The Dallas Cowboys stumbled again in the early rounds of the NFL Playoffs, losing 48-32 to the Green Bay Packers on Wild Card Weekend, and a vast audience watched the game on Fox.
Per an announcement from Fox, the game Sunday is expected to average 40 million viewers, Fox’s best Wild Card game since 2015.
With 40 million viewers, Sunday's matchup between the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys projects to be @NFLonFOX's best performance for an NFL #WildCard Game since 2015 — peaking at 43.4 million from 6:45-7:00 PM ET.
The delivery is up +20% over last year's game that aired… pic.twitter.com/VKMvrxeWY9
— FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) January 15, 2024
That’s a 20% increase from last year’s Fox Wild Card game, Giants-Vikings, which averaged 33.21 million viewers.
Per Sports Media Watch, that’s good for the fifth-largest audience for a game in the Wild Card round on record. This is your obligatory reminder that out-of-home viewing was not tracked before the 2020 season.
Packers-Cowboys clocks in as the second-most watched game across the whole season, behind just Commanders-Cowboys on CBS Thanksgiving Day.
Over on NBC Saturday, results were also positive. Browns-Texas started the Wild Card round by averaging 29.0 million viewers, the network’s most-watched Saturday Wild Card game since 2014. The much-derided Peacock-exclusive game between the Dolphins and Chiefs averaged 23 million viewers, up from NBC’s Saturday primetime Wild Card game last season (Chargers-Jaguars, 20.61 million).
Viewership for Rams-Lions on NBC Sunday night was not immediately available.
While Fox is probably disappointed that the metallic silver ratings bullet burned out in a typically quick fashion, the network is getting a more than acceptable matchup in primetime on Saturday. Packers-49ers pits two of the league’s best draws against one another, and with minimal competition on the slate, the game should bring in strong numbers for Fox. Last year in primetime on Saturday, Fox aired Giants-Eagles in the Divisional round, and Philly’s blowout win averaged 28.64 million viewers.
