All things considered, the NFL and NBC will still be pleased to open the 2022 season with a broadcast for a preseason game featuring backups and fringe NFL roster candidates averaging 5.8 million viewers. The 2015 NBA Finals between The Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers achieved the highest TV ratings in recent years. The Sunday day games are about 3.0% higher in 2020 compared to 2017. Zach has been FootballScoop's national columnist since 2012. A total of 7.31 million viewers tuned in to the Pittsburgh Steelers win over the Dallas Cowboys earlier in August, marking the highest-rated preseason broadcast since all the way back in 2017. Spanish-language Local TV. Green Bay -- 41.57 4. Las Vegas -- 16.22, 2016 NBA Finals Game 7: 15.82022 CFP National Championship: 15.6, 26. Same time period in 2020: 887.9M, 7.9% increase through the first 11 weeks in viewers from 2020. Ourand noted that the rating figure doesnt include out-of-home viewing. Monday Night Football was already the lesser football package for NFL games and the decline in viewership didnt help in 2020. As Pro Football Talk notes, those numbers are all steep improvements from the 2021 NFL playoffs. During the 2021 NFL regular season, NFL games ranked as the top 16, 48 of the top 50 and 91 of the top 100 telecasts on TV. The Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos, bolstered by top 10 finishes in all categories, were able to crack the top five, while reigning MVP Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers finished eighth overall. Launched in 2003, NFL Network gives fans unprecedented year-round inside access to all NFL events, including the Super Bowl, Playoffs, regular season, preseason, Pro Bowl, Pro Football Hall of Fame induction weekend, NFL Draft, NFL Scouting Combine, Senior Bowl, league meetings, minicamps and training camps. The simulcast featuring Peyton and Eli Manning, broadcasted on ESPN2 and ESPN+, averaged 1.606 million viewers. Week 4 concluded with ESPNs Monday Night Football broadcast, which averaged 12.6 million (Sports Media Watch) to watch the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers. NFL teams average more revenue, as well. "This year's schedule, highlighted by an enhanced regular season featuring 17 games, gave our broadcast partners the ability to provide fans with more football and incredible matchups than ever. Now consider the following: the Super Bowl -- the biggest cultural phenomenon we have in this country -- draws a rating in the mid-to-low 40s. The Giants and Jets had top 10 finishes in the social media category as well. After a strong start for the network to open the 2022 NFL season, things are steadily trending down. The NFL has owned Thanksgiving for years, becoming part of the tradition for families on Thursday. That data is courtesy of Sports Business Journal, who on Monday published the local TV data from all 32 teams for the 2021 regular season. Also of note, just seven of NBCs Sunday night broadcasts averaged 17-plus million viewers last season. Heres a breakdown of the numbers from the league itself. Award-winning original reporting, with in-depth profiles, timely research and expert opinions on the biggest issues and stories in sports business. In fact, four out of the top 10 teams in the Exposure Ranking analysis didnt even make the playoffs last season. NFL Games Ranked as 48 of the Top 50 Shows on TV During 2021 Regular Season, 370 Billion Total Minutes Consumed Throughout 2021 Regular Season . Chicago -- 22.15, 18. To put this into perspective, the 2021 NBA Finals between the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns drew an average of 9.91 million viewers (more on that later). According to the source, the sporting event of 2020 with the highest TV rating of 41.6 was Super Bowl 54, which drew in over 100 million viewers in the United States. Sports Business Journals John Ourand reported that the Dallas-Tampa Bay 15.9 overnight rating was up 16% from 2020s opener between the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs. Political advertising pricing varies by station and is subject to change, therefore cannot be compared to previous time periods. Unsurprisingly, the NFL TV ratings are easily outpacing anything Major League Baseball is generating in terms of viewership. Theres good reason for this. Combined, the two games averaged 49.6 million viewers across TV and digital streaming, according to an NFL announcement. Its not close. One other comparison: Total viewers across 57 network televised games, cumulative through week 11, 2021: 958.1M Cowboys-49ers topped Divisional Round weekend with more than 