Sports Viewership Trends: Insights for Kicking Off the 2024-25 NFL Season

While many in the U.S. marked the end of summer with a Labor Day celebration, over 121 million viewers celebrated a holiday of their own. Last week was the kickoff to the 2024-25 NFL season, and millions of NFL-starved fans tuned in for the Week 1 action, making it the most-watched NFL opening weekend since 2016, with a 5% increase over last year’s viewership. 

The opening game on NBC between the defending Super Bowl champions Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens, a rematch from last season’s AFC Championship game, averaged 48.9 million viewers, with a peak audience of 55.6 million viewers near the end of the first half, according to AdImpact. Traditional linear TV received 50% share of the total viewership, while YouTube TV captured 16% of the audience, according to TV Tech. 

While most of the NFL clashes will still be shown on traditional broadcast networks across ABC, CBS, FOX (including Tom Brady’s broadcast announcing debut, helping FOX deliver its best Week 1 ratings in four years) and NBC, and across cable networks ESPN and NFL Network, more games will be streamed than ever before. As several games move to exclusive streaming distribution, some die-hard fans will be forced to invest across YouTube TV, Peacock, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, ESPN+, and NFL+ to catch every minute of the action. While most fans don’t typically watch every NFL game, the opportunity to do so could cost a fan upwards of $900, since the NFL has cleverly sliced up broadcast rights to maximize profits, including Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime Video, Peacock, ESPN+, and new entrant, Netflix, which will carry two Christmas Day games. 

The first of the streaming-exclusive games featured the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Peacock. NBC claims the 14.2 million viewers (including NBC stations in the home markets) was nearly twice as much as the first-ever Peacock exclusive regular season game that featured the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers in 2023. The NFL continues to grow its global fan base and will air four separate international games on the NFL Network later this season, with three contests in London and one in Munich, Germany. The international expansion includes adding new fans, new revenue, and new opportunities, and it's no wonder the NFL is the highest revenue generator of any of the U.S. professional leagues.

With the first five TV windows in Week 1 up +14% in Live and Same Day ratings, the NFL maintains viewing dominance during a time of great upheaval in TV viewing. Last season, 93 of the 100 most-viewed U.S. TV programs were NFL games, and EDO’s latest NFL Outcomes Report reflects the NFL’s continued dominance—the league has accounted for five of the top 15 most impactful broadcasts for advertisers. 

Ads within‌ NFL broadcasts generated nearly 36x more ad engagement than the primetime broadcast and cable average, which EDO tracks through behavioral signals like brand searches, that are proven predictors of future sales.

Younger audiences continue to favor the premium content environments of streaming TV, so it’s logical that the NFL has chosen to increasingly turn to streaming services for broadcasting games. Amazon's $1 billion-per-year contract, which runs through the 2033 season, is in its third year. This season, Amazon aired one pre-season game and will broadcast 16 regular season games, including the Black Friday game and an ‌ exclusive Wild Card Playoff game. Advertisers are winning with this formula as well, as EDO reports that this past season, ads on Amazon’s Thursday Night Football were 14% more likely to generate consumer engagement than the average primetime NFL ad and 70% more effective than the average primetime ad. 

Viewership and attendance for the NFL’s tentpole off-season events were also high earlier this year, demonstrating the growing popularity of the NFL on and off the screen. Round 1 coverage of the 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit saw an average audience of 12.1 million viewers (which includes TV and digital channels), up 6% year-over-year, and the highest viewership trends since 2021. On-site attendance reached record highs as the NFL transforms these events into a major sports, entertainment, fashion, and cultural moment. Success in Detroit and elsewhere is largely influenced by the NFL’s commitment to leveraging and integrating influencers and celebrities to engage with younger fans, keeping the content and programming socially relevant beyond football storylines. As the fan experience and live entertainment value of sports begin to play a more influential role in culture, the influence and impact of the NFL and professional athletes will continue to extend far beyond the field. 

The Netflix games are a new addition to the NFL's streaming-only schedule. Netflix is‌ reportedly paying $75 million per game to stream two Christmas Day games per season through 2026. These games will help power Netflix’s live TV strategy. 

Additionally, ESPN+ will exclusively stream one Monday Night Football game this season on October 21 (Los Angeles Chargers at Arizona), and stream many (but not all) Monday Night Football games televised on ESPN and/or ABC. During the postseason, ESPN+ will livestream one Wild Card game and one Divisional Round game that will also be televised on ESPN and ABC. CBS streaming arm Paramount+ will simulcast all games televised on CBS, including Thanksgiving Day and post-season games.

For fans who have already cut the cord, YouTube TV has emerged as a popular option for watching both broadcast and cable games. Subscribers adding on YouTube Sunday Ticket for $160 per month will get access to out-of-market games across the country instead of being limited to whichever regional feed has been predetermined for their home area. Other options for football fans include Fubo, Sling TV, and the NFL's namesake subscription service, NFL+. 

If all of these options have a casual fan a little confused, ESPN is trying to help through the launch of the Where to Watch (available on its website and via the ESPN app) as a modern NFL viewing guide. Where to Watch can be customized to a fan’s favorite leagues and the networks or apps they have available to them to watch the games. 

After a long 6+ months without the NFL, fans can gear up for an 18-week regular season, followed by the Wild Card round (January 11-13), Divisional round (January 18-19) and AFC & NFC Championship games (January 26), leading towards Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans on Sunday, February 9 on FOX. Just a handful of ad spots remain for the big game, and FOX is‌ snatching $7 million for each ad slot, plus a matching commitment across other FOX properties, according to the latest reports. 

It's not too late to enter the game. Being associated with prestigious and well-followed events, like NFL games, can enhance brand credibility and present valuable opportunities for engaging with sports fans. A myriad of buying options remain available for prime coverage, and PMG encourages a rigorous application of audience and demographic alignment to ensure every impression is of value during these high-profile games.