One of the most competitive Wild Card rounds in recent memory lifted the NFL’s opening weekend of postseason play to its highest viewership in many years.
The five weekend Wild Card games across Fox, CBS, Prime Video, and NBC averaged 32.76 million viewers per game, according to figures released by the networks and streamer. (Viewership figures for Monday night’s game on ESPN/ABC have not yet been released.) Compared to the same five windows last season, viewership increased by 16% (28.26 million viewers).
The window to see the largest jump was unsurprisingly Prime Video’s Saturday night telecast. Last season’s noncompetitive game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens averaged just 22.1 million viewers on the streaming service, while this year’s NFC North thriller between the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears clocked in at 31.6 million viewers, good for a 43% year-over-year increase.
In addition to smashing last year’s comparable game, Prime Video set a new record audience for an NFL game on streaming, surpassing Netflix’s record set on Christmas Day (27.5 million for Lions-Vikings on Netflix).
Earning the second-largest year-over-year jump over the weekend was Fox’s Sunday late-afternoon broadcast featuring the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles. The 49ers’ win averaged 41 million viewers, eclipsing last year’s Packers-Eagles game by about five million (35.9 million viewers). That was good for a 14% year-over-year increase in the window, and the most-watched game of Wild Card weekend overall. The audience set an 11-year high for Fox in the Wild Card round, and the game was the most-watched Wild Card matchup on any network since 2022.
Fox’s other game, a Saturday afternoon bout between the Los Angeles Rams and Carolina Panthers, also saw an increase from last year. The Rams’ tight win averaged 28 million viewers, up 7% versus last season and the most-watched Saturday afternoon Wild Card game in 15 years.
Over on CBS, Sunday’s early-afternoon game between the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars also ticked up versus last year. The Bills’ win averaged 32.7 million viewers, up 5% versus Broncos-Bills last season (31.1 million viewers). It was the most-watched AFC Wild Card game on any network since Tim Tebow and the Broncos’ stunning overtime win over the Steelers in 2012.
The lone network not to secure a year-over-year increase was NBC, whose broadcast of the Los Angeles Chargers-New England Patriots game held virtually even with 2025. The Patriots’ win averaged 28.9 million viewers in primetime on Sunday, just behind the 29 million viewers that tuned in for Commanders-Buccaneers last season.
Given the competitiveness of each game, it’s no surprise that nearly every game saw increases versus last season (and the one that didn’t was the least-competitive of the bunch).
It should be noted, this is the first NFL Wild Card round to be measured using Nielsen’s new Big Data + Panel methodology and expanded out-of-home viewing, both of which generally serve to increase sports viewership compared to prior years.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.