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The Chiefs remain very good for the business of the NFL.
CBS Sports said its late Sunday afternoon broadcast of Week 8’s Chiefs-Broncos game averaged 28.18 million viewers, falling just shy of the most-watched broadcast of the 2026 NFL season as it reaches its midpoint.
The Kansas City–Denver broadcast fell narrowly below a Week 4 game between the Chiefs and Raiders that averaged 28.5 million viewers and remains the season’s viewership leader. It did, however, become the most-watched Week 8 game on record for CBS.
Several factors helped boost the audience figure in the Chiefs-Broncos game. A resurgent Kansas City, winners of three Super Bowls and five conference titles since 2019, has long been one of the NFL’s top viewership draws. The matchup for the top position in the AFC West went to the very end before Denver prevailed 28–24.
It also had a strong audience lead-in from 1 p.m. ET games, including a Ravens-Bills game. It was the first late Sunday afternoon national slot since the change to standard time—creating earlier sunsets until mid-March.
CBS Sports, the NFL’s regular-season audience leader in 2025, is now averaging 19.56 million viewers so far this season, up 5% from this point a year ago. The network’s 4:25 p.m. ET Sunday national window is averaging 25.3 million viewers and is the most-watched program of any type in U.S. television. CBS Sports also has the two most-watched games of the season, and three of the top five.
Through Week 7, the NFL is averaging 18.4 million viewers per game across all domestic rights holders, marking the league’s highest average at that point since 2015. Updated figures incorporating Week 8 are expected on Thursday, and the NFL is aiming to improve upon a banner 2025 season that included its best viewership in 36 years.
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