HBO didn’t attract a lot of audiences for the season premiere of Hard knocks.
The first episode of this year’s NFL training camp reality show drew 273,000 viewers, according to Austin Karp of Sports Affairs Journal. That’s a huge drop from the 705,000 who watched the first episode last year, and perhaps the smallest audience ever for an episode of Hard knocks.
We don’t know why the audience has shrunk so much. The format – featuring both the Rams and the Chargers – may not be as interesting as an inside look at a team. The show may become stale after years of showing fans an offensive line coach barking orders as he stood on a blocking sled, and an undrafted rookie getting angry when he gets cut.
Whatever the reasons, this is a very disappointing number for HBO, at a time when some thought fans were so desperate for the return of football that they would watch any football related content.