45 million viewers, the second-largest audience on record for a Divisional Round game. It was recently announced that in 2023, Amazon Prime will have a game on Black Friday after the three games on Thanksgiving. It started out as nothing more than a niche event for the most hardcore of fans. The Denver Broncos sold for a record $4.65 billion this year, in large part because billionaires recognize this is the most popular sport in America and its a business that keeps generating record-setting profits each year. The MLB, on the other hand, made $9.46 billion in revenue last season, up 4.8% from the prior season when they made a total of $9.03 billion. Below, we look at NFL TV ratings from the 2021 and 2022 seasons with the latest updates on Super Bowl LVI and the Los Angeles Rams winning their first-ever title in Southern California, to the massive numbers in the early week of the new season. 232 billion total minutes consumed. 3 led to continued uptick in viewership with the annual event seeing its third-highest ratings ever. Winning records didnt necessarily correlate to higher indices. Here are the 2022 NFL TV ratings from the regular season, including Christmas, Thanksgiving and the primary broadcasts early in the regular season. All professional sports franchisesnot just NFL teamshave an increasing ability to leverage different forms of media in order to connect with, activate and grow their respective fan bases. We look forward to a strong finish with the upcoming postseason and Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles.". It was the most-watched Week 4 MNF game since 2018. Historically, big market teams post smaller ratings than smaller market franchises, so its not surprising to see the four New York and Los Angeles teams bunched up at the bottom of the ratings chart. These are the TV households for every NFL team: Giants (7.5 million) Jets (7.5 million) Rams (5.7 million) Chargers (5.7 million) Bears (3.5 million) Eagles (3.0 million) Cowboys (3.0. Unfortunately for the network, in a year that saw the company lay off 300-plus employees due to the COVID-19 pandemic, NFL ratings took a major hit. Madden NFL 23 Official NFL Team Ratings. As for NBCs Sunday Night Football, it drew its smallest audience in terms of average NFL TV ratings in three years for a Week 16 game. In comparison, many of the World Series games on FOX have struggled to match or top regular-season NFL games. Week 8 and Week 9 of the 2022 NFL season have lined up with the World Series between the Houston Astros vs Philadelphia Phillies. Unfortunately for the network, in a year that saw the company lay off 300-plus employees due to the COVID-19 pandemic, NFL ratings took a major hit. On the penultimate NFL Sunday of the 2021 season, the Pro Bowl delivered its worst ratings in 16 years. According to SportsMediaWatch, the Thursday Night Football opener averaged an estimated 7.33 million viewers on the NFLs exclusive TV network. Nielsen also releases viewership figures that include three, seven and even 35 days of DVR viewing, but those are not shown here as they are not particularly relevant for sporting events. New Orleans has the highest local rating on average LA Chargers the lowest. These are the highest NFL TV ratings on Championship Sunday in nine years. That number is up 14 percent from 2017, tied for the largest jump amongst the top-50 most valuable teams. In comparing to the NFL, theres really no competition here. Baltimore opened up a 14-0 lead in the first half before the Raiders came storming back. Moving forward, the NFL may attempt to feature teams like the Cowboys, New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers to aid ratings for the SNF opener. By comparison, the Emmys drew 7.4 million viewers to CBS. Braden Layer is set to return to the Gators after spending 2022 at Dayton. Following in close second were Aaron Rodgers and the storied Green Bay Packers, scoring a 182 on the Nielsen Sports Media Exposure Indexmeaning the teams total media exposure was 82% higher than the NFL team average for the categories analyzed. With free agency around the corner, players rated how teams treated them off the field: for better or for worse. Numbers obtained from various sources, including network PR, ShowBuzz Daily and Programming Insider. The Bills return to the field delivered the largest audience of Week 18 and the largest CBS audience in the final week of an NFL season since 2011. Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you. Exclusively broadcasted on NFLF Network and its streaming services, the Colts-Cardinals broadcast averaged 12.62 million viewers. You should be able to go to the next page. Again, Nielsen uses sampling data to calculate the audience, meaning that your viewing of a sporting event outside of your home does not count unless you are in a Nielsen family.. The NFLs best local TV story came out of Dallas, where the Cowboys ratings jumped 23% the leagues second-biggest increase. Joe Montana, Roger Craig, Steve Young, Jerry Rice, and Ronnie Lott all played on the 1989 team. The Week 3 Sunday Night Football clash between the San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers will go down as one of the best NFL games in 2021. NFL Networks broadcast of the Washington Football Team and New England Patriots game on Aug. 12 drew the highest TV ratings for a preseason game on the flagship station since all the way back in 2018. The only community-owned team in the NFL showed just how important it is to the Green Bay area by ranking highest when it came to Local TV ratings. I feel bad . 32. Denver -- 25.8915. Green Bay -- 41.574. Amazons Thursday Night Football narrowly avoided a season-low opposite the World Series. For comparison, $20.1 million watched the Minnesota Vikings vs. New Orleans Saints game in the same time slot last Christmas. And remember, these ratings . It represented an 11% spike from a Cardinals-Cowboys clash during the same week in 2020, though it was a dip from numbers seen in 2019. It is the second-most-watched NFL Network broadcast since Christmas Day 2016. This comes after the Los Angeles Lakers 2020 NBA Finals win over the Miami Heat drew a record low average of 7.45 million viewers in the Orlando Bubble. viewers per game. Of note: Four teams posted local ratings over 40, including the Bills, Chiefs, Green Bay Packers (41.57 rating in the Milwaukee market) and the Saints (40.89 in New Orleans). Sports Business Journals John Ourand reported that the Dallas-Tampa Bay 15.9 overnight rating was up 16% from 2020s opener between the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs. Well, all the local teams except the Jets. Seattle played without Russell Wilson and the Saints offense isnt what it used to be with Drew Brees retired. This is especially significant in that the preseason game went up directly against MLBs Field of Dream Game between the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox, which also drew historical ratings from a television perspective. To help develop Drake Maye and the Heels' quarterbacks, Mack Brown is bringing in one of the NFL's most accomplished quarterbacks coaches. The Charlie Baker era begins; UFC/PBR fuel Endeavor; Add OKC to markets eyeing new venue; Disney doubles down on F1 and people on the move. The three most-watched drafts in NFL history have occurred in the last three years: 2019 (6.2 million), 2020 (8.3 million), 2021 (6.1 million).. As for FOXs NFC Championship Game, the Philadelphia Eagles vs San Francisco 49ers broadcast peaked at 52.3 million viewers and this was the most-watched Conference Championship Game in 2023. For Week 7, the Manningcast will return to ESPN2 and ESPN+, with Peyton and Eli Manning hosting the simulcast for the New Orleans Saints vs Seattle Seahawks matchup. On the penultimate NFL Sunday of the 2021 season, the Pro Bowl delivered its worst ratings in 16 years. Only Fox has seen a decline down 13% to. Okay cool thank you! 5. Using the average # of MNF viewers from other weeks [excluding opening week] as a substitute for those negatively impacted weeks, the total viewing numbers would be around 4M higher. The drop is in the Sun & Mon night # of viewers at about (4.2%). The Chargers posted the leagues biggest increase, as the teams games in the Los Angeles market jumped by 25% over last season. 2) Assuming #1 is yes; since the # of viewers was at least off by 50% (and most likely off by around 60% to 70%) from what would have happened if aired on Thanksgiving night, based on your industry knowledge, would the NFL throw NBC a bone by offering some sort of in-kind compensation? CBS topped the charts in Week 2 of the NFL season with more than 27 million viewers for its late Sunday window, the NFLs largest Week 2 audience since at least 2000. Meanwhile, Amazon held up reasonably well for the second edition of its Thursday Night Football package. TV ratings for final round of The Masters in U.S. 1997-2022; . With Patrick Mahomes headed to the AFC Championship Game and a Rams vs 49ers matchup in the NFC title bout, ratings will likely be through the roof. Its the second-most watched Championship Sunday since 2015 and both broadcasts are the most-watched programs since Super Bowl LV. The matchup saw 1.75 million viewers tune in. In a season where 21 