The Bills return to the field delivered the largest audience of Week 18 and the largest CBS audience in the final week of an NFL season since 2011. The most-watched Sunday prime-time game was when the Washington Football Team and Dallas Cowboys battled for the NFC East title in Week 17 of the 2012 campaign. Combined, the two games averaged 49.6 million viewers across TV and digital streaming, according to an NFL announcement. A late matchup between the Indianapolis Colts and Arizona Cardinals also did well. Plug in the simple phrase 'NFL' and you'll get the top-ten things that term applies to most frequently. It marked the smallest audience for Rounds 2-3 since the 2018 NFL Draft (4.79 million). The NFL is the the most reliable ratings driver on TV. Fueled by the celeb status of one of the leagues most well-known players and a scandal involving deflated footballs, the social universe took note. Assessing every team's starting QB. Winning records didnt necessarily correlate to higher indices. We can also compare that to MLB, which drew just under 3.2 million viewers for its Field of Dreams game on Fox. As Pro Football Talk notes, those numbers are all steep improvements from the 2021 NFL playoffs. NFL TV ratings were a mixed back throughout the 2020 season. This comes after the Los Angeles Lakers 2020 NBA Finals win over the Miami Heat drew a record low average of 7.45 million viewers in the Orlando Bubble. The Nielsen Media Exposure ranking measured all 32 teams in five categories during the 2015-16 season: local TV ratings, national TV ratings, national appearances, social impressions (Nielsen Twitter TV Ratings) and monthly unique audience to official team websites. Football officially returned on August 4 with Canton, Ohio hosting the 2022 Pro Football Hall of Fame Game between the Las Vegas Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars. Giants-Vikings was the most-watched game of Wild Card weekend, while the Monday night Cowboys-Buccaneers game was the highest rated. That specific Super Bowl matchup saw Joe Montana and the 49ers defeat John Elways Denver Broncos by the score of 55-10, the biggest blowout in the history of the big game. The NFC continued to enjoy disproportionate representation on the ratings charts, as intra-conference games accounted for 36 of the year's most-watched broadcasts, while all-AFC meetings claimed 20 slots. The Bills-Rams game averaged 4.6% of adults 18-34, 5.9% of adults 18-49 and 7.1% of adults 25-54 per minute. Unfortunately for the network, in a year that saw the company lay off 300-plus employees due to the COVID-19 pandemic, NFL ratings took a major hit. Its the second-largest audience for the National Football League since 2015. NFL TV ratings were a mixed back throughout the 2020 season. Highest total # of viewers thru week 11 since 2016. In comparison, the 2021 NFL Draft averaged 12.5 million viewers and the virtual 2020 NFL Draft averaged 15.3 million viewers. The entire NFL Playoffs have been a huge draw, averaging 36.3 million viewers. Even on a Championship Sunday without Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady and even the Dallas Cowboys, the NFL TV ratings from the conference championship matchups exploded. Said game peaked at 50.23 million viewers toward the end. For fans on the go, all NFL Network programming can be streamed live through the NFL app and NFL Network app on smartphones, tablets, PCs and connected TV devices (Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, PlayStation 4, Roku and Xbox One). The Giants and Jets had top 10 finishes in the social media category as well. Typically, that figure is significantly higher than the average viewership listed here.). Unsurprisingly, it created ratings gold for NBC and the NFL once again. While it was a dip from the Bills-Chiefs Week 5 game, that is partially due to the absence of Russell Wilson. The NFL has owned Thanksgiving for years, becoming part of the tradition for families on Thursday. This just goes to show us that the NFL is still Americas pastime. Seven days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, fans turn to NFL Network to receive information and insight straight from the field, team headquarters, league offices and everywhere the NFL is making news. Twenty-five points scored after the final 2-minute warning. delivered the largest audience of Week 18, scored the NFLs largest singleheader audience in seven years, outdrew all three of the NFLs Christmas Day games. After missing out on Tony Romo, Peyton Manning and even Sean McVay, ESPN settled on its backup plan. Teams in smaller markets now have an opportunity to grow their brands nationally and, better still, globally, says Stephen Master, SVP and Global Head of Sports, Nielsen. 