The game itself was awful.

Unless you had money on the NFC or the over.

But the Pro Bowl on Sunday worked for the NFL. Maybe having the game the week before the Super Bowl, even though it precludes players from the Super Bowl teams participating, is a good idea after all.

According to Adam Caplan of FoxSports.com, the game which was televised on Fox, was watched by 13.4 million viewers, the best number for the NFL’s all-star game since 1997 when 13.5 million viewers tuned into Fox.

The game didn’t add up to much when the AFC played giveaway in the first half and the NFC bolted out to a 42-0 lead in its 55-41 victory. But people watched and so that’s a victory for the league and the network.

What does the number mean in the grand scheme? Well, consider the World Series last fall between the San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers averaged 14.3 million viewers. Yes, it’s yet another sign football is king and the owners and players really ought to rally to prevent something stupid from happening.

Follow me on Twitter: BradBiggs

Brad Biggs covers the Bears for the Chicago Tribune