NFL ratings experience slight decrease in 2024

After the NFL’s viewership numbers had a big increase in 2023, the league had a minor fall in 2024. That said, even with the slight drop, the NFL continued to dominate television ratings.

Eric Fisher of Front Office Sports reported on Wednesday that, “The league averaged 17.5 million viewers per game across all networks, down 2.2% from a year ago.”

And while any regression might be at least somewhat concerning, it’s also notable that 2023 had a 7% increase and was one of the most-watched seasons in league history. So, some regression was to be expected. It’s also notable that 2024 was a Presidential Election year. NFL numbers historically dip some in election years — at least until after Election Day.

Additionally, despite a slight dip in television viewership, the league’s streaming numbers were up. Amazon, in its third year of covering Thursday Night Football, “Registered an 11% year-over-year increase to an average of 13.2 million for its Thursday Night Football coverage, rising to 13% when also including its Black Friday game,” per Fisher.

The most-watched game of the season was Thanksgiving’s late-afternoon game, pitting the New York Giants against the Dallas Cowboys. That’s particularly notable, as neither team had a winning record at the time of the game, with the Giants entering at 2-9 and the Cowboys 4-7.

Finally, even with a slight drop in ratings, the NFL’s dominance in television ratings — both in the sports world and otherwise — remains unchecked. Of the 15 most-watched broadcasts in 2024, 13 were NFL games. The only exceptions were September’s Presidential Debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and now-President-Elect Donald Trump and March’s Oscar Awards Ceremony. Those came in at No. 12 and 13, respectively. Summer Olympics Sunday Prime Week 1 (No. 16) was the first non-NFL sporting event.