3 led to continued uptick in viewership with the annual event seeing its third-highest ratings ever. NFL TV ratings, a look forward: The 2022 NFL season is officially over and the television ratings from the top games showed football is as popular as ever. Upgrade your subscription to get all the news you need: Adding SBJ weekly content will give you the comprehensive view of sports business with: Adding SBJ daily content will give you the comprehensive view of sports business with: The Chargers just missed making the playoffs, but local ratings for the teams games still rose 25% over the previous season. The Saturday night game increased 41% from last year, the Sunday night game rose 20% and the Saturday afternoon game increased 16%. The NFL released its numbers for Super Bowl LVI between the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams. The lowest since 2007. New York and Chicago the countrys largest and third-largest TV markets present a different story. With Christmas Eve on Saturday and Christmas Day on Sunday in Week 16, the NFL TV ratings proved once again no other American sport touches pro football. Well, all the local teams except the Jets. CBS topped the charts in Week 2 of the NFL season with more than 27 million viewers for its late Sunday window, the NFLs largest Week 2 audience since at least 2000. In comparison to the 2019 Pro Bowl, viewership dropped 17% (8.05 million). The Chiefs-Ravens game drew a 10% spike in viewership compared to the preliminary numbers for the SNF debut. The 2021 NFL regular season averaged 17.1 million viewers (TV+Digital) - the highest regular season average since 2015 and up +10% vs. 2020. Either way, Super Bowl LV between the eventual champion Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs represented the worst ratings for the big game since all the way back in 1969. Please turn on JavaScript and try again. Keep in mind these are average ratings. Even on a Championship Sunday without Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady and even the Dallas Cowboys, the NFL TV ratings from the conference championship matchups exploded. The NFL teams only play 16 games in a regular season while the NBA teams play 82. . Chicago has the most local viewers on average, Jacksonville the least. We look forward to a strong finish with the upcoming postseason and Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles.". In other words, for right now, the NFL has nothing to worry about, but given the downward trend of NFL . The only exception was the series finale of M.A.S.H. In comparing to the NFL, theres really no competition here. The Broncos do have to see Mahomes and the Chiefs twice, but they play only four top-10 FPI teams and get the extra home game for being in the AFC. Meanwhile, Thursday Night Football scored a multi-month high of Titans-Packers. The global situation disrupted every single sporting event in the US, not just the NFL's precious TV ratings. The Dallas Cowboys accounted for five of the top 10 ratings. These are also the early numbers from non-adjusted affiliates, so the ratings will change when everything is finalized. Packers-Cowboys delivered what was (at the time) the largest audience of the NFL season with more than 29 million viewers on FOX. the Bills-Rams Kickoff Game declined double-digits with Buffalo winning in a rout. According to SportsTVRatings, ESPN averaged 11.189 million viewers for its primary Monday night broadcast of the New Orleans Saints vs Seattle Seahawks contest. In a season where 21 of the leagues 32 teams posted local TV ratings increases, the performance of the two teams in Los Angeles stood out. That included the San Francisco 49ers thrilling road win over the Dallas Cowboys being the most-watched NFL Wild Card Game since 2015. The six games averaged 30.5 million viewers, an increase of 21% from the 2020-21 NFL Wild Card Weekend and the most-watched first weekend of postseason football since 2015-16. