Ratings Roundup: NFL, Domestic Rightsholders Tally Final Numbers for Regular Season; Debut of WWE Monday Night Raw on Netflix Captures 2.6 Million

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week’s edition, the NFL and its domestic media rightsholders finalize their numbers for the regular season, Netflix drew big numbers for its debut of WWE Raw, the College Football Playoff Quarterfinals delivered an average of 16.9 million viewers, and more.

NFL Closes Out Regular Season With 2% Drop

NFL regular-season viewership dropped 2% this season after pacing toward the league’s best mark for most of the schedule, according to SBJ. A dip at the end of the season in terms of competitive games hampered numbers for many media partners. Prime Video and NBC saw gains, while Fox, CBS and ESPN were lower this season.

Amazon’s Prime Video had its best season of Thursday Night Football yet, averaging 13.2 million viewers, which is up 11% from Year 2 of the package in 2023 (11.7 million).

NBC (21.6 million viewers) squeaked out a 1% gain for the Sunday Night Football package, which includes the NFL Kickoff game and Thanksgiving primetime game.

CBS averaged 19.2 million viewers, which is down just 1% from last season, and likely its second-best season since 1998 (and well above the 18.5 million two seasons ago).

Fox was down 3% from last season, averaging 18.4 million for games vs. 19 million a season ago.

ESPN was down 14% this season with fewer ABC simulcasts to lean on, but the Monday Night Football package still had its second-best viewership since moving over to ESPN in 2006, behind only the record numbers from the 2023 season. The 22 games averaged around 15 million viewers, down from the record 17.4 million last year.

See below for more in-depth breakdowns of each NFL rightsholders regular season ratings this season.

Sunday Night Football Delivers Best Viewership Since 2015; Pacing To Be Primetime’s No. 1 Show for 14th Consecutive Year

With Sunday night’s historic Week 18 Vikings-Lions matchup, which averaged 28.5 million viewers across NBC and Peacock, NBC Sports concluded its 19th season of Sunday Night Football, topping all primetime television series in the fall and once again pacing to finish as primetime’s #1 TV show in all key metrics for an unprecedented 14th consecutive year. NBC’s SNF, in the most competitive time slot in media, extended its record for the most consecutive years atop the primetime charts (since 1950):

Sunday Night Football averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 21.6 million viewers for the 2024 season – the show’s best viewership since 2015 and up 1% from last season (21.4 million), according to official national live plus same day data released by Nielsen, and digital data from Adobe Analytics. SNF was also integral to NBC Sports in 2024 delivering its most-watched year since 2016.

Season highlights included:

• 11 games topped 20 million viewers, the most such big-game Sunday Night Football audiences
• NBC Sports Digital hit another viewership milestone, delivering a full-season Average Minute Audience above 2 million viewers (2.2 million) for the first time across Peacock, NBCSports.com, the NBC Sports app, and NFL Digital properties – up 38% from the prior record (1.6 million) set last season, and nearly double the AMA in 2022 (1.2 million).
• A record 11 simulstreamed games topped the 2 million AMA threshold – more than tripling the prior mark set last season (three).
• Peacock’s exclusive presentation of the NFL’s first-ever game in Brazil on Sept. 6 averaged a Total Audience Delivery of 14.2 million viewers – ranking as the second-most watched live event on Peacock (behind the 2023 AFC Wild Card) and the second-most watched Friday show since the Paris Olympics (behind only Yankees-Dodgers World Series Game 1).
• Peacock exclusively streamed the EA SPORTS Madden NFL Cast of the Dec. 21 Houston Texans-Kansas City Chiefs game, which featured a blend of video game elements and live action to present a first-of-its-kind live football experience.
• On NBC broadcast stations, Sunday Night Football topped all primetime shows in average viewership and household rating, and for the 16th consecutive season ranked #1 among adults 18-49. In addition, SNF posted 10 of the top 11 primetime shows this fall (based on Nielsen data only, 9/5/24-1/5/25).
• For the first time, Kansas City ranked as the top-rated SNF market, succeeding Buffalo, which ranked second this season. New Orleans topped the chart for the prior five years (2018-2022) as well as in 2010, 2011 and 2013. Milwaukee was the top-rated SNF market in 2017 and 2012, while Denver ranked #1 for three consecutive seasons from 2014-16.

The season finale of SNF and the 2024 NFL regular season between the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions was the most-watched NBC Sunday Night Football season finale since 2012, with an average of 28.5 million viewers across NBC, Peacock, NBC Sports Digital platforms and NFL Digital platforms, based on live plus same day custom fast nationals from Nielsen and digital data from Adobe Analytics.

