Packers smoke Brewers in head-to-head TV duel

[PeaveyFury]

Also interesting to note that these are Milwaukee numbers only. I'd imagine the Packer margin of victory in total viewers got much more substantial as you got further from the Milwaukee area.

[squambaum]

This is still a Packer state and by Sunday I think most of the casual fans had already come to grips with the fact that Brewers were probably done. This was a team that backed into the playoffs with a sputtering offense and they put Jeff Suppan on the mound who gave up a lot of runs early. This Packers team is struggling and the defense is injury riddled but I bet you could still find more people who can name every Packers starter (including injury replacements) than people who could name every member of the Brewers roster (25 man not 40).

[saget]

I did my duty and flipped back & forth. It took some masterful channel surfing skills, but I didn't miss a single pitch.

[fitz19]

This coming from the guy who has a Brewers logo photoshopped on a FB helmet? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

Yes, I like football. Just thought the Brewer helmet looked cool. From this website: http://mghelmets.com/mlb.html . http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

 

I know there is a tendency to the Packers than anything else. However, 26 are 26 years. You would figure that the numbers for the Brewers' game would be higher. In addition, as mentioned, 80% of the TV's in the Milwaukee area are cable/sat connected.

[danzig6767]

One thing nobody has brought up is women

 

While there obviously are female fans of baseball and the Brewers, i think the Packers have far more female fans than the Brewers do. I know a lot of females who aren't really sports fans, but they sit down every Sunday or nearly every Sunday and watch the Packers play. They are devoted to the Packers, but won't sit down either and watch the other football games or Monday Night Football. The Packers being pretty much the extent of their sports viewing. That's a tough demographic for other local sports to grab.

[RightFieldCoder]

...and people wonder why I hate the Packers. This is why.

[berniebrewer4life]

Yes, I like football. Just thought the Brewer helmet looked cool. From this website: http://mghelmets.com/mlb.html . http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

 

 

This is completely off topic, but alot of those look really good on a football helmet, Dodgers and Tigers really caught my eye.

[GB12]

Not at all unexpected results, but how exactly do they get these numbers?

[BrewCrewForever]

I guess it really does not surprise me. As much as this state loves the Brewers and supported them this season, it will probably always be a Packers first state. That just seems to be reality. I love the Packers to, but to me Brewers and baseball will always be #1. I watched the Brewers even after Suppan blew it but I did turn on the Packers during commercial's.

[homer]

Regardless of what people want to think. Doesn't matter if the Brewers were to win 5 World Series titles in a row. This is, and will always be, a football state.

That's what they said about the Bears in Chicago. Then a guy named Michael Jordan showed up.

 

And in '82, the Brewers were a much bigger story than the Packers.

[TSack27]

Tsack are you telling me there are no bars in GB with satellite? I can't believe they all just have cable.

Well, we had just driven an hour from where we were fishing, with two trucks & travel trailers. We were on the outskirts of town along the highway in the direction we had to head after the game. None of the locals could give us an idea of where we could be assured of finding a sports bar that would have satellite on that side of town. So rather than drive back into town with two campers during the peak of tailgating time and then fight even more traffic getting those campers back out with the traffic chaos that follows the game, we jumped on the highway and got to a place we were assured of seeing the Brewers.

 

So back to the ratings topic, how do the TV stat trackers decide who is watching which game when they channel surf, have picture-in-picture, or two televisions? What about those sports bar that have 2 or 3 Packer TV's to every one Brewer TV? Based upon other things like news coverage and memorabilia sales leading up to this day, seems like the Packers still lead in this state. So while the Brewers are closing that game, I do have to agree with the initial post - not surprised by the Packers lead, just surprised by how much and that is what has me questioning the data collection.

[GB12]

That's what they said about the Bears in Chicago. Then a guy named Michael Jordan showed up.

 

And in '82, the Brewers were a much bigger story than the Packers.

 

And then he left and everyone forgot about the Bulls. The Bears were more popular before, they're more popular now, and they might have even been more popular during.