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the NFLs four divisional round matchups averaged 37.1 million viewers. For comparison, $20.1 million watched the Minnesota Vikings vs. New Orleans Saints game in the same time slot last Christmas. The Chicago Bears and Philadelphia Eaglestwo larger-market teams that missed the postseasonstill scored wins despite less-than-stellar records. Streaming, betting companies bolster NFL ad market, Measure of Success: Churchill Downs Race Tracks Sponsorship Strategy Sponsored by IEG, The Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast: Episode 76 -- RSN Armageddon, Up and Down: Womens hoops on ESPN, WBD RSNs, Pac-12 rights and LIV Golf, Who's Up and Down: Adam Silver, Fox's NASCAR ads, Major League Baseball. Overlall Wild Card Weekend was an absolute win for the NFL from a ratings perspective. Hi week 14 MNF was Arizona Cardinals and LA Rams, not 9ers. Its the second-largest audience for the National Football League since 2015. In 2020, the SNF opener between the Cowboys and Rams averaged 18.94 million viewers with a 10.4 rating. One other comparison: Also of note, Monday Night Football had its most-watched season opener since the year 2000. The NFL signed TV rights contracts worth more than $100 billion before the 2021 season and everyone is quickly cashing in. "This year's schedule, highlighted by an enhanced regular season featuring 17 games, gave our broadcast partners the ability to provide fans with more football and incredible matchups than ever. It looks like your browser does not have JavaScript enabled. Cord-cutting has resulted in an estimated 12.82 million cable subscriptions since 2019, per MoffettNathanson, and its estimated 27 million households have cut since 2014. Copyright 2023 The Nielsen Company (US), LLC. As reported by Sports Media Watch, the Week 7 TNF clash between the New Orleans Saints vs Arizona Cardinals averaged just 7.82 million viewers for Amazon Prime. On a night when the NFL competed against the 2021 Emmy Awards, which ended a seven-year ratings slide, NBCs Sunday Night Football came out on top for the television audience. In comparison, many of the World Series games on FOX have struggled to match or top regular-season NFL games. The Chargers were knocked out of playoff contention in the seasons final game. 2) Assuming #1 is yes; since the # of viewers was at least off by 50% (and most likely off by around 60% to 70%) from what would have happened if aired on Thanksgiving night, based on your industry knowledge, would the NFL throw NBC a bone by offering some sort of in-kind compensation? The NFLs three Thanksgiving Day games delivered record audiences (with the caveat that out-of-home viewing was not tracked prior to two years ago), led by Giants-Cowboys at more than 42 million viewers on FOX. His rise from 23rd in 2021 to 11th in 2022 in the QB expected points added per play rankings constituted the NFL's fifth-biggest improvement, according to Ben Baldwin's database.Jones threw less . Social media has fast become a way for brands to connect with consumers and drive messages, and in the NFL, franchises and even players have successfully leveraged social to do so. Its striking but unsurprising that even NFL Network pulled in more than double the best NBA TV ratings for ESPN. It was the most-watched Week 4 MNF game since 2018. 101.1 million television viewers tuned in on NBC and Telemundo. Week 14 of the NFL season brought increases for the afternoon windows and declines in primetime. San Francisco -- 18.6924. Since the regular season began, ratings and viewership are skyrocketing across all major networks entering Week 5. But even in NYC and LA, where they follow the entertainment business like they follow the NFL in Kansas City and Buffalo, the local teams out-rate the Oscars -- the Super Bowl of Showbiz -- nationally. Here are the full viewership numbers for Week 12. For comparison, the 2020 TNF opener between the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals averaged 6.68 million viewers. After NBC cashed in with a massive audience for the NFL Kickoff Game, its numbers dipped on Sunday Night Football. Super Bowl LV (Chiefs-Buccaneers): 91.63 million, NFC Championship Game (Buccaneers-Packers): 44.77 million, AFC Championship Game (Bills-Chiefs): 41.85 million, NFC Playoffs (Buccaneers-Saints): 35.46 million, NFC Playoffs (Rams-Packers): 26.5 million, AFC Playoffs (Browns-Chiefs): 34.33 million, AFC Playoffs (Ravens-Bills): 26.34 million. It marks a 14% increase from the total viewership from last years Week 3 game. CBS topped the charts in Week 4 of the NFL season with nearly 25 million viewers for coverage featuring Patriots-Packers in markets, while most other Sunday windows declined. A brief explainer of TV ratings, using the Bills-Rams NFL Kickoff Game. Moving forward, the NFL may attempt to feature teams like the Cowboys, New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers to aid ratings for the SNF opener. Carolina -- 19.1423. 