It is no secret that the NFL is the most popular sports league in the United States. So, when people see NFL games get tens of millions of views, it does not tend to be a surprise. As a result, the league is mainly competing against itself when it comes to ratings.
Well, the NFL managed to top their Week 1 numbers from 2023 with authority in 2024. Read below to find out more.
Week 1 Average Ratings Up 12% From 2023
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The NFL released several viewership numbers from Week 1 and compared some of these to 2023 numbers. If you look at the link mentioned above, you will notice a few things that stand out.
Last week, there were about 21 million viewers per game. That is up 12% from 2023.
However, that is not all. One of the biggest increases came from Sunday afternoon viewership for games on CBS and FOX. Those games averaged 18.4 million viewers per game. This resulted in the biggest increase from 2023, up by 21%.
NBC and ABC/ESPN Shine
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The two networks that saw the most viewership from NFL games were NBC and ABC/ESPN. This accounts for the opening kickoff game last Thursday, the Sunday Night Football game, and the Monday Night Football game.
NBC averaged 25 million viewers in the two games on their main channel. That was the highest average viewership out of any network. Considering the games they got along with the timeslots, this should come as little surprise.
As for ABC/ESPN, those channels did pretty well too. Both channels had two different broadcasts for the Monday Night Football game between the New York Jets and San Francisco 49ers. This ended up coming out to about 20.4 million viewers per game.
Compared to past Monday Night Football games on ABC, this one shined in viewership. It was the second-most watched game on that channel since 2000.
Total Audience
![REPORT: NFL Week 1 Viewership Sees MAJOR Increase From 2023 3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Mike Evans](https://gridironheroics.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/USATSI_21444519_168400517_lowres-1024x683.jpg)
So, how did the NFL make out as a whole in Week 1? Truthfully, the league did very well. There were 123 million total viewers for NFL games in Week 1 of the 2024 season.
Will this continue into Week 2? That remains to be seen. However, there are some notable games that can help give a ratings boost.
For starters, the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins face off on Thursday Night Football. The biggest afternoon game to watch is a rematch of the 2022 and 2023 AFC Championship games between the Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs. On top of this, rookie phenom Caleb Williams will make his primetime debut on Sunday Night Football, as the Chicago Bears take on the Houston Texans.
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