Feb. 8, 2026, 11:02 a.m. ET

Congratulations to the Baltimore Ravens; they tied two other teams for the league lead in Pro Bowl selections this season, with six. However, a Pro Bowl selection doesn’t carry the same weight that it used to.

The Cleveland Browns, who went 5-12 this past season, had not one, but two Pro Bowl quarterbacks on their roster this past season. One was Shedeur Sanders, the 42nd-rated passer among the 43 QBs eligible.

We have a word for that- “penultimate,” which means simply second worst. The other selection was Ravens club legend Joe Flacco, who finally got the first Pro Bowl nod of his 18-year-career. You already know the popular narrative with Flacco- the debate about whether or not he’s an “elite” quarterback.

And All-Star games, in theory, should consist of only elite players. It’s supposed to be a meritocracy. In some cases, it still is; in others, it is not, but America is tuning out regardless. The Pro Bowl set a new ratings low on Tuesday night, averaging just over 1.9 million viewers.

For the NFL, those Nielsen numbers are AWFUL. Just plain terrible.

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However, for any other type of television programming, those numbers are GREAT!

NBC Sports put it bluntly:

“That’s a 60-percent drop from 2025, when an average audience of 4.7 million tuned in. And it’s nearly 70 percent below the 6.2 million who watched in the first year of the flag-football experiment.”

Yes, the NFL converted the Pro Bowl game to a non-contact, flag football competition years ago, and the showcase event has never been the same since. This year, the National Football League’s All-Star game was moved from a Sunday to a Tuesday night. It was removed from a football stadium and relocated to a convention center.

Why? The aforementioned NBC Sports article believes that whoever made these decisions did so in an attempt to move towards abolishing the game. That’s just as possible as it is conspiratorial.

Maybe the NFL will go back to AFC vs. NFC in real tackle football (they could sync this with the reopening of Aloha Stadium, currently slated for 2029). Or they’ll just euthanize this event. They could put the Pro Bowl out of its misery, and then channel that energy into the NFL Honors awards show. 

After all, being selected “All-Pro” carries much more weight than being a Pro Bowler, and it’s been this way for many years already. Perhaps you only need one, not two, designations of excellence anyway. No matter which way the league decides to go, it’s a critical crossroads time for the Pro Bowl.Â