Cardinals Near Last in NFL Viewership Rankings

Not too many eyes were on the Arizona Cardinals this season.

Jan 5, 2025; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) against the San Francisco 49ers at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

ARIZONA -- The Arizona Cardinals ranked near the bottom of Sportico's average annual viewership rankings for the 2024 season.

Arizona's figure of 8.59 million viewers ranked third-from-last, only finishing ahead of the Tennessee Titans (5.61 million) and Jacksonville Jaguars (6.4 million):

The most and least viewed teams this season:

Any surprises? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/3BzcxUQctg

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) January 24, 2025

As PHNX's Bo Brack points out, it doesn't help that Arizona's only appearance on Monday Night Football against the Los Angeles Chargers was the second part of a doubleheader and was relegated to ESPN+ members.

Being thrown on ESPN+ as part of a Monday Night doubleheader didn't help the Cardinals average viewership numbers.

Cards vs Chargers only drew 1.8M viewers on the app https://t.co/pgnwTHy0ie

— Bo Brack (@BoBrack) January 24, 2025

Arizona's finish to the regular season also didn't help, as the Cardinals going 2-5 over their final seven games certainly didn't keep viewership at a premium to end the year.

That, combined with Arizona's lack of established die-hard roots for the Cardinals, is notable according to The Arizona Republic's Theo Mackie:

"Even when the Cardinals were enjoying their unexpectedly strong start, there was a common sight on Sunday afternoons in Glendale. Much of State Farm Stadium — and nearly all of the sections behind the opposing sideline — would be filled by fans in visiting colors," he wrote.

"... The Valley will always be a haven for transplants. The Cardinals can’t expect to have the same home-field advantage as teams such as the Packers and Steelers boast. But in Year 6 of the Kyler Murray era, there was a clear lack of energy surrounding this team — a pervading sense of 'prove it, then we’ll show up.'"

Too often do other teams take over the seats in Glendale, though it's clear there's not much national interest on watching the Cardinals play every Sunday, either.