The numbers don’t lie. Sports fans can’t get their fill of strapping young black men in spandex. The Homoerotic Den of Delights or, as it’s commonly called, “The NFL Combine” drew 5.2 million viewers over four days. That’s more people than a week’s worth of MLB telecasts on ESPN. ESPN is in nearly twice as many homes as the NFL Network. That’s insane.
Why is this monotony so popular? Well, it’s hard to find a more compelling slice of drama than the shuttle run (especially when run 200 times), but, beyond that, the viewership figures support Jeff Pearlman’s theory that people find talking about sports more fun than watching it. The NFL Draft is a three-day spectacle, not because it has a tangible impact on the field, but because it’s fun to play GM and speculate about hypothetical scenarios.
NFL Network will carry 30 hours of combine coverage. Looking forward to the HD closeups of the stretching, and the inevitable man-boob gifs.
[Photo via Getty]