of the leagues 32 teams posted local TV ratings increases, the performance of the two teams in Los Angeles stood out. Those close to this situation called it unheard of. Some of the broadcast networks, such as CBS and Fox, even considered having advertisers pay less than what they had originally pledged to air ads during NFL games. A rematch of the AFC Championship Game between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs delivered more strong NFL TV ratings for the league and NBC. Dallas -- 29.55 10. Speaking of ESPN, per Sports Media Watch, the Monday Night Football ratings made it the least-watched MNF game in Week 16 since 2018. Week 4 proved to be especially strong for the league. The Philadelphia Eagles even had top 10 finishes in four out of five categories, one of which was the number three spot for number of appearances in prominent televised games. During the 2021 NFL regular season, NFL games ranked as the top 16, 48 of the top 50 and 91 of the top 100 telecasts on TV. Football officially returned on August 4 with Canton, Ohio hosting the 2022 Pro Football Hall of Fame Game between the Las Vegas Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars. The 2021 NFL season continues to pull in excellent numbers, even when the matchups arent ideal from a fan-interest perspective. However, intrigue when it came to the San Francisco 49ers trading up to No. While three games were postponed to later dates in the Week 15 schedule, the NFL still finished with strong ratings. After NBC cashed in with a massive audience for the NFL Kickoff Game, its numbers dipped on Sunday Night Football. But its evident fans just arent interested in watching an exhibition game with players understandably giving zero effort. Week 8 and Week 9 of the 2022 NFL season have lined up with the World Series between the Houston Astros vs Philadelphia Phillies. The NFC continued to enjoy disproportionate representation on the ratings charts, as intra-conference games accounted for 36 of the year's most-watched broadcasts, while all-AFC meetings claimed 20 slots. Meanwhile, 800,000 watched the ManningCast on ESPN2 with brothers Eli and Peyton. While the COVID-19 pandemic forced many postponed games in 2020 and cost the NFL billions in revenue, outbreaks across the league arent having the same impact in 2021. Continued interest in the NFL Draft is a great thing for the league. If the league is looking for positives, Day 3 on Saturday averaged 2.78 million viewers and that is an improvement over previous years. Pittsburgh -- 36.24 6. The only exception was the series finale of M.A.S.H. The NFL could be on its way to solving its local TV problems in the countrys second-biggest media market. We'll revisit these Power Rankings quarterly, during the season. Strong performances for Bills-Chiefs on CBS and Cowboys-Eagles on NBC led Week 6 of the NFL season, while Amazon Prime saw another low for a second-straight snoozer. The Bills-Rams game averaged 4.6% of adults 18-34, 5.9% of adults 18-49 and 7.1% of adults 25-54 per minute. After missing out on Tony Romo, Peyton Manning and even Sean McVay, ESPN settled on its backup plan. Provided below is the list of the Top 10 most-watched NFL games during the 2021 regular season: Las Vegas Raiders vs. Dallas Cowboys (Week 12, CBS) - 40.8 million Dallas Cowboys vs. Kansas City. Other teams heavily rooted in their communities held top spots in the local rankings as well. It was the largest season-opening audience for TNF since 2017, when 8.08 million people watched the Houston Texans and Cincinnati Bengals. The Week 1 primetime clash between the Rams and Bears averaged 17.6 million viewers and finished with a 9.6 rating. Its also worth considering that the 2022 Hall of Fame induction doesnt include any all-time greats with massive name appeal. As Jimmy Traina of Sports Illustrated also points out, a Saturday preseason game between the Steelers and Seattle Seahawks broadcasted on NFL Network pulled in a larger audience than Foxs broadcast of the Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees. Here is a sampling of those horrible numbers via Sports Media Watch: The 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs averaged 953,000 viewers across NBC's TV and digital platforms. Please turn on JavaScript and try again. Its important to put these numbers into perspective. For comparison, the 2020 TNF opener between the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals averaged 6.68 million viewers. All Nielsen figures include streaming viewership through virtual MVPDs (ex. Its a steep fall from the historic pull generated by Tom Bradys return to Gillette