Is there a sports surplus?

Despite the constant drone of the death of cable, live TV — including sports — continues to dominate primetime. In a single week of August, the combined viewership of the NBA playoffs and the Democratic National Convention reached 41.2 million total viewers — about 1 in 5 American adults.

While live games are still a draw, the current glut of sports on TV is posing a ratings log jam. Week 3 of “Thursday Night Football” drew 5.43 million viewers, a drop of nearly 1 million viewers compared to last year. But the NFL is still the most-watched TV property of the year.

Initially, when the NHL returned Aug. 1, viewership was up 39% from pre-pandemic levels. The return of the rest of sports has sent Stanley Cup Final viewership tumbling, with Games 1-3 down at least 60% compared to last season.

Notable 2020 NFL Broadcasts:

• Week 2 “Monday Night Football” Saints vs Raiders — 15.44 million viewers (largest “MNF” audience since November 2019)
• Week 1 Sunday afternoon Buccaneers vs Saints — 26.3 million viewers (top program of 2020)
• Kickoff Game Texans vs Chiefs — 20.6 million viewers (down 7.2% from last year, the most-watched season opener since 2016)

Australian airline Qantas has ended a 30-year partnership with Rugby Australia early, potentially a sign of things to come in the sponsorship space. “While we’re dealing with this crisis and its aftermath, the cash cost of our sponsorships has to be zero,” Qantas Chief Customer Officer Stephanie Tully said in a statement.

Airline travel in 2020 is expected to fall by as much as 70% globally compared to 2019, a huge blow to an industry that spends more than $761 million per year on sports partnerships. Currently, there are about 700,000 passengers a day in the U.S., a third of the normal rate.

Global sports sponsorship fees are expected to decline 37% overall in 2020 — the airline segment led all categories with a 61% drop. The long-term impact is still unknown as airlines remain a key cog in partnerships, with Delta signing on to be a founding partner for LA28 and Team USA for $400 million in late February.

Major U.S. Airlines’ Recent Quarterly Earnings Reports:

American Airlines: 86% decline in revenue

Delta Air Lines: 88% decline in revenue

Southwest Airlines: 82% decline in revenue

United Airlines: 87% decline in revenue

The Mid-American Conference was the first conference to postpone college football and now it’s the last to come back. MAC schools unanimously voted to return to action with a six-game, conference-only schedule starting in November. 

In classic MAC fashion, the November games will be played on weeknights before shifting to a Saturday slate in December. With the MAC’s announcement, all 10 Football Bowl Subdivision conferences will play in 2020.

While all the conferences are suiting up, three FBS schools won’t: UConn, Old Dominion and New Mexico State. 

MACtion: 

• The MAC started midweek games in 1999.
• ESPN started broadcasting the midweek games regularly in the early 2010s.
• The network signed a 13-year extension with the MAC in 2014, worth a reported $100 million.

Winter is coming and it appears COVID-19 will affect a second ski season. In Vail Resorts’ quarterly earnings report last week, the company said its financial outlook will continue to suffer due to limits on lift tickets, food and beverage sales, and reduced travel.

Vail’s fiscal year ended on July 31, with revenue down 13.6% year-over-year because of the pandemic-shortened ski season and travel disruptions. Total skiers for the year declined by about 10%.

While season passes outpace where they were this time last year by 18%, the company says it’s largely redemption of credits from the shortened year and renewals. New customer sales have declined.

Vail’s Season Pass Pace: 

• Roughly 850,000 passes sold for the upcoming season in North America.
• Sold 1.14 million passes through early December 2019.