The biggest measure of the NFL’s TV ratings dominance may not be the popularity of its regular season games, the massive audiences it generates during the playoffs or even the annual, all-time records set by the Super Bowl. It may be the fact that its much-derided preseason, considered one of the worst events on the sports calendar, can generate audiences on par with other sports’ playoff games.

This year's Giants-Bills Hall of Fame Game drew a 5.2 final household rating and 8.5 million viewers on NBC — actually down 16 percent in both measures from last year, and tied for the lowest rated preseason game on NBC in five years.

ROOKIE DEBUTS: Manziel | Clowney | Bortles | Bridgewater | Cooks

Even with less-than-sterling results, the Hall of Fame Game attracted a larger audience than several major sporting events. Excluding the NBA Finals, Giants-Bills had a higher rating and more viewers than every single NBA telecast during the 2013-14 season — from the Bulls-Heat opener (5.4M) through Heat-Lakers on Christmas Day (7.8M) all the way to Game 6 of the Spurs-Thunder Western Conference Finals (8.2M). It should go without saying that the game also topped every NHL game (including the Stanley Cup Final) during its 2013-14 campaign.

The Hall of Fame Game also topped most of last year's MLB postseason (excluding the World Series) and most of college football's bowls (excluding the BCS).

All of that for a game that declined double-digits and hit a five-year low.

There are some limits to the preseason's drawing power, of course. Even the most-watched exhibitions are still no match for championship-level events. The top preseason game of the past six years — the Bengals-Cowboys Hall of Fame Game in 2010 — had 11.4 million viewers, topping just three World Series games over that span and zero NBA Finals games.

In addition, not every preseason game is as big a draw as the Hall of Fame Game. Excluding NFL Network, last year’s preseason viewership bottomed out at under 3 million for Chargers/Bears on ESPN ... not exactly setting the Nielsens on fire.

Even with those caveats, the NFL preseason remains as good an indication as any of just how dominant the league has become.

On SMW last week

— NBCSN’s IndyCar viewership has increased 38 percent so far this season, with last Sunday’s race from Mid-Ohio up 98 percent.

— The MLS All-Star Game earned a combined 1.3 million viewers on ESPN and UniMas, according to Sports Business Daily, the second-largest audience ever for the event. MLS viewership increased 43 percent on ESPN/ESPN2 and 81 percent on NBCSN through mid-July.

— Last week’s NASCAR race from Pocono was just the latest to hit at least a 10-year low in the ratings (the 2.8 for ESPN’s coverage was the lowest since at least 1998). The Daytona (500), Martinsville, Darlington, Richmond, Talladega, Dover, Michigan and Loudon races are the others.