Stadium, but NBC and the NFL continue to dominate whenever games are broadcasted. After a strong finish to the regular season, the presence of marquee teams and legendary quarterbacks in the NFL Playoffs have provided a boost for viewership. The Nielsen ratings from Sunday night, per Variety.com, revealed that the Week 2 clash between the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs averaged 16.1 million viewers and received a 4.8 demo rating. As Jimmy Traina of Sports Illustrated also points out, a Saturday preseason game between the Steelers and Seattle Seahawks broadcasted on NFL Network pulled in a larger audience than Foxs broadcast of the Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees. The ratings from the Week 7 broadcast are down, but that can be attributed to the matchup. Unsurprisingly, the best NFL television ratings of the year came with millions of people sitting down on Thanksgiving to watch football. The NBA owned Christmas for many years, with many effectively viewing NBA games on Christmas Day as the unofficial start of each basketball season. Whether football fans love them or hate them, the Cowboys generate attention and they will be a focus of nationally-televised games in 2023. Seattle played without Russell Wilson and the Saints offense isnt what it used to be with Drew Brees retired. It was an ugly game, but the intrigue and the close score kept an audience around. According to Fox Sports, the 113 million that tuned in to watch the Kansas City Chiefs defeat the Philadelphia Eagles was the most-watched Super Bowl in six years. Churchill Downs has been home to some of the most incredible moments in sports history. NY Giants -- 8.39. You have 2 All Access articles remaining this month. Strange circumstances brought Martin and Malzahn together, but now the pair are united for a second time. Its a notable drop from the numbers last season. For the first time, each NFL team played 17 regular season games, providing fans with an extra week of regular season NFL action. For Week 7, the Manningcast will return to ESPN2 and ESPN+, with Peyton and Eli Manning hosting the simulcast for the New Orleans Saints vs Seattle Seahawks matchup. In doing so, the league announced that it was the second most-watched Super Bowl in league history with 112.3 million viewers tuning in throughout the NBC broadcast and on streaming services. Said game peaked at 50.23 million viewers toward the end. NFL TV ratings, a look forward: The 2022 NFL season is officially underway and the television ratings from the top games showed football is as popular as ever. Its striking but unsurprising that even NFL Network pulled in more than double the best NBA TV ratings for ESPN. Also of note, Monday Night Football had its most-watched season opener since the year 2000. The NBA owned Christmas for many years, with many effectively viewing NBA games on Christmas Day as the unofficial start of each basketball season. Minnesota -- 28.8911. Its the second-largest audience for the National Football League since 2015. That is almost 13 million lower than 2019. To put this into context, I've interspersed these local TV ratings rankings with the national ratings for other major sporting events. After a strong start for the network to open the 2022 NFL season, things are steadily trending down. A late matchup between the Indianapolis Colts and Arizona Cardinals also did well. Meanwhile, Thursday Night Football scored a multi-month high of Titans-Packers. A brief explainer of TV ratings, using the Bills-Rams NFL Kickoff Game. Average NFL TV ratings: 16.7 million avg. Click below to sign in. The Week 3 Sunday Night Football clash between the San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers will go down as one of the best NFL games in 2021. That's the question that faced us as we put together this year's ranking of all 32 NFL teams based on talent under 25 years old. Viewers: The number of viewers aged 2+ viewing the game in the average minute. The Week 1 average was 17.4 million viewers, up 7% from a season ago. Broadcasted on ESPN and ABC, the Pro Bowl games averaged 6.28 million viewers for a 6% drop from the ratings for the 2022 Pro Bowl. These demographics, particularly adults 18-34 and 18-49 are of particular importance to advertisers. According to Sports Media Watch, the game drew the lowest ratings for a championship bout in the league since Super Bowl III between the then-Baltimore Colts and New York Jets. The 2022 NFL Pro Bowl averaged 6.69 million viewers across ABC, ESPN and DisneyXD. The largest Week 1 total since 2016. Your email address will not be published. The NBA and its