Vikings-Lions (28.5 million viewers) is third-most watched game in the history of the NBC SNF package (since 2006), trailing only Washington’s win over Dallas for the NFC East title in the 2012 season finale (30.3 million viewers, 12/29/12), and Kansas City’s 27-20 win over Baltimore in the down-to-the-wire 2024 NFL Kickoff Game (29.2 million viewers, 9/5/24). Vikings-Lions topped viewership for last year’s Week 18 SNF game by 24% (23.0 million for Bills-Dolphins matchup for AFC East title) and is expected to the be the most watched primetime show since the NFL Kickoff Game on NBC. NBC Sports’ audience peaked at approximately 31 million viewers in the second quarter (9:30-9:45 p.m. ET).

In the studio, NBC’s Football Night in America averaged 7.1 million viewers from 7:30-8:15 p.m. ET this season (excludes Sat., Dec. 21 show, which was at 1 p.m. ET). FNIA continues its reign as sports’ most-watched weekly studio show for the 19th consecutive year (since the show’s 2006 debut season). In addition, the 8-8:23 p.m. ET portion of Football Night in America (including pre-kick coverage), averaged 12.1 million viewers, and a 3.0 rating among Adults 18-49, which would rank No. 3 and No. 5, respectively, among regularly-scheduled primetime shows in the demographic.

FOX NFL Wraps Strong 2024 Regular Season with Ratings Wins

America’s Game of the Week on FOX Sports’ closed out the regular season with an average of 23,941,000 viewers. This ranks first for its respective week in seven of its 10 airings for the 2024-25 season. Overall, FOX NFL finished the regular season with an average of 18,435,000 viewers. FOX accounted for five out of the top 10 NFL telecasts this season, more than any other NFL network. In addition, FOX had the season’s most-watched telecast on Thanksgiving.

On the studio front, FOX NFL Sunday celebrated 31 consecutive seasons as the most-watched NFL pregame show with an average of 4,415,000 viewers this year.

ESPN Earns Second-Most-Watched Monday Night Football Season in 24-Year History; Averaged 15 Million Per Game This Season

The 2024 season of Monday Night Football was ESPN’s second-most-watched in the company’s 24-year history of bringing fans the storied NFL television franchise, joining last season (2023) as the two most-watched MNF seasons (2006 – present). The 22-game campaign averaged 15 million viewers a game (linear games only) and reached 112 million fans along the way. Additionally, the Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, and Lisa Salters era continues to elevate ESPN’s MNF most-watched game list, with this season adding a Top 5 and three Top 10 audiences amongst the more than 400 Monday Night Football games the network has aired since 2006.

Supplementing the 2024 Monday Night Football success was Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli, which continues as the most-watched regularly occurring alternate telecast in sports, and The Simpsons Funday Football – an animated Monday Night Football game transformed in real-time into the iconic Simpsons world. The Manning Brothers averaged one million viewers an episode during its 10-episode regular season run in 2024. Since the show began with the 2021 season, the alternate telecast has hit the million viewers per game season average in each of its four seasons.

The Monday Night Football average of 15 million viewers a game, inclusive of Doubleheader Saturday and all 22 linear games, bested each Monday Night Football season dating back to 2006, except the 2023 season. The healthy audience figure is up 12% from the 2022 season and 5% from the 2021 season.

The 15 million viewers a game includes Weeks 2, 3 and 15 where an exclusive game aired on ABC and a second exclusive game was televised on ESPN, resulting in more than two hours of overlapping NFL action across the networks. Excluding those six games from the season average, ESPN’s Monday Night Football viewership jumps to 17 million viewers a game (16 games).

The 2024 MNF season further mirrored 2023 through increases in specific demos compared to 2022, with the 2024 season up 15% in females, and increases in Persons 18-49 and 25-34 – among others – compared to two seasons ago.

ESPN concluded the regular season with 22 million viewers for Cincinnati at Pittsburgh (January 4, 8 p.m. ET), the network’s most-watched Week 18 game in the four seasons Doubleheader Saturday has kicked off the NFL’s Season Finale. The viewership was up 12% year-over-year (Houston at Indianapolis) and provided back-to-back games of at least 22 million viewers for Buck, Aikman, and Salters, joining the Monday Night Football Week 17 game (Detroit at San Francisco).

Beginning Week 18, Cleveland at Baltimore (January 4, 4:30 p.m.) drew 17.3 million viewers. Both Doubleheader Saturday games were available on ABC, ESPN, ESPN+, ESPN Deportes, and NFL+.

ESPN’s Dedicated NFL Coverage in the Studio
A full slate of ESPN’s NFL-centric studio shows — Monday Night Countdown, Sunday NFL Countdown, NFL Live, NFL Matchup, and NFL Primetime — saw notable viewership.

