Giants-Cowboys Thanksgiving Day Game Was The Most Watched Regular Season Game In NFL History

The Thanksgiving Day game between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys was a historic one.

The Cowboys’ 28-20 victory on Fox averaged 42 million viewers, according to Nielsen, making it the most-watched NFL regular season in history, surprising the 12/03/90 Monday Night Football game between the Giants and San Francisco 49ers on ABC.

The average viewership for the three Thanksgiving Day games Thursday was 33.5 million, surpassing the previous high of 32.9 million in 1993, when two games were aired.

The Buffalo Bills’ 28-25 win over the Detroit Lions on CBS was the most-watched early Thanksgiving Day game on record with a 31.6 million average.

inlineg

The night game between the New England Patriots and Minnesota Vikings averaged 25.9 million, the second-highest audience for a Thanksgiving night contest. The Vikings’ 33-26 victory was surpassed only by the 2015 game between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers (27.8 million).