The NFL’s decision to make Los Angeles a two-team market has backfired big time since the start of last season.
We’ve seen opposing teams take over both the homes of the Rams and Chargers during this span. Television ratings in the nation’s second-largest media market have also been impacted.
And despite both the Rams and Chargers being legitimate Super Bowl contenders, this hasn’t changed in recent weeks.
According to Sports Media Watch, Sunday night’s elite matchup between the Chargers and Pittsburgh Steelers drew a 12.9 rating in the Los Angeles area, not good enough to crack the top 10 NFL markets. Meanwhile, the game drew a whopping 45.9 rating in Pittsburgh.
This just goes to show us how depressed the Los Angeles market has been when it comes to the NFL. Whether this changes when the Rams and Chargers move into their multi-billion dollar stadium in 2020 remains to be seen. But these certainly aren’t great optics.