Monday Night Countdown (Mondays, 6-8 p.m. ET, ESPN) finished the 2024 regular season averaging 1.34 million viewers each episode, up 5% year-over-year. Adding to its overall success, in the show’s first season with a new cast – including Scott Van Pelt, Ryan Clark, Jason Kelce, and Marcus Spears at the desk, and with Michelle Beisner-Buck and Adam Schefter contributing – the program increased its viewership in multiple demos, including 16% among women and 7% among younger audiences (Persons 2-17). Monday Night Countdown also delivered individual show achievements, recording the most-watched full length episode since 2016 in Week 17 (December 30), with 2.4 million viewers.

During its 40th season this year — which included Mike Greenberg’s first as host, Sunday NFL Countdown averaged 1.2 million viewers per episode. This season’s viewership is up from the 2020 and 2021 seasons, while remaining within range of the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

NFL Live (Weekdays, 4-5 p.m., ESPN), fans’ day-to-day home for NFL news, information and analysis, has increased its popularity since the show was retooled ahead of the 2020 NFL season. For the 2024 regular season, NFL Live averaged 381,000 viewers an episode, joining the previous three seasons (2023, 2022, 2021) in besting NFL Live’s 2019 viewership, the final season before the show was revamped with the current cast.

NFL Matchup (Saturdays on ESPN) averaged 313,000 viewers a show, up from the similar day/timeslot in 2023. NFL Primetime (Sundays, 7:30 p.m. and on-demand) continues to be the most-watched original studio program on ESPN+ during the season.

OKC – CLE Averages 1.87 Million Viewers, Up +20% YoY

The much-anticipated OKC-CLE game averaged 1.87 million viewers on ESPN Wednesday night, up +20% vs. the comparable window last year. The game peaked with 2.5 million viewers. The back-and-forth contest which featured 30 lead changes propelled the Cleveland Cavaliers to the No. 1 trending topic worldwide on X during the game.

The teams face off for “The Rematch” next Thursday, Jan. 16 at 7:30 p.m. ET on @NBAonTNT.

Netflix Draws Big Numbers for ‘WWE Raw’ Debut

The Netflix debut of WWE Raw was viewed by 2.6 million households in the U.S. according to VideoAmp, compared to the 1.2 million households Raw was averaging in 2024. The first episode of WWE‘s Monday Night Raw to stream live on Netflix also pulled in 4.9 million views globally, according to Live+1 data provided by Netflix. Netflix defines a view defined as total hours viewed for the program divided by its runtime and only includes U.S., U.K., Canada, and Latin America (not the 92 countries/territories where Netflix doesn’t yet distribute WWE).

College Football Playoff Quarterfinals Score Strong Viewership Across ESPN Platforms

The College Football Playoff Quarterfinals Quarterfinals delivered an average of 16.9 million viewers. The most-watched out of the four matchups was the Rose Bowl between Ohio State and Oregon at 21.1 million viewers. The telecast hit a peak of 24.3 million viewers and was the most-watch non-NFL sporting event since the 2024 CFP National Championship. Next was the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl featuring Texas and Arizona State was 17.3 million viewers. The double overtime thriller peaked at 23.6 million viewers and was the most-watched pre-3 p.m. ET bowl game of all time. Third was the All-State Sugar Bowl between Notre Dame and Georgia with 15.8 million viewers. The postponed contest in New Orleans peaked at 19.5 million viewers. Last was the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl with Penn State and Boise State with 13.9 million viewers. The game on New Year’s Eve saw a peak of 15.9 million viewers.

In addition, Field Pass with The Pat McAfee Show at the Rose Bowl was ESPN’s most-watched alternate telecast ever across all properties with 2.4 million viewers. Prior to the games on Jan. 1, College GameDay scored the most-watched New Year’s Day episode ever at 2.4 million viewers. This was up 70% year-over-year and peaked at 4.6 million viewers.

ESPN’s College Football Bowl Viewership Reaches Record Highs for 2024-25 Season

The 2024-25 college football bowl season on ESPN platforms saw remarkable growth, drawing significant increases in viewership across key demographics. The 33 non-College Football Playoff bowls averaged 2.7 million viewers, marking a 14 percent year-over-year increase and the largest audience since the 2019-20 season. Gains were particularly notable among viewers aged 18-49, with a 21 percent rise in that demographic.

Fourteen of the 33 bowls achieved at least a five-year high in viewership, with five reaching ten-year highs. Notably, the Alamo Bowl attracted 8 million viewers, making it the most-watched non-CFP/New Year’s Six bowl on any network in five years. Meanwhile, the ReliaQuest Bowl drew 6.5 million viewers, earning the distinction of cable’s most-watched non-CFP bowl in nine years.

