NFL ratings: Big Week 1 numbers set pace, even as election headwinds loom
In a clear demonstration of the enduring ratings power of live sports, the NFL has posted massive numbers in its return to America’s TVs, phones and other screens. The new season, a new high-profile analyst and a new night all combined to set ratings records across the board for the league.
The 2024 NFL season began on Thursday night with the traditional Ravens-Chiefs kickoff game on NBC, which drew 29.2 million viewers. That’s the largest ever NFL Kickoff audience, and NBC’s second-largest regular-season audience ever, after a Washington-Dallas Week 17 game in 2012 that drew 30.3 million viewers.
In a rare Friday night game, NBC’s Peacock streaming channel averaged 14.0 million viewers for Eagles-Packers from Brazil. That’s the second-largest audience ever to watch a live event on Peacock, after last season’s AFC wild-card game. The figure nearly doubled last December’s Bills-Chargers game, which drew 7.3 million viewers.
The debut of Tom Brady on Fox drew a massive number: 23.8 million viewers, a 46 percent increase over last year’s comparable game. However, it’s worth noting that CBS did not televise a national game in the comparable slot this year. CBS’ “singleheader” — the one game it broadcast on Sunday, which varied by region — drew an average of 17.8 million viewers, up 28 percent from the same slot last year.
On Sunday night, the Lions’ overtime victory over the Rams averaged 22.7 million viewers for NBC, a slight uptick from last year’s 22.0 million to watch Cowboys-Giants.
Monday's game between the Jets and 49ers drew 20.5 million viewers, a number ESPN touted as the second-largest Week 1 "Monday Night Football" audience since Monday games moved to the network from ABC in 2006.
A reminder: Ratings in and of themselves don’t need to concern viewers; we’re long past the point of using ratings to make political or social justice arguments. However, the fact that ratings outside the traditional Sunday-Monday night schedule — and, more importantly, ratings on streaming and subscription-only channels — remain strong will have an impact on fans. If the NFL and its broadcast partners see that fans will follow games wherever they’re televised, then games will spread out even further across the broadcast spectrum.
There’s little reason for concern about the sustainability of these ratings. The NFL has built an effective machine with a range of stars and narratives spread across the country and both conferences. Outside of the Kansas City Chiefs’ connection to Taylor Swift, there’s no team dependent on any external source for interest — and the Chiefs, being two-time Super Bowl champions, can drum up plenty of interest even without the Swiftie contingent.
The presidential election could pose some challenges for the league’s numbers, particularly if — as expected — the contest boils over before and after its typical first-Tuesday-in-November election date.
