The NFL’s first-ever exclusive broadcast on YouTube initially drew some numbers that gave the sports media world pause.
Now, YouTube is saying the story those numbers told wasn’t exactly correct.
Friday, YouTube updated its initial audience number post, saying that the actual average minute audience (AMA) was 19.7 million viewers globally rather than the previously reported 17.3 million.
“We encountered an internal technical issue where a subset of legitimate views were not categorized as actual views. As a result, the viewership numbers for this game were undercounted,” read YouTube’s update. “We’ve revalidated the numbers with Nielsen, after providing them with the updated first-party data. This is an unfortunate situation and we’ll do better next time.”
According to their updated figures, the audience breakdown was 18.5 million AMA in the United States (according to Nielsen) and 1.2 million AMA outside of the U.S. (according to YouTube).
“So what are we going to do here folks? I only need 11,000 votes. Fellas, I need 11,000 votes. Give me a break.” https://t.co/WJKBeQLJlg
— Michael Mulvihill (@mulvihill79) September 12, 2025
Even with the slight boost, those international numbers remain concerning and underperformed expectations. “Given YouTube’s strength as a global video platform, 1.1 million people should have been able to stumble upon the game by accident,” wrote our Drew Lener last week. Bumping that number up to 1.2M doesn’t change the sentiment much.
Numbers aside, YouTube’s NFL presentation left a lot to be desired on the broadcast side as well, with some feeling as the influencer-friendly features left them behind.
“Watching the broadcast, it felt as if the streamer misunderstood its own appeal to the league and its fans,” wrote Awful Announcing’s Brendon Kleen this week. “They were there for the football, not the YouTube. Nevertheless, YouTube removed almost all production value from its stateside studio, where Derek Carr and Tyrann Mathieu still managed to impress. In Brazil, YouTube brought on the entertaining Kay Adams and Cam Newton, who catered far too much to the lowest common denominator in the audience. Rather than reported features or sit-downs, YouTube produced segments with creators to fill in the gaps.”
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.