Network Notables
ESPN’s 25 games averaged 2.4 million viewers, a 15 percent year-over-year increase, with fans consuming 12.9 billion minutes of content. These games contributed to three of ESPN’s 11 most-watched days of 2024. ABC also saw impressive results, drawing its largest non-CFP bowl audience in 11 years. Across five games, ABC averaged 5.0 million viewers, a substantial 71 percent year-over-year increase.

ESPN Events Experiences Strong Season
ESPN Events’ 17 bowl games averaged 1.9 million viewers, representing a nine percent year-over-year increase. Six of these games achieved at least a five-year high in viewership, including standout performances from the Texas Bowl and the Birmingham Bowl.

Individual Game Superlatives

• Valero Alamo Bowl: 8 Million Viewers – Most-watched on record (back to 1993)
• Pop-Tarts Bowl: 6.8 Million Viewers – Most-watched since 2008
• ReliaQuest Bowl: 6.5 Million Viewers – Most-watched since 2012, ESPN’s best non-CFP or NY6 bowl since 2015 season
• Kinder’s Texas Bowl: 4.2 Million Viewers – Most-watched since 2019
• AutoZone Liberty Bowl: 4.2 Million Viewers – Most-watched since 2015 season
• Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl: 4.1 Million Viewers – Most-watched since 2013
• Birmingham Bowl: 4.1 Million Viewers – Most-watched since 2014 season
• Rate Bowl: 3.5 Million Viewers – Most-watched since 2015 season
• Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl: 2.9 Million Viewers – Most-watched since 2017
• GameAbove Sports Bowl: 2.6 Million Viewers – Most-watched since 2019
• Wasabi Fenway Bowl: 2.1 Million Viewers – Most-watched ever
• Hawai’i Bowl: 1.9 Million Viewers – Most-watched since 2019
• 68 Ventures Bowl: 1.7 Million Viewers – Most-watched since 2018
• Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl: 1.2 Million Viewers – Most-watched since 2019
• Bahamas Bowl Presented by Atlantis Resorts: 1.1 Million Viewers – Most-watched since 2016

FCS Championship Captures Banner Year
The FCS Championship between North Dakota State and Montana State averaged 2.4 million viewers on ESPN, becoming the second-most-watched FCS Championship on record for ESPN platforms, up 132 percent over the 2024 championship game. Viewership peaked with 3.1 million viewers as the Bison clinched their 10th national title. The FCS Playoffs overall averaged 1.3 million viewers across ESPN platforms, posting their best audience since 2009-10, up 49 percent year-over-year. Aside from the championship game, the semifinals drove gains; the two games on ABC were up 138 percent year-over-year and recorded the best semifinal round since 2009. The championship game is now the most-watched FCS game on record on ESPN+.

Debut of TGL presented by SoFi Attracts Average Audience of 919,000 on ESPN

The debut of TGL presented by SoFi, the new prime time golf league, drew an average audience of 919,000 on ESPN Tuesday night, with viewership averaging more than 1.0 million 9:15-10:15 p.m. ET, when The Bay was nearing its 9-2 victory. Bay was declared the winner of the match at 10:36 p.m. when it took a 7-1 lead after the 10th hole.

TGL, founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s TMRW Sports in partnership with the PGA TOUR. teed off with The Bay Golf Club (Ludvig Åberg, Wyndham Clark, Shane Lowry) defeating the New York Golf Club (Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick, Rickie Fowler) 9-2 in the 15-hole match.

The telecast of the debut match from the SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., aired from 9-11:10 p.m. ET, peaking at 1.1 million viewers between 9:15-9:30 p.m. The full season of TGL matches will air and stream exclusively on ESPN platforms, including 15 regular season matches followed by playoffs. The season concludes March 24-25 with Finals.

The second match of the season on Tuesday, Jan. 14 (ESPN, 7 p.m.) will feature the TGL debut of Woods and his Jupiter Links team (Kevin Kisner, Max Homa and Tom Kim) vs. Los Angeles Golf Club (Collin Morikawa, Sahith Theegala, Tommy Fleetwood, and Justin Rose). The player lineups for the match will be announced on Friday.

Cleveland Cavaliers Victory Over Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday Averages 1.87 Million Viewers on ESPN

ESPN’s presentation of the best teams in the National Basketball Association — the Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder — on Wednesday saw an average of 1.87 million viewers. The broadcast peaked at 2.5 million and was up 20% compared to last year. The network also won primetime in key demographic’s on that night, including fans over 50 years old and people and males 18-34, 18-49, and 25-54.