Why would ratings tank because of NE? They've been in most of the most watched Super Bowls. Lots of people seem to hate watch them, hoping to see them fail like they did against the Giants. And the other times they put on good shows (down to the wire games, including that come from behind one last year). Seems making sure NE is part of the Super Bowl is a recipe for success actually...
Fact is, NE had a lot of controversial calls go their way. I don't think its a grand conspiracy to help them win, but acting like you can't figure out why that bugs people is just dumb as hell. Which I get sick of that bitching myself. I recall trying to tell people when they were going apeshit about the replacement refs that they do the same thing with the normal ones and people just "STFU, nuh-uh" and then, big whoop, the biggest complaints is about the refs. Every, single, fucking, year. But when a team consistently benefits from controversial calls, people are going to get sick of it. Simple as that.
Plus, JHumeC, some of you wonder why people fucking hate you Pats fans? Can you fuckers ever just take a fucking joke? Or does literally every time your team does something it has to end up being a full on federal court case? Because that's what is making people sick is how instead of NE going "fuck it, punish us, we'll still win", they drag it out for months and months, during which time people get sick of hearing about it.
I can only imagine what you assholes are gonna be like when its revealed that Brady's "fountain of youth" was more than stretching and diet. It'll be like Lance Armstrong all over again where you idiots will still try to deny it probably even after he admits to it (which I'm sure he won't because he's a douche like that, as was Peyton, as were the baseball shitheads copping the same even when caught red-handed). That will almost inevitably happen, and it'll be the same old routine, deny deny deny, no matter the evidence, followed by "well it didn't even matter", blah,blah,blah, then finally "well everybody else was too!!!"
I've said it before and I'll keep saying it. The whole thing is a farce. Its a fucking made up game, played by physically gifted people who tear the hell out of their bodies for a bit of fame and chance at non-trivial amount of money (that they'll be far too likely to waste), being exploited by billionaires to milk money out of morons that invest their lives in shit they have fucking nothing to do with (well other than being their cash cows). Enjoy the spectacle of the farce, but never forget how much of a farce it truly is.
Who am I kidding, go bet on it, then bitch because they didn't cover the point spread and cost you money, or use it to justify whatever conspiracy bullshit you want to peddle, or validate your persecution complex, or excuse for getting drunk and beating your wife. Its the American way.