100 million viewers tuned in during the three-day opening slate. Sports Business Journals John Ourand reported that the Dallas-Tampa Bay 15.9 overnight rating was up 16% from 2020s opener between the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs. While the COVID-19 pandemic forced many postponed games in 2020 and cost the NFL billions in revenue, outbreaks across the league arent having the same impact in 2021. Unfortunately for the network, in a year that saw the company lay off 300-plus employees due to the COVID-19 pandemic, NFL ratings took a major hit. 4 seed in the playoffs. The Manningcast will be back for NFL Week 8, with the New York Giants facing the Kansas City Chiefs. Its the lowest average viewership for the game since 2006, when ESPN pulled in 5.96 million viewers. The NBA and its players were the most active in calling for systemic change in the United States and supporting the Black Lives Matter message last year. Another good method for judging the quality of a team/city's fans, other than the more customary TV ratings, attendance or merchandising sales, is taking a local at internet search terms through Google trends. Ourand noted that the rating figure doesnt include out-of-home viewing. The 2022 NFL Pro Bowl averaged 6.69 million viewers across ABC, ESPN and DisneyXD. [stnvideo key="IAwLfFE38G . Monday Night Football was already the lesser football package for NFL games and the decline in viewership didnt help in 2020. On a night when stars quarterback Derek Carr, wide receiver Davante Adams and quarterback Trevor Lawrence were ruled out days before kickoff, the broadcast still performed fairly well. Here are the NFL's television ratings from the 2022 regular season, focusing on total viewership from Weeks 1-18, along with the average audience size and the most watched games. We saw NFL TV ratings in 2021 climb, with the leagues broadcasting partners and advertisers very happy with the returns. Of course, that money will be passed on to those competing on the field and thats why you see contracts for the highest paid NFL players skyrocketing. In advance of Super Bowl LVII, here are the NFL TV ratings from the postseason. Hi just wondering if it would be possible for you to include the TV ratings data as an Excel format for downloading and viewing? Dallas -- 29.5510. NFL Networks broadcast of the Washington Football Team and New England Patriots game on Aug. 12 drew the highest TV ratings for a preseason game on the flagship station since all the way back in 2018. The entire 2020 preseason was canceled due to COVID-19 and fans were desperate for some football action. On-field drills. NFL TV ratings for the 2022 season. On Monday night, ESPNs broadcast and stream pulled in 12.52 million viewers (SportsMediaWatch). 22.3 million tuned in on CBS to watch the Green Bay Packers battle the Pittsburgh Steelers. Indianapolis -- 24.31, 2020 NFC Championship: 23.117. That was an especially big week for NFL ratings, as the game Dallas played against Kansas City just four days prior took the No. After NBC cashed in with a massive audience for the NFL Kickoff Game, its numbers dipped on Sunday Night Football. Thats what happens when you pit the GOAT QB in Brady against the NFLs highest-paid player in 2021 in Prescott, who also happens to play for the most valuable sports franchise. Provided below is the list of the Top 10 most-watched NFL games during the 2021 regular season: Las Vegas Raiders vs. Dallas Cowboys (Week 12, CBS) 40.8 million, Dallas Cowboys vs. Kansas City Chiefs (Week 11, FOX) 28.7 million, Cleveland Browns vs. Green Bay Packers (Week 16, FOX+NFLN) 28.6 million, Chicago Bears vs. Detroit Lions (Week 12, FOX) 28.2 million, Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. New England Patriots (Week 4, NBC) 27.2 million, Arizona Cardinals vs. Dallas Cowboys (Week 17, FOX) 26.8 million, Los Angeles Rams vs. Green Bay Packers (Week 12, FOX) 25.2 million, Dallas Cowboys vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Kickoff, NBC) 25.2 million, Green Bay Packers vs. Kansas City Chiefs (Week 9, FOX) 25.0 million, Dallas Cowboys vs. Los Angeles Chargers (Week 2, CBS) 25.0 million. Viewership compared to the Hollywood Reporter, the NFL Kickoff game the Jets Night, broadcast! 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