Johnny Manziel’s CFL debut with Montreal Alouettes draws massive audience for ESPN2
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Johnny Manziel’s first start in the Canadian Football League went horribly wrong in many regards, however, it did draw in a massive television audience.
If you missed it, Manziel’s CFL debut went awry quickly for the Heisman Trophy winner from Texas A&M. Manziel completed only 11 of 20 passes for 104 yards and zero touchdowns. He did throw four interceptions though and his Montreal Alouette team lost 50-11.
While all of that is terrible, at least Montreal was able to draw in a big television audience. According to Austin Karp of Sports Business Daily, the game featured the largest television audience of the season for the CFL with 406,000 viewers.
Manziel will have a chance to redeem himself on Saturday against the Redblacks (yes, the Redblacks). While that game won’t be on ESPN2, Manziel’s following game against the Eskimos on Aug. 18 is scheduled to be broadcast by the network.
So @JManziel2 starting QB debut for Montreal Alouettes on Friday drew 406,000 viewers for ESPN2. Before that, top CFL game on The Deuce this season was 264,000. Two more Alouettes games on ESPN2 schedule: Aug. 18 and Oct. 28
— Austin Karp (@AustinKarp) August 7, 2018
Here are the “highlights” from that guy if you missed it:
Johnny Manziel's CFL debut is off to a rough start with 4 interceptions in the first half. pic.twitter.com/FK24Xsedkn
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 4, 2018
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
