NFL Ratings Hold Strong Through Election Season, Chiefs Lead TV Pack

The NFL’s TV ratings appear to have weathered any potential major hit from election season, as the league is reporting big numbers heading into Week 12 of the regular season.

Through 11 weeks of action, the NFL is averaging 17.5 million viewers per game, when excluding international games on NFL Network and exclusive streaming broadcasts on ESPN+ and Peacock. That 17.5 million figure is the highest through Week 11 since the 2015 season.

In 2016, NFL ratings fell 8% from the prior year. That was the most recent presidential election not impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic (TV numbers were down across almost every sports league in 2020).

This season, when looking at the NFL’s major TV windows in the two weeks before and after the Nov. 5 election, things have remained quite steady. 

In the two weeks before, primetime games (on Amazon Prime Video, NBC, and ESPN) and the late Sunday afternoon window (on CBS and Fox) averaged 18.48 million viewers, according to Nielsen data cited weekly by Sports Media Watch. In the two weeks following Election Day, those same windows were nearly flat, averaging 18.18 million viewers.

Week 11 was boosted by the most-watched game of the season, as 31.14 million viewers tuned in to the Bills’ 30–21 victory over the previously unbeaten Chiefs. 

Big D: Disappointing Dallas Still Draws

Despite Sunday’s loss to Buffalo, Kansas City extended its lead over the Cowboys as the NFL’s No. 1 TV team. Here are the five most-watched games of the season through Week 11:

• Chiefs-Bills: 31.14 million viewers
• Ravens-Chiefs: 29.2 million viewers
• Bengals-Chiefs: 27.9 million viewers
• Ravens-Cowboys: 27.3 million viewers
• Chiefs-49ers: 27.1 million viewers

The Cowboys have still drawn well, though, in the two lopsided losses since quarterback Dak Prescott sustained a season-ending torn hamstring in Week 9. This week, ESPN got 17 million viewers for the Texans’ 34–10 win over the Cowboys, which was the most-watched Week 11 Monday Night Football broadcast since 2006. Last week, CBS drew 24.61 million viewers for the Eagles’ 34–6 victory over Dallas.