Bill Belichick has been a busy man ever since exiting as the New England Patriots head coach this offseason. Belichick has been participating in a number of media opportunities, including Netflix's Roast of Tom Brady and a 2024 NFL Draft livestream with Pat McAfee. Now Belichick is part of ESPN's ManningCast alternative Monday Night Football stream.
However, it seems that Belichick is not yet bringing as many eyes to the broadcast as ESPN may have expected.
The 2024 debut of the ManningCast, which featured former NFL coach Bill Belichick, had disappointing viewership numbers. The Week 1 ManningCast for the Jets vs. 49ers had an all-time low viewership count of 872,000 according to Sports Business Daily, per ProFootballTalk.
This was a 43% drop from Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season. Even worse, the ManningCast only accounted for 4.2% of the total 20.5 million-strong audience as announced by ESPN.
There are a number of possible explanations for why the viewership numbers were so low in Week 1.
First, fans may not have found the combination of Peyton, Eli, and Bill to be a very engaging trio. That may come from fans trying out the alternate broadcast and then quickly leaving, or never tuning in at all. If this is true, we should expect to see similar viewership numbers throughout the rest of the 2024 ManningCast schedule.
However, another possibility could be the lopsided nature of the Week 1 matchup specifically. The 49ers dominated the Jets, and the game felt hopeless after the first drive of the third quarter. There was not much to analyze in this game, especially in the second half.
It will be interesting to see if the ManningCast can gel together throughout the 2024 season.
Bill Belichick ends ManningCast: The Musical with huge revelation
ESPN made a big production, literally, out of announcing that Bill Belichick would be joining The ManningCast for the 2024 NFL season.
Omaha Productions released a 10-minute video on the Tuesday before Week 1 that was titled ManningCast — The Musical. The video featured over 40 celebrity cameos and quite a few musical numbers.
The video concluded with Belichick confirming that he will participate on the program this fall.
“Peyton, it's Bill. I'm good on this ManningCast thing this season,” Belichick says towards the end of the video, on the phone with Peyton Manning.
Manning does a good job of looking excited after receiving the news. “Seriously? You are?”
“Yeah, count me in,” Belichick said.
The video concluded with a complete list of the ManningCast schedule for the 2024 NFL season.
NFL fans will not have to wait long for the next ManningCast. Peyton, Eli, and Bill will be back in Week 2 to cover Falcons at Eagles.
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