Joe Burrow #9 of the Cincinnati Bengals in opposition to the Tennessee Titans right through the AFC Divisional Playoff at Nissan Stadium on January 22, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Andy Lyons | Getty Pictures
The Kansas Town Chiefs have the most important megastar in quarterback Patrick Mahomes. However the Cincinnati Bengals will be the higher AFC workforce for the 2022 Tremendous Bowl some of the final Nationwide Soccer League playoff groups, a minimum of for Perfect Purchase.
Loop Capital Markets, in a word to shoppers this week, attempted to resolve which Tremendous Bowl LVI matchup would power probably the most gross sales of latest TVs and residential theaters on the store. It concluded a Cincinnati Bengals as opposed to Los Angeles Rams matchup would receive advantages the store maximum.
Loop Capital used “metropolitan statistical space” metrics to lend a hand in figuring out the inhabitants dimension of a town and surrounding counties. The MSA for Cincinnati and Los Angeles is 15.5 million, blended. The golf equipment’ blended 36 years since they closing gave the impression in a Tremendous Bowl – 33 of the ones years belonging to the Bengals’ absence – would additionally desire possible gross sales, Loop mentioned.
The company decided a Chiefs-49ers contest “will be the least fascinating end result” for Perfect Purchase, given there may be handiest been a blended 3 years for the reason that closing Tremendous Bowl look of the groups, and the smaller blended native fan populations.
The NFL is coming off one in every of its most-watched playoff weekends after the Chiefs’ exciting win over the Buffalo Expenses. The sport averaged 42.7 million audience and peaked at greater than 51 million individuals who watched Mahomes lead the Chiefs to a 42-36 victory.
The Chiefs megastar led a power with 13 seconds final within the fourth quarter to tie the sport at 36. He additionally threw the game-winning landing in extra time to advance the workforce to its fourth consecutive AFC championship. CBS Sports activities’ telecast was once the most-watched divisional postseason recreation on any community since 2017.
On Saturday, the community additionally aired the Bengals playoff win over the top-seeded Tennessee Titans. That recreation averaged 30.7 million audience and peaked at 38.3 million.
So why the Bengals?
Loop estimated the “nationwide pastime” amongst soccer fanatics would favor gazing Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, noting he is additionally “simply two years got rid of from successful a faculty nationwide championship.” And primary-year Rams quarterback Matt Stafford “would garner an excellent quantity of pastime,” too.
The workforce gained its first playoff recreation in 31 years after beating the Las Vegas Raiders within the wild card contest on Jan. 15. Regardless of showing within the Tremendous Bowl two times (1981 and 1988 seasons), the Bengals have by no means gained an NFL championship.
Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas Town Chiefs appears to be like on ahead of Tremendous Bowl LV in opposition to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium on February 07, 2021 in Tampa, Florida.
Kevin C. Cox | Getty Pictures Recreation | Getty Pictures
Mahomes’ revenge additionally intriguing
However nationwide pastime does not utterly rule out the Chiefs.
Mahomes squaring off in opposition to Stafford was once the second one maximum favorable matchup within the word. The blended MSA of the ones two NFL cites is 15.4 million blended. Additionally, Perfect Purchase’s “33 shops within the blended fanbase spaces will be the best of the prospective matchups,” wrote Loop Capital managing director Anthony Chukumba.
And the Chiefs know all about Tremendous Bowl droughts.
The workforce gained its first NFL identify in 50 years in 2020 after beating the 49ers in Tremendous Bowl LIV. Earlier than that, the closing time the Chiefs closing gave the impression in a Tremendous Bowl was once in 1970. The Chiefs could not pull off a repeat closing 12 months, even though, falling to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Loop estimates there’d be nationwide consideration round Mahomes’ having a look to redeem the Chiefs and becoming a member of the listing of quarterbacks with more than one Tremendous Bowl wins of their 5th 12 months within the NFL.
Deebo Samuel #19 of the San Francisco 49ers rushes right through the sport in opposition to the Inexperienced Bay Packers within the NFC Divisional Playoff recreation at Lambeau Box on January 22, 2022 in Inexperienced Bay, Wisconsin.
Michael Zagaris | Getty Pictures
No love for the 49ers
Even though the Chiefs, Bengals, and Rams are Loop’s number of groups that would prefer extra tv gross sales for Perfect Purchase, the company presentations little love for the 49ers. It is a bit sudden, particularly for the reason that 49ers are one of the vital extra standard NFL groups.
The 49ers’ wild card win over the Dallas Cowboys drew 41.5 million audience. The win over the Inexperienced Bay Packers closing week attracted 36.9 million audience. And the workforce’s loss to the Chiefs within the 2020 Tremendous Bowl drew 100 million audience on NBC Sports activities, the community host of this 12 months’s Tremendous Bowl in Los Angeles.
Final season’s Mahomes-Brady Tremendous Bowl recreation was once the worst-rated since 2007, with handiest 96.4 million audience.
The 49ers even have huge receiver Deebo Samuel, who is readily turning into a emerging megastar. However Loop initiatives a Bengals-49ers contest could be “suboptimal” for Perfect Purchase because of the blended MSA of kind of 7 million other folks dwelling within the Cincinnati and San Francisco spaces.
Loops famous Perfect Purchase’s 26 shops within the blended territories, and with “notable exception of Burrow, we expect nationwide pastime within the recreation could be reasonably restricted — specifically given the 49ers’ reasonably descript roster (together with Garoppolo) who’s perennially seen as being another mediocre recreation from shedding his beginning process.”
In the meantime, a Tremendous Bowl LIV rematch would constitute “the worst of the 4 chances for Perfect Purchase tv gross sales” because of the blended 6.9 million MSA inhabitants and imaginable Chiefs fatigue, because the workforce has performed in two instantly Tremendous Bowls.
“Whilst the Chiefs function well known avid gamers equivalent to Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and Tyreek Hill, we expect the 49ers’ aforementioned in large part ‘no identify’ roster would pressure journalists to paintings extra time to concoct compelling nationwide ‘tale traces.'”
“At the vibrant facet,” Loop concluded, “with the 49ers having eradicated the Inexperienced Bay Packers, a possible Tremendous Bowl boycott by way of ‘immunized’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers is not a imaginable overhang.”
Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the guardian corporate of CNBC.
