The ratings for the premiere episode of "Hard Knocks" were not encouraging. Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Ratings for HBO's 'Hard Knocks,' featuring Rams, Chargers way down

By Erin Walsh | Last updated 8/13/20

HBO's season premiere of "Hard Knocks" didn't draw in nearly as many viewers as it has in previous years.

The first episode of this year's NFL training camp reality show brought in just 273,000 viewers, according to Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal. 705,000 people watched last year's season premiere.

Wow was I wrong on expecting a big audience for Hard Knocks on HBO this year.

Tuesday premiere averaged 273,000 viewers on TV. Lowest figure I can find for a Hard Knocks episode. No streaming figures yet.

Last year, Episode 1 for Browns averaged 705K on TV (879K with streaming)
— Austin Karp (@AustinKarp) August 13, 2020

The reason for the low viewership isn't clear. It could be because the show is focusing on two teams -- the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers -- rather than giving fans an inside look of one organization. However, it also could be because the series has been around since 2001 and the material is just getting dry.

At one point during the offseason, many people were desperate for any sort of sports action. If the season premiere debuted a few months ago, then maybe ratings would've been higher due to the coronavirus pandemic halting a majority of sports.

With the NBA, NHL, MLB and MLS all back in action, it appears people are prepared to just wait for the football season to begin in the coming weeks.

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