The NFL completely revamped its Pro Bowl format for the 2022 season, and the changes did not garner more viewers.

An average of 6.28 million viewers tuned into the event across ABC, ESPN, and DisneyXD Sunday for the first 7-on-7 event. That number is a decrease of 6% compared to last year and is the lowest-rated Pro Bowl since the 2006 event saw just 5.96 million viewers. That figure excludes the 2021 Pro Bowl, which was a “virtual” event due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the numbers decreased, the Pro Bowl was still the second-highest-rated All-Star Game for the major professional sports leagues, with the MLB All-Star Game seeing an average viewership of 7.51 million. The 6.28 million who watched the Pro Bowl is a virtual tie with last season’s NBA All-Star Game.

The Pro Bowl Skills Challenge — now produced by Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions — did see a large increase in viewership compared to last year. More than 1 million viewers tuned into the Thursday night primetime event, which is the second-best figure on record. That audience is a 23% increase compared to last year’s event.

Terry Bradshaw has done well with his broadcasting career. He’s glad he stuck with it.

When Bradshaw retired from playing in 1984, he hopped right into the broadcast booth at CBS. But Terry was open about admitting he just wasn’t cut out for a play-by-play role.

“I was a better player in the Super Bowl than I am as a broadcaster,” Bradshaw told BSM’s Demetri Ravanos on Radio Row in Phoenix on Tuesday. Bradshaw will be a part of the FOX NFL Sunday crew getting America ready for the big game.

“I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to stumble in broadcasting. And after a really hard talk and deciding well I’ll retire, I’m not gonna do this anymore. It wasn’t any fun,” Terry added. “And then The NFL Today came calling. And that’s really where I should’ve been.”

Bradshaw said a conversation with Ted Shaker at CBS helped change the trajectory of his broadcasting career.

Terry has made a name for himself being a form of comic relief on the FOX set. He said having a chance to have fun and not get too bogged down by talking about the minutiae of football is what makes his job fun.

“I don’t look at X’s and O’s. I don’t care anything about X’s and O’s,” Bradshaw said. “If I’ve got something that’s really important that involves X’s and O’s, I’ll say it. But where am I gonna get that? Who’s gonna share that with me? Nobody!”

Viewership for the Super Bowl this weekend has the potential to be the best on record. One FOX executive believes Sunday’s Chiefs/Eagles matchup will surpass the mark set by the last Super Bowl played at State Farm Stadium.

In 2015, Patriots/Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX drew in 115.2 million on NBC. Last year’s Super Bowl, which featured the Rams and Bengals, was the first since 2017 to have an audience larger than 110 million.

Mike Mulvihill, FOX Sports Executive Vice President and Head of Strategy & Analytics, told Sports Business Journal that the trend is pointing toward 115 million again.

“We’re going to see a huge pop in Philly and probably a little bit of a pop in New York,” Mulvihill said. “Those eastern Pennsylvania markets, Scranton and Harrisburg, are bigger than people really realize. I think we’ll see at least a million additional viewers just from the Eagles’ home territory.”

Mulvihill also said the fact that viewership for the regular season across the board, as well as playoffs, has been the best in eight years is a big reason why he’s anticipating a record-setting audience.

“The big events of this season have really delivered, so that gives you a backdrop of optimism,” he said.