The NFL remains king.
The National Football League averaged 21.0 million viewers per game during the league’s opening week, making it the most-watched Week 1 in history.
The league and Nielsen said Wednesday morning that the per-game average on television and digital platforms saw a 12 percent increase over last year
A total of 123 million people saw at least part of a game, its highest total for an opening week since 2019.
“A great start with the viewership. It was great to be back and a lot to be excited about,” said Hans Schroeder, the NFL’s executive vice president of media distribution.
The most-watched game was the opening-night game between the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs defeating the Baltimore Ravens, 27-20, averaging 29.2 million on TV and digital. It was NBC’s second-largest regular season game since 2006, when it acquired the “Sunday Night Football” package.
The Sunday night game between Detroit and the Los Angeles Rams, which the Lions won 26-20 in overtime, averaged 22.7 million, a 3% jump from last year.
Tom Brady’s first game as Fox’s top analyst — Dallas’ 33-17 win over Cleveland — averaged 23.93 million. The six games that were part of Fox’s doubleheader (four early, two late) averaged 18.64 million, making it the network’s best start since 2020.