Week 1 in the NFL featured a new setup with not only a Thursday night opener, but a special game on Peacock on Friday night in Brazil. CBS and Fox also eschewed the shared Week 1 doubleheader that had been featured in previous seasons as Fox got the Dallas Cowboys and Tom Brady all to themselves for America’s Game of the Week. But as we dive into the Week 1 NFL ratings, everyone was a winner, because this is the NFL we’re talking about after all.
Thursday Night Opener sets standard
Even though Fox had Tom Brady and the Dallas Cowboys in a national window all to themselves on Sunday afternoon, the Thursday night opener blew away the competition in Week 1. The Chiefs-Ravens kickoff game drew an astounding 28.9 million viewers, setting a new record for a Thursday kickoff game. Perhaps the biggest surprise is that the game peaked at 33 million in the second quarter, in spite of coming down to the final play in a thrilling finish. Apparently America isn’t quite ready to stay up late in its football obsession just yet.
Peacock struts its stuff
The Friday night Peacock exclusive in Brazil featuring the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers unsurprisingly drew the streaming platform’s second biggest live audience… next to their own playoff broadcast last season… with 14.2 million viewers. It would be fascinating to see what it would have drawn on linear television given the huge teams involved going against the graveyard that is Friday night television. Given the loophole in the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 (seriously this is a real thing) that allowed for the Friday night broadcast this season, it’s likely this was just a one-off. Although as we’ve seen with Christmas Day games, nothing can be taken with the NFL’s schedule expansion.
CBS, Fox, and NBC all tout wins
As far as the Sunday broadcasters, each network had something to brag about as they released their numbers from Week 1.
As noted earlier at AA, the combination of Tom Brady’s broadcast debut and the Dallas Cowboys was a big draw for Fox Sports as they had a Week 1 national window for the first time since 2020. The game drew 23.8 million viewers for the top audience on Sunday, although any increases over last year should be taken with a grain of salt.
The NFL ON CBS delivers its most-watched Week 1 singleheader since the NFL returned to CBS in 1998 pic.twitter.com/SJHkRQWevb
— CBS Sports PR (@CBSSportsGang) September 10, 2024
With a singleheader broadcast to the nation, CBS arguably had the better story to tell with an average of 17.784 million viewers nationwide. This accounted for their best Week 1 singleheader since getting the NFC package all the way back in 1998. Given the Week 1 lineup was diluted with the Thursday and Friday games and without stalwarts like the Chiefs, Ravens, Jets, and Steelers playing on their network, it’s all the more impressive.
And speaking of impressive numbers, Sunday Night Football on NBC also saw a Week 1 increase versus last year with the Lions and Rams going into overtime, drawing 22.7 million viewers that NBC counted across their linear network and Peacock. The numbers in Detroit show just how much Dan Campbell and the franchise have taken over the city, with 69% of televisions in use tuned in to the game.
Detroit posts its NBC SNF best 69 share for @Lions overtime victory last night. Top 10 markets…
Full Press Release: https://t.co/gS2IAqxSuf pic.twitter.com/lmLEPLZIJE
— NBC Sports PR (@NBCSportsPR) September 9, 2024
In fact, the Lions-Rams tilt even outdrew the SNF opener from last season that featured the formidable Cowboys-Giants rivalry. We’re not quite ready to crown the Detroit Lions the new America’s Team just yet, but it shows they are certainly a ratings draw.
