Super Bowl LIX is a week away, and football fans are deciding whether to root for the Eagles, chasing their second SB win, or the four-time SB champions, the Chiefs. But before the New Orleans showdown, the annual NFL Pro Bowl games started in Orlando, Florida. As the games started on Thursday, a shocking fact about the Pro Bowl emerged, and people are criticizing NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

The shocking fact is that many people didn’t even know when the Pro Bowl was starting. Did you? It’s not a surprise that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is getting criticized for the lack of marketing and advertising about the event. Fans believe that the Pro Bowl is losing its relevance. According to Sports Business Journal, the games are losing viewers year after year.

In 2022, 6.7 million people watched the games. 6.2 million watched them in 2023, and 5.75 million watched them last year. And as the Pro Bowl games have started, one fan reacted to it on X, “Had no clue the Pro Bowl mini games were on today.”  While other fans commented, “I stopped caring years ago about the Pro Bowl,” nothing but to emphasize the NFL Pro Bowl is losing its worth. Another fan reacted to the Pro Bowl, “Pro Bowl doesn’t mean any in the NFL today.”

One fan commented, “I rather, for Pro Bowl have players actually who are voted in holding an autograph signing and where kids go play around and do stuff. I don’t want this.” Another football fan questioned the existence of the Pro Bowl, saying, “The Pro Bowl is even more cooked than usual I had zero idea this was happening… lol.” That’s horrible, isn’t it?

Though the first day of the Pro Bowl has finished, do you know what happened? Let’s dive in.

What happened on the first day of the Pro Bowl?

As y’all may know the Pro Bowl games will feature two days of skills showdowns and a 7-on-7 flag football game. They kicked off on Thursday, and the fans saw a casual but intense competition between AFC and NFC players. The first day involved several competitions such as precision passing, closest to the pin, and high stakes where the player has to catch as many balls punted by a machine as they can to win. Another two games played on the first day were Snap shots and Dodgeball presented by Bud Light. By the end of the day, the NFC took a 12-6 lead over the AFC. Wanna know which players won these events?

The precision passing game happened between the Texans QB C.J. Stroud and the Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield, where Mayfield won the game by hitting more targets. Cowboys punter Bryan Anger won the closest to the pin game. And in ‘high stakes’, Steelers safety Miles Killebrew reeled it in for the AFC by catching six passes from the JUGS machine. Other than these tasks, Andrew DePaola of the Vikings won the Snap shots game. And lastly, in the Dodgeball presented by Bud Light, the AFC offense team dominated the NFC defense. The biggest twist of the evening, perhaps, was Sam Darnold’s outstanding (although not winning) performance. It actually earned him a bunch of criticism!

The second day of the Pro Bowl games will be on Sunday. It will feature exciting games like Kick-Tac-Toe, Best Catch, Gridiron Gauntlet, Tug-of-War, Move the Chains, and more. But wait… how many of you are gonna watch these games? Or do you also feel that Pro Bowl games are just irrelevant these days? With fewer people watching it every passing year, Roger Goodell has some food for thought.