As a hardcore gamer and sports enthusiast who has been following the NFL since the days of the XFL (remember that?), I must admit that the 2024 season opener has left me utterly astounded! The numbers are simply mind-blowing, with viewership soaring to unprecedented heights.
It’s not unexpected that the NFL drew large audiences during its initial week of the 2024 season, given its status as television’s premier event. However, the opening series of matches in week one, along with the first night of week two, are outperforming typical levels.
As a dedicated gamer, I can’t help but feel the thrill when I hear about the staggering viewership numbers for the opening week of NFL games this year. With over 21 million viewers tuning in across NBC, CBS, Fox, and ABC/ESPN, it sets a new record for highest opening-week average ever!
The opening match of the season, which aired on NBC and Peacock as well as other league and NBCUniversal digital platforms on September 5, attracted a total of 29.2 million viewers across all platforms this year. This represents a 9% increase compared to last year’s kickoff viewership. The traditional TV audience was approximately 24.56 million, while around 4.64 million viewers (about 16% of the total) opted for streaming services. Interestingly, while the number of on-air viewers for the kickoff game decreased slightly from last year’s figure of 24.75 million, the number of people watching via streaming platforms increased by more than 60% year over year.
On a Sunday afternoon, the country tuned in to watch Fox’s national football game, which was Tom Brady’s first time in the broadcast booth. A staggering 23.93 million people watched this game on television. Notably, Monday Night Football on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and streaming platforms had 20.5 million viewers, as did Sunday Night Football on NBC (with an additional 22.8 million through streaming). Both shows surpassed the 20 million viewer mark.
The opening week also featured a streaming-exclusive game played from Brazil, in the NFL’s first foray into South America. Peacock (and local broadcast affiliates for the two teams, the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers) averaged 14 million viewers for the game, almost doubling the audience for the streamer’s last regular-season game (7.3 million) in December 2023.
Week two got off to a great start, as Thursday Night Football made its premiere on Amazon’s Prime Video. The game, which saw the Buffalo Bills defeating the Miami Dolphins by a score of 31-10, attracted an audience of 14.96 million viewers according to Nielsen. This makes it the third largest Thursday Night Football audience since Amazon took over the franchise in 2022, slightly below last year’s opening game (15.06 million viewers) but significantly above the average for 2023 of 11.83 million viewers.
This season, the league plans to increase its presence in various media outlets by featuring two Christmas Day games on Netflix towards the end of the season.
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2024-09-14 01:24