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To me it seems more like the playlist selection of corporate classic rock radio stations. They play a very limited number of songs over and over; listeners become familiar with the songs; listeners 'like' the songs because they are familiar with them. Rinse, lather repeat. Those stations could remove any five songs from their playlist, replace them with any five similar songs, and the results would be the same.The simple fact of the matter is the Cowboys are, year in and year out, one of the best draws in the NFL. When they have a crappy year, they're still good for a few prime time games. And when they are having a good year? Plan on seeing them just about every week.
The Cowboys are one of the best draws because of the fact they are constantly on prime time tv. Is a Dallas-Washington or Dallas-NYG game going to draw more interest from neutral television markets than say KC-Green Bay, or Pats-Tampa? Doubtful.
The biggest television ratings are for games that have little or no other NFL competition; i.e., there are no other games to choose from. So of course it stands to reason those standalone games will generate big numbers. It is an apples to oranges comparison to equate how one team with 13 instances of being the only game on tv compares to the ratings of a team that is on in prime time only three times.
The Cowboys generate big ratings because they are on tv in a primary time slot so often, not because they are the Cowboys. Case in point: SNF ratings have slowly climbed all season long; they dropped to the lowest rating in four weeks when Dallas played Washington.
I believe fans with no rooting interest for either team (i.e., in a neutral market) will mostly want to see a game between the two best teams. Sure, there is less familiarity with the Rams, Cardinals, Colts or Bills, but won't more NFL fans enjoy watching a game between two of those team than yet another NFC East snooze-fest? Go ahead an put that Dallas-Wash game on in the four NFCE tv markets, and let the rest of the nation watch some decent football instead. Besides, isn't in the NFL's best interest to promote those other teams with a winning record?
Bottom line is that a game being the only one available in that time slot is what generates big ratings, much more than who is playing. The only exception would be the Super Bowl, when the percentage of viewers who don't watch the NFL week in and week out skyrockets. I should just accept the fact that nothing is going to change and that the Cowboys will have the largest share of the prime time tv market each and every year - but that doesn't mean they deserve it.