The NFL is King. Plain and simple. The NFL draws more eyeballs than any other sport in America, and many times, NFL games outdraw your top TV shows.
The results are in from the Kansas City Chiefs/Detroit Lions game from Thursday Night, and if the ratings signal a trend, the NFL is on the path to breaking records in 2023.
The Chiefs/Lions game totaled 27,000,000 viewers. The game had more viewers than any program since the Super Bowl. The NFL is King.
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How Does the 2023 Kickoff Game Compare to 2022?
The Lions/Chiefs game on Thursday Night saw a 24% increase in viewership over last season’s opener Rams/Bills. Last season’s kickoff also included the previous defending Super Bowl Champion, the Los Angeles Rams, against one of the most rabid fanbases in the NFL, the Buffalo Bills.
Lions-Chiefs draws 27 million viewers, a 24-percent bump over last year’s Bills-Rams opener. https://t.co/pOvDtLksa9
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) September 8, 2023
Why did the 2023 Kickoff’s ratings climb to such heights? The Patrick Mahomes draw helps. Mahomes is considered by many around the NFL the best player in the league. The Chiefs/Lions game had all the makings of a back-and-forth shootout between two of the most high-octane offenses in the league.
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What Do the Ratings Suggest For 2023?
The ratings suggest that interest in the NFL has never been higher. People continue to tune in in droves, and there is no sign of slowing down anytime soon.
It will be fascinating to see how the viewership is altered with the variety of streaming options on several platforms. NFL games will be shown on ABC, ESPN, FOX, CBS, Hulu, Amazon, and YouTube TV. Will the variety of options dilute the ratings?
NBC announced that Thursday night’s #Lions–#Chiefs season-opener averaged 26.8 million viewers across all platforms, which is up 24% from last year’s Bills-Rams opener.
A big start for the NFL. https://t.co/QvX2XGy9Qh
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 8, 2023
The NFL fan has more options than ever before. The NFL is as popular today as it has ever been. NFL fans may have to divert their football fandom across multiple platforms, but no matter what, football fans will continue to tune in. NFL is King.
Fan Reactions
Just so everyone understand how many people watch football compared to everything else on TV, here are the ratings from last night:
NBC NFL Kickoff Game: 20 million viewers
CBS, ABC, FOX, and CW combined: 4.7 million viewers
— NotKennyRogers (@NotKennyRogers) September 8, 2023
Love the NBA but the NFL’s TV ratings almost triple the NBA every year. A regular Thursday night football game gets more ratings than NBA Finals games.
— Sebastian (@SebastianHise) September 8, 2023
I was among those who figured NHL and NFL would lose fans and TV ratings as rules and coaching/tactics diminished violence.
My biggest misread in 50 years on the job.— Kevin Paul Dupont (@GlobeKPD) September 8, 2023
