NFL viewership is stabilizing. Following two weeks of year-over-year viewership dips, the league drew an average of 15.5 million viewers per game in Week 3 — flat compared to last year.

Viewership for Weeks 1 and 2 was down 8% and 5%, respectively. Week 3’s “Monday Night Football” matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens was up 36% compared to the same night last year.

Meanwhile, the NHL’s Stanley Cup Final ratings were down 61% year-over-year, with only 2.88 million viewers tuning in to watch the Tampa Bay Lightning secure the title on Monday. Despite the crammed sports schedule and viewers being drawn to cable news leading up to the presidential election, the top 15 shows on TV have all been NFL games since the season began.

Most-Viewed Broadcasts Since NFL Season Began:

26.3M — Buccaneers vs Saints, Week 1

22.8M — Cowboys vs Seahawks, Week 3

20.6M — Texans vs Chiefs, Week 1

19.0M — Cowboys vs Rams, Week 1

19.0M — Chiefs vs Chargers, Week 2

With news the XFL will return in spring 2022, there are several questions. Chief among them: Who’s taking the media rights?

During bankruptcy proceedings, the league had pitched a 2021 “made-for-TV” season, but the new plan doesn’t seem to follow that line of thinking. Ratings for the 2020 iteration of the XFL started out well, but Week 5 viewership was 63% below Week 1, with an average of 1.16 million viewers.

After an ownership group including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Dany Garcia bought the XFL in August, Fox Sports signaled it was still interested in broadcasting the league. ESPN was wary of a new owner not named Vince McMahon, but indicated it could be open to continuing its partnership.

XFL Timeline:

2001: McMahon — who also founded the WWE — launched the XFL, which fizzled out after one season.

2018-20: McMahon poured $200 million into the relaunch effort.

February 2020: XFL 2.0 kicked off.

March 2020: Season called off because of COVID-19, employees laid off less than a month later.

April 2020: The XFL filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

August 2020: Johnson and business partner Dany Garcia, along with RedBird Capital, purchased the league for $15 million.

FuboTV has filed for an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange. The sports streaming service will issue 15 million common stock shares, looking to raise up to $165 million.

Its subscriber base has steadily grown since launching in 2015. Shares are expected to be between $9-$11.

Americans are dropping cable at a rapid clip, with accounts down 22.8% from 2014’s peak. By 2024, it’s expected more than a third of those still tethered will cut the cord.

FuboTV Second Quarter Earnings: 

$39.5 million in subscription revenue (up 51% year-over-year)

$4.3 million in advertising revenue (up 71%)

$99.8 million net loss

$54.79 average revenue per user

286,126 paid subscribers (up 47%)

98.6 million hours streamed (up 83%)

At-home fitness isn’t only driving a rapidly growing connected fitness sector — living room workouts are causing thirsty consumers to reach for sports drinks. PepsiCo, which owns Gatorade, reported its third quarter earnings yesterday, which included a 5.3% increase in revenue to $18 billion.

“People are exercising at home, people are embracing daily routines of exercising that helps the sports drink category and obviously Gatorade as a leader in that category,” PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta said on a conference call. PepsiCo stock was up 1.59% on the day.

Pass Me A Cold One:

Constellation Brands will look to use sports to help bolster sales in the second half of its fiscal year. The owner of a variety of alcohol brands — including Corona, Modelo and Pacifico — also reported its earnings yesterday, beating estimates. 

The company’s beer business grew 11% in tracked retail sales. Even so, Constellation Brands expects a strong push in marketing spending with the return of sports — as much as 10% of net sales on a full-year basis.

New NFL x Constellation Partnerships:

• Rams x Corona
• Chargers x Pacifico
• Raiders x Modelo