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NFL Week One and Thursday Night Football Soar with Record-Breaking TV Ratings

Introduction

The NFL’s 2024 season has kicked off with impressive TV ratings, reflecting the league’s enduring popularity and growing media presence. The opening week and the first Thursday Night Football game of the season have set new benchmarks for viewership, showcasing the NFL’s dominance in the television landscape.

Record-Breaking Opening Week Ratings

The NFL’s first week of games, broadcast across NBC, CBS, Fox, and ABC/ESPN, drew an average of 21 million viewers across all platforms. This figure marks the highest opening-week average on record. Notably, Nielsen ratings now include streaming and out-of-home viewing, expanding the scope of audience measurement.

The Sept. 5 season opener, which aired on NBC and Peacock, led the week with a combined 29.2 million viewers across all platforms. This represents a 9 percent increase from last year’s kickoff. Of this total, 24.56 million were TV-only viewers, while about 4.64 million (16 percent) watched via streaming platforms. Streaming viewership saw a significant year-over-year increase, rising by more than 60 percent.

Notable Game Highlights

Fox’s late Sunday afternoon national game, featuring Tom Brady’s debut in the broadcast booth, attracted 23.93 million on-air viewers. Other notable games included:

  • Monday Night Football: Averaged 20.5 million viewers across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and streaming.
  • Sunday Night Football: Drew 20 million viewers on NBC, with a total of 22.8 million including streaming.

Additionally, the opening week featured a streaming-exclusive game played from Brazil, marking the NFL’s first foray into South America. This game, between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers, averaged 14 million viewers on Peacock and local affiliates. This nearly doubled the streaming audience for the last regular-season game in December 2023, which had 7.3 million viewers.

Strong Start for Week Two

The NFL’s momentum continued into week two with the debut of Thursday Night Football on Amazon’s Prime Video. The game, a 31-10 victory for the Buffalo Bills over the Miami Dolphins, averaged 14.96 million viewers. This makes it the third-largest TNF audience since Amazon took over the franchise in 2022, slightly below last year’s opener but significantly above the 2023 average of 11.83 million viewers.

Future Media Expansions

Looking ahead, the NFL will further extend its media footprint with a pair of Christmas Day games set to air on Netflix later this season. This expansion highlights the league’s ongoing efforts to diversify its media presence and engage with a broader audience.

Conclusion

The NFL’s impressive TV ratings at the start of the 2024 season underscore the league’s substantial and growing influence in sports media. With record-breaking viewership and strategic media expansions, the NFL continues to captivate audiences across various platforms.

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