players were the most active in calling for systemic change in the United States and supporting the Black Lives Matter message last year. It was the most-watched Week 4 MNF game since 2018. Here are the NFL television ratings from the Week 7 primetime games, via SportsMediaWatch. Teams in smaller markets now have an opportunity to grow their brands nationally and, better still, globally, says Stephen Master, SVP and Global Head of Sports, Nielsen. With an unusually strong slate of games, the NFL TV ratings on Thanksgiving provided even stronger returns than some might have expected. Stay up-to-date on latest sports media news, TV ratings and schedule information at Sports Media Watch, an industry authority since 2006. 2020 against the previous low year of 2017, there is a YTD increase of 0.1% [total difference is 0.5M]. The NFL remains on top in a down year, and The CW's 'All American' is the only series to increase both its total audience . 101.1 million television viewers tuned in on NBC and Telemundo. Another good method for judging the quality of a team/city's fans, other than the more customary TV ratings, attendance or merchandising sales, is taking a local at internet search terms through Google trends. Monday Night Football was already the lesser football package for NFL games and the decline in viewership didnt help in 2020. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. Here are the full ratings and viewership numbers for the primetime games in Week 9. Here are the NFLs television ratings from the 2022 regular season, focusing on total viewership from Weeks 1-18, along with the average audience size and the most watched games. All rights reserved. The NFL is the the most reliable ratings driver on TV. Throughout the season, there were 370 billion total minutes consumed which is up +18% vs. 2020 and the second-highest total on record behind only 2015. Its not close. Fueled by the celeb status of one of the leagues most well-known players and a scandal involving deflated footballs, the social universe took note. With the league struggling revenue-wise due to COVID-19, seeing one of the lowest-rated Super Bowls in NFL history cant be seen as a great thing. The Manningcast will be back for NFL Week 8, with the New York Giants facing the Kansas City Chiefs. Typically, that figure is significantly higher than the average viewership listed here.). Do you have the Monday night game (9/13) viewers? a victory or two short of reaching our top 10. . According to Deadline, Tampa Bays narrow win drew 28.5 million viewers, making it the second most-watched Sunday Night Football game ever. NFL games accounted for 75 of the top 100 television broadcasts in the U.S. last year, according to Sports Business Journal, and the league has managed to buck the trend of declining ratings for . Based on the average total impressions of Tweets surrounding each game telecast, the New England Patriots were the most dominant team in the NFL from a social standpoint. The 2021 NFL regular season averaged 17.1 million viewers (TV+Digital) the highest regular season average since 2015 and up +10% vs. 2020. In total, 15.29 million viewers tuned in. In Kansas City and Buffalo, the average Chiefs or Bills game outdraws that. Media is more complex than ever. The Nielsen ratings from Sunday night, per Variety.com, revealed that the Week 2 clash between the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs averaged 16.1 million viewers and received a 4.8 demo rating. Total viewers across 57 network televised games, cumulative through week 11, 2020: 887.3M On-field drills. 4 seed in the playoffs. Weve also included the NFL Draft ratings from this past June. Seattle -- 31.419. As if a memorable weekend of playoff football couldnt get any better for the NFL, it did following the release of TV ratings. In what cant be considered too much of a surprise, this led to historical ratings for NBCs broadcast of the Week 4 Sunday Night Football tilt. An evening broadcast of the Cleveland Browns vs. Green Bay Packers clash at Lambeau Field averaged 28.59 million viewers. Once again, any changes made didnt deliver. These three big markets are critically important to the leagues media business as the three combined make up roughly 12% of the U.S. television market. https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2022/01/24/In-Depth/NFL-Local-Ratings.aspx. This is why NBC, CBS, ESPN/ABC, Fox and Amazon paid more than $100 billion to renew their media contracts with the league earlier this. . Local TV numbers are in for the 2021 NFL regular season, and viewership was up almost across the league. All rights reserved.