Brady’s Buccaneers debut was up 8% from the game in the same window last yearGETTY IMAGES
The first Sunday of the NFL season was a mixed bag for league viewership. Fox led the way with 25.8 million viewers for a national window that featured Tom Brady’s debut with the Buccaneers against the Saints. That surprisingly was up 8% from a popular Cowboys-Giants game in the same window last year, and the best audience for any TV telecast since the Super Bowl (topped the Oscars). Also shown in that national window was Cardinals-49ers, marking the first time the 49ers had the Bay Area market to themselves in decades. That game saw the local rating in S.F.-Oakland-San Jose jump 39% over the 49ers' Week 1 last year. Fox also saw a 7% gain for its Week 1 regional window earlier on Sunday (13.5 million vs. 12.6 million).
NBC, COWBOYS SEE DROP: NBC averaged 18.9 million viewers for its “SNF” opener featuring Cowboys-Rams and the debut of SoFi Stadium, a 15% drop from Steelers-Patriots in the same window last year. This is the lowest Week 1 “SNF” audience since Bears-Colts averaged 18.4 million in ’08 (another election year). While down from ’19, when including the NFL Kickoff game last Thursday, the two NBC NFL games mark two of the three most-watched primetime TV shows since the Super Bowl (on all of TV). This is also the 12th straight year that the NBC Week 1 doubleheader has averaged over 20 million viewers. Sunday’s singleheader window on CBS averaged 13.6 million viewers, down 12% from the start of ’19. Not helping matters there was Raiders-Panthers, the first game for the team in the Las Vegas market. The telecast was down sharply from what the Las Vegas market averaged in ’19 for neutral games. Jets-Bills also hurt CBS, as that game was down 31% from the same matchup last year.
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING: Yahoo Sports' Jay Busbee points out critics of the NFL will see the "SNF" numbers and conclude that viewership is "diving because the NFL has taken a more socially progressive stance." It is a theory that could make sense since the Cowboys are "typically one of the top draws in sports." However, the Fox numbers "seem to indicate that matchups do matter, and that NFL fans will follow a game that they want to see regardless of politics." More data is likely needed before observers can "legitimately call any movement, positive or negative, a trend." Additionally, the Wall Street Journal's Spencer Jakab noted many blamed social activism for viewership of Thursday's season opener being down. However, a "more likely culprit" was the fact that both the NBA and NHL playoffs were on television that night, along with MLB, college football and the U.S. Open. Other factors are that the lack of a preseason dampened anticipation of the season, while the Chiefs jumped out to a big lead early. Still, it was the "most watched sporting event since the Super Bowl."
