NFC dominates Pro Bowl again... but amid sinking viewership, has the clash of NFL's finest lost its appeal?

The PA announcer astatine Camping World Stadium highlighted, 'A Seahawks receiver throwing to a young Broncos fan,' aft Seattle's Jaxon Smith-Njigba tossed the shot into the assemblage pursuing a touchdown astatine the 2025 Pro Bowl Games.

'That's what this is each about,' helium continued.

The connection encapsulated the tone of the venue, arsenic the NFL's finest players gathered successful Orlando, Florida, implicit the weekend.

Culminating with the AFC vs. NFC emblem shot crippled connected Sunday, cardinal Florida's sunny conditions provided an perfect mounting for a vibrant normal of fans crossed the league.

The stands showcased a mosaic of squad colors to observe the NFL's 105th play earlier the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles prima successful the Super Bowl successful New Orleans connected February 9.

In the end, the NFC dominantly secured Pro Bowl supremacy for the 3rd consecutive year, 76-63. Byron Murphy was named the antiaircraft MVP and Jared Goff the astir invaluable violative limb for Eli Manning's side. 

American football's All-Star weekend, successful its 3rd twelvemonth successful Orlando, provided an situation for the league's champion to instrumentality the spotlight successful respective competitions highlighting antithetic aspects of the game.

A infinitesimal of soundlessness opened Sunday's lineup to grant the victims of tragic level crashes successful Washington DC and Philadelphia, some NFL cities, that took implicit headlines successful the buildup to the game.

For a minute, 54,313 fans muted successful unison earlier the Star-Spangled Banner blasted crossed the stadium, accompanied by a flyover arsenic the United States emblem waved crossed the field. From there, the audience's oohs and aahs took over.

Players that whitethorn lone beryllium seen unneurotic successful phantasy teams gave fans a glimpse of hypothetical assemblies connected the field.

For some, specified arsenic first-time Pro Bowler Sam Darnold of the Vikings, the lawsuit was a speedy pitstop betwixt the play and the world that awaits him successful escaped agency.

After signing a one-year woody with Minnesota, the 27-year-old bounced backmost from his worst NFL play to person a career-high run to pb the Vikings to the playoffs with a 14-3 record.

Speaking to DailyMail.com up during Saturday's practice, Darnold alluded to his enactment ethic portion addressing his future. However, helium besides emphasized enjoying the Pro Bowl with six teammates.

'I think, for me, the biggest happening is to fig that retired with my cause erstwhile the time's right,' the backmost said.

'But close now, I'm conscionable gonna interest astir enjoying this infinitesimal with these guys and each my teammates who made it present arsenic well.'

Come Sunday, Darnold became indispensable to the NFC's ascendant show arsenic helium spearheaded the league alongside Detroit's Goff, Pittsburgh's Russell Wilson, and Tampa Bay's Baker Mayfield.

While fans successful attendance seemed to bask the festivities, the tv ratings proceed to origin concerns that the games person mislaid their appeal.

The 2024 Pro Bowl Games had 5.75 cardinal viewers, which was a alteration of astir 8 per cent from the erstwhile year. The 2023 Pro Bowl had 6.2 cardinal viewers, a measurement down from the 6.7 cardinal successful 2022.

Furthermore, The 2025 Pro Bowl Skills Show averaged 1.13 cardinal viewers, down a hairsbreadth from past year's variation (1.14M) to fertile arsenic the second-most watched since 2018. Thursday's broadcast accrued 7 per cent successful the cardinal P18-34 demographic and peaked astatine 1.4 cardinal viewers during the 8.15-8.30pm ET window, per Sports Media Watch.

Nonetheless, the players relished the accidental to partake successful the showcase. San Francisco 49ers prima Kyle Juszczyk insisted that the games stay 'special' contempt the autumn successful viewership.

'It was incredible,' Juszczyk told DailyMail.com. 'I've done a fig of these but each 1 is peculiar successful its ain right. I consciousness similar there's benignant of a caller question of young prima athletes successful this league present and it's chill to get to cognize immoderate of them.'

Vikings prima receiver Justin Jefferson added that, 'Pro Bowl volition ever beryllium amazing.'

'Just to beryllium teaming up with the champion successful the league, guys that we spell up against, to truly crippled program against. So it's truly bully to spot these guys, speech to them, enslaved with them, and conscionable compete. Just ever love.'

The AFC-NFC showdown contention was not the lone emblem shot enactment the NFL brought to O-Town this week.

On Friday, Toyota hosted an HBCU emblem shot tourney astatine the University of Central Florida's campus.

Toyota, the authoritative automotive Partner of the NFL, extended its long-standing enactment of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and celebrated its relation successful increasing the athletics by powering the first-ever HBCU emblem shot tourney astatine this year's Pro Bowl Games.

'The HBCU tourney is the archetypal of its benignant and Toyota has stepped successful to enactment and turn the brand,' Jade Strawberry, Chief of Staff astatine RCX, relation of NFL FLAG shared. 

'Just being here, seeing it for the archetypal twelvemonth is awesome,' Strawberry added. 'Of course, it's breathtaking to deliberation astir what the lawsuit could look similar for the HBCU athletes.' 

With emblem shot being added arsenic an lawsuit for the upcoming 2028 Olympics successful Los Angeles, the HBCU teams person been a beacon successful increasing the sport. According to Toyota's vice president of selling and communications, Dedra DeLilli, the maturation is what they anticipation to item and grow with the tournament. 

'Our purpose with the tourney is to radiance a airy connected the captious relation HBCUs person played successful the explosive maturation of emblem shot and to supply the accidental for these phenomenal athletes to showcase their skills and link with a broader assemblage done this first-of-its-kind platform,' DeLilli shared. 

'The NFL FLAG HBCU Tournament Presented by Toyota not lone highlights the legacies of these athletes and their schools, but it besides creates a level for aboriginal athletes to radiance and stock their stories connected a nationalist stage.' 

As the Pro Bowl Games participate the rearview, the absorption falls connected the Super Bowl successful New Orleans. As the Chiefs hole to sprout for a three-peat, the Eagles anticipation to transportation the momentum of the NFC and spoil the enactment for Patrick Mahomes and Co. 

Philadelphia and Kansas City volition conflict for NFL supremacy from the Caesar's Superdome astatine 6.30pm ET connected Sunday.