The National Football League returned to our television screens on Thursday, and to the shock of no one, we returned to the National Football League.
Seattle’s champion Seahawks casually dominated the Green Bay Packers following their ceremony to celebrate a Super Bowl last night, while the game casually dominated the rest of television in the ratings battle. Packers-Seahawks drew a typically gargantuan 16.8 overnight. That was up four percent from the (delayed by lightning) Ravens-Broncos opener in 2013. The game was the third-highest rated kickoff game ever for the NFL, which has been holding the Thursday night showdown since 2002.
Only the 2010 and 2011 games have ever drawn higher ratings on the opening Thursday.
Locally, it was no surprise that Milwaukee (44.0/64) and Seattle (42.2/73) were the highest-rated markets. Minneapolis, New Orleans and Sacramento all filled out the top five, with Minneapolis and Sacramento (a known haven of 49er fans) featuring two huge rival fan bases. San Diego, Denver, Norfolk, Nashville and Seattle-adjacent Portland rounded out the top 10.
Just goes to show you, after another summer of consistently bad press, that the NFL rolls on. Fans are always ready for some football.
