The first week of the NFL showed staggering growth in viewership after the numbers went up 7% compared to last season.
NFL had its first decline last year in the three seasons when the numbers had gone down. This season the NFL had an average of 17.4 million viewers per game over traditional and online platforms.
As noticed last week, the grandest clash between the Las Vegas Raiders and Baltimore Ravens witnessed the highest number of viewers an ESPN NFL opener has seen since 2013 at 15.2 million — up 42% from last year’s game.
An average of 16.6 million viewers was observed on CBS’ two Sunday afternoon games which reportedly was a 21% increase from 2020’s opening weekend.
A record-breaking stat was mentioned by CBS as the Cleveland Browns-Kansas City Chiefs game was the most-watched opening weekend game since 2015 with 19.5 million viewers.
NBC reached a total audience of 22.9 million for its Thursday and Sunday night games, an 11% increase, though its “Sunday Night Football” broadcast slipped 4% from last year.
ESPN’s first “MegaCast” with Peyton and Eli Manning brought in 800,000 viewers alone. Disney’s strategy of airing games across multiple platforms earned it a 59% increase in viewership from last year.
It was indicated that there was a certain interest, which has been risen in the NFL after a record 6.3 billion minutes were spent, the highest figure ever for opening week.