With the 2011 NFL TV schedule kicking off on Thursday with a matchup between the last two Super Bowl Champions (Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints), the excitement over the NFL is higher than it has been in the last few seasons.
The deprivation of football that was the lockout-shortened offseason has made the fans who love football even more hungry for the sport, and television ratings are expected to rise from their record numbers last season.
In 2010, CBS and FOX averaged 20 million viewers, more than twice what networks receive for their prime-time programming, and they have revamped their announcing crews to get ready for the viewership rush.
CBS Sports president Sean McManus told Sports Illustrated:
"With all the movement and so much activity, I think people are really excited about the NFL season. I’ve given up trying to predict how high NFL ratings will go because often our most optimistic projections are exceeded. But I think there is certainly room for growth and if you get the kind of season and postseason we had last year, I think anything is possible."
Both CBS and FOX have kept the same pregame and halftime crews from last season, and the familiarity is something many football fans will lean on, as the NFL itself had an enormous turnover in personnel this offseason.
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