The NFL's television viewership in the United Kingdom has reportedly been spun to be placed in a more positive light than what the actual numbers indicate.

There was supposedly an 80 percent increase in viewership but that's a cumulative number and this year includes new highlight shows on the BBC.

A better apples-to-apples comparison for TV viewership in the UK is how this year’s first London game, Colts-Jaguars, fared on BBC2 compared to last year’s Bills-Jaguars game in London. And on that score, the NFL isn’t growing in London: The Colts-Jaguars game drew 351,000 viewers on BBC2, a decrease compared to the 381,000 viewers for Bills-Jaguars last year on BBC2. This year’s Colts-Jaguars game did draw a larger audience than last year’s other early London game on BBC2, Jets-Dolphins, although that game’s ratings were lower because it aired at the same time as the Rugby World Cup.

Less than one percent of people in the United Kingdom watch a typical NFL game.