Tebownomics: Tim Tebow's Impact off the Field Is Unprecedented in Sports

From all the stars the NFL has had throughout the years, nobody has made a bigger impact financially or been more popular than Tim Tebow.

Any professional sports league would die to have a star like Tebow that is constantly talked about in the media, and also a great role model and winner. Football may have plenty of stars like Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady, but Tebow trumps them all in terms of popularity.

And the NFL is loving this because sports is a business. 

Professional sports leagues are always looking to market their stars. If a player is marketable, television ratings increase for the sport. This is essentially vital for a sport's success as a business.

The NFL already had guys like the the Manning brothers, Tony Romo, Michael Vick and Ray Lewis to market. Now they get Tim Tebow.

Let's look at the impact Tebow has had for the NFL this season.

First off, Tebow led the NFL in jersey sales before he was even a starting quarterback in the league. After falling to 24th during the offseason and early this year when Kyle Orton was the starter, Tebow rose to sixth in the league when he was on his regular-season run.

As Tebow continues to win games, more people will buy his jersey. It won't be a surprise to see Tebow surpass Aaron Rodgers after his playoff run, especially if he can find some magical way to defeat Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.

More impressively, the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Denver Broncos game on Sunday drew in a large audience with a 25.9 rating. These are monster numbers. They were the highest wild-card ratings for the network in a quarter of a century. CBS was sure smiling. 

The fourth quarter of that game drew in a 31.6 rating (3:16 reference?).

It's not just the playoffs, though. During the regular season, FOX and CBS were doing their best to expand the availability of Broncos games in a number of locales. For instance, the Broncos vs. Patriots regular-season game was available to over 70 percent of the country. Before Tebow's success, Broncos' games were available in only 24 percent of the country when they were aired on CBS. 

People want to see and hear about Tebow. You clicked on this article because the word "Tebow" was in it. I wrote this article because Tebow's a fascinating topic to talk about.

ESPN's First Take has reported monster ratings which can be attributed to Tebow's rise and maybe even Skip Bayless' viral video where he calls Tebow "a gamer, a baller and a shot caller."

Ultimately, the polarizing nature of Tim Tebow is the reason why there is so much positive and negative hype surrounding him.

Cris Collinsworth of NBC said, "Half the world has jumped on the bandwagon and the other half is 'this can't be happening.'"

In other words, people either hate him or love him. There is no middle ground with Tebow. It might be unfair for Tim, but the NFL and the networks that broadcast the NFL love it.

High television ratings means the NFL can charge higher ad revenues. This only means the most powerful professional sports league in the United States gets even bigger. 

Last but not least, Tebow's autobiography, Through My Eyes, became 2011's best-selling sports book. The book sold 185,000 copies this year. 

Tebow shockwaves have hit the NHL, too. Last night after scoring a goal, a Los Angeles Kings' defenseman celebrated by Tebowing. 

Oh and speaking of Tebowing, it is now recognized as an actual word by the Global Language Monitor. All of this has happened in merely a few months. It may be mania, but the fact of the matter is the NFL is benefitting from all of this.

Tebow's impact on jersey sales, NFL television ratings and future revenues makes one wonder how many people he's convinced to go to church. Unfortunately, that kind of data has not been accumulated. 

But one thing's for sure, when my own mother recognizes an athlete on television, that means he's pretty popular and that he matters in the world of sports.

Tebow matters and the NFL is happily grinning.

Follow Andre Khatchaturian on Twitter