It wasn't until late last week that we heard the Oakland Raiders had sold out the Coliseum meaning the game would be broadcast to the local area. That was a sign of the excitement for the game because Kansas City showed up in a big way to watch the Chiefs-Raiders on TV Sunday afternoon (for four-plus hours).
Via the NFL and Nielsen Company, Randy Covitz of the KC Star reports the Chiefs-Raiders game had a 45.2 percent rating of all TV households in KC and 68 percent of all TVs in use.
Damn. That's a lot of people that like the Chiefs.
The Dallas Cowboys-Green Bay Packers game was the only other game rated higher and the Arizona Cardinals-Minnesota Vikings game was the only game with a higher share.
It's a weird time when you can see TV ratings like that and then come Sunday, as Covitz points out, Arrowhead Stadium doesn't seem so sold out. One of the more common email questions I get these days is, "What's that yellow section in the stadium? And why is always so empty?"