not through the traditional cable company.

Fascinating stuff to keep an eye on as the media and TV landscape continues to shift.