 

Remember the Bucks back in 2001? Everyone was into the Bucks that year and now they could care less. There will be times when teams have highs, but it all levels out. In Wisconsin the Packers will always be #1. This state is even an exception to most. In one year the Bucks could win the NBA Championship, the Brewers could win the World series, the Badgers could win the National Championship, and the Packers could go 8-8 and people would still probably care the most about the Packers.

[homer]

GB12 wrote:

 

And then he left and everyone forgot about the Bulls. The Bears were more popular before, they're more popular now, and they might have even been more popular during.

 

Remember the Bucks back in 2001? Everyone was into the Bucks that year and now they could care less. There will be times when teams have highs, but it all levels out. In Wisconsin the Packers will always be #1. This state is even an exception to most. In one year the Bucks could win the NBA Championship, the Brewers could win the World series, the Badgers could win the National Championship, and the Packers could go 8-8 and people would still probably care the most about the Packers.

No way were the Bears more popular than the Bulls during the Jordan era. But you're right - it's cyclical. That's my point.

 

I'm not sure how old you are, but the Packers weren't that big a deal from the early 70's - early 90's. There were numerous times that games did not sell out at County Stadium (yes, they always sold out Lambeau) and some company would have to snap them up in order for the game to be shown locally here in Milwaukee. Interest started to pick up when they hired Wolf/Holmgren and then skyrocketed with Favre.

 

I wasn't that old in '82, but I seem to recall the Brewers owning this state at the time. Maybe WhizKid or JohnBriggs could confirm that.

[AJAY]

I'm not sure how old you are, but the Packers weren't that big a deal from the early 70's - early 90's. There were numerous times that games did not sell out at County Stadium (yes, they always sold out Lambeau) and some company would have to snap them up in order for the game to be shown locally here in Milwaukee. Interest started to pick up when they hired Wolf/Holmgren and then skyrocketed with Favre.

 

I wasn't that old in '82, but I seem to recall the Brewers owning this state at the time. Maybe WhizKid or JohnBriggs could confirm that.

 

 

Yup, I can definitely confirm that. I don't recall any buzz about the Packers when I was a kid. I remember having one friend and his dad who were into the Packers. Other than that, nobody I knew even talked about football. In fact, when the Packers started winning with Favre, I was personally shocked at the level of interest in football because I never really thought anyone even cared about that sport. But I guess winning changes things.

 

Anyway, I certainly respect the amount of interest in football today. The NFL obviously gets big ratings. But I won't tolerate people trying to re-write history and claim that this has ALWAYS been a football state. Even going back to the days of the Milwaukee Braves, the Packers would regularly get bumped from the Milwaukee Journal coverage because of the interest in baseball.

 

Anyway, I am proud of our 3 million attendance and highest per capita attendance in MLB despite being the smallest market. There is no shortage of Brewers fans and it was great to see the excitement all over the state. I thought I read somewhere that the Brewers also had some of the highest local TV ratings in all of baseball. Our franchise has a lot to be proud of.

 

Can't wait for next season. Good luck to the Packers too.

[jeffy]

I am proud of our 3 million attendance and highest per capita attendance in MLB despite being the smallest market.

 

Yeah, the Packers won't beat that!

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

The Packers were still quite popular in the 70's & 80's...it was painful, but football Sundays are like Friday Night Fish Frys in Wisconsin...no matter what the fish tastes like or how good/bad the Packers are...Wisconsinites will show up.

 

Baseball has had a more difficult path over time...the Braves moved, the 90's were hopeless for small market teams...it's great to see things back on the upswing, but it's always been a bumpier ride. The Packers will always be fairly popular reagrdless of the team...I hope the Brewers can maintain their support even if the team falls back a little next year.

[rluzinski]

The Packers have a huge head start but the Greater Milwaukee Area is far from being apathetic towards baseball. These last few years have proven that. If the Brewers could remain above average for an extended period of time, I think you'd see that huge gap shrink considerably.

 

A few years ago, the Brewers were one of the worst professional sports franchises in the United States. Cultivating a large fanbase takes time.