• Loading stock data...
Friday, June 6, 2025

NFL TV Ratings Down in Lopsided First Round; Cowboys Absence Felt

The NFL is still by far the biggest thing in U.S. television, but the initial set of playoff games this season showed another slide in viewership. 

Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

The NFL took another viewership hit over the wild-card playoff weekend, showing more ratings erosion compared to last year—even as the league continues to outstrip everything else in U.S. television.

The six games played over the three-day weekend collectively showed attrition from a year ago, following the 2% audience decline during the regular season. Among the individual viewership results from the initial playoff round:

  • Chargers-Texans (Jan. 11): As the Texans played yet again in the early Saturday wild-card slot, the game averaged 31.1 million on CBS and Nickelodeon, up 7% from a comparable Cleveland-Houston game last year. 
  • Steelers-Ravens (Jan. 11): Amazon’s first livestream of an NFL playoff game made company history, averaging 22.1 million. The figure is by far the best individual NFL result in the company’s three years of streaming the league but is down 3% from the 23 million average for Peacock’s exclusive stream of a comparable Dolphins-Chiefs game. The Amazon figure, likely impaired by Baltimore’s racing to a 21–0 halftime lead, also failed to match the average of more than 24 million for Netflix’s streaming doubleheader on Christmas Day. 
  • Broncos-Bills (Jan. 12): This CBS game also averaged 31.1 million, essentially flat from a comparable Steelers-Bills game last year that was shifted to a Monday afternoon due to heavy snow in the Buffalo area. 
  • Packers-Eagles (Jan. 12): This game averaged 35.6 million viewers on Fox, the largest figure of any of the six games last weekend. The total, however, trailed a comparable late Sunday afternoon game last year between the Packers and Cowboys by 11%, again showing the impact of a down Dallas season on overall NFL viewership. 
  • Commanders-Buccaneers (Jan. 12): The primetime matchup on NBC averaged a total audience delivery of 29 million, down 19% from a comparable Rams-Lions game last year, and the worst-performing Sunday night wild-card game in four years. 
  • Vikings-Rams (Jan. 13): This game, relocated from Los Angeles due to the ongoing and devastating wildfires there, averaged 25.4 million, down 13% from the comparable Eagles-Buccaneers game in 2024. The Monday night contest also saw viewer attrition in the second half as the Rams built a three-touchdown lead in the first half en route to a 27–9 victory, with the audience peaking before halftime at more than 30 million viewers.

High-Profile Matchups

The divisional playoff round, meanwhile, offers more hope for a rebound. Saturday’s games will involve the two-time defending champion Chiefs, now the league’s top television draw, facing the Texans; and the Lions, now also a viewership power, are playing at home against the upstart Commanders

Sunday’s games will include the Rams facing the Eagles in a South Philadelphia sports complex now being reimagined, and the showcase late-afternoon contest will include the Ravens facing the Bills in a matchup featuring the two top candidates for this year’s Most Valuable Player award: Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen and Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson.

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Tony Clark

Everything You Need to Know About the MLBPA-OneTeam FBI Investigation

Money from lucrative group licensing deals is under federal scrutiny.
Aaron Rodgers

Aaron Rodgers Finally Agrees to Deal With Steelers

The one-year deal is reportedly set to be signed Friday.

White Sox Deal Signals Ninth Inning for Reinsdorf’s MLB Legacy

One of MLB’s elder statesmen still has a lengthy to-do list.

Chiefs, Royals Have Massive Stadium Decision: Kansas or Missouri?

The Missouri Senate approves the stadium funding in an overnight session.

Featured Today

May 27, 2015; Paris, France; Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO) knocks the clay off her shoe during her match against Simona Halep (ROU) on day four of the French Open at Roland Garros

Roland-Garros’s Iconic Red-Clay Surface Is a Precise Alchemy

The exact science behind maintaining the French Open’s red clay.
Alex Jensen introductory press conference on Monday, March 17, 2025.
June 3, 2025

Alex Jensen Started Utah Utes HC Job While Still Coaching the Mavs

How Jensen began building an NCAA program while patrolling the Dallas sideline.
May 31, 2025

PSG and the City of Paris Can Join European Soccer’s Elite

What a maiden Champions League title would mean for the French club.
May 30, 2025

How the Champions League Anthem Took on a Life of Its Own

The composer didn’t know he wrote a timeless hit three decades ago.

As TNT Sports Shifts, WBD Investors Reject $52M Zaslav Pay

Company shareholders reject the executive’s pay in a non-binding vote.
May 30, 2025

French Open Scheduling Sparks Backlash Over Women’s Time Slots

Coco Gauff has also said the French Open schedule could be improved.
hanson_smiling
May 30, 2025

Scott Hanson Agrees to Long-Term Deal for NFL RedZone

His contract expired after the 2024 season.
Sponsored

Game On: Portfolio Players Stories, Brought to You by E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

In Episode 7 of Portfolio Players, go inside the boardroom with Avenue Capital CEO and former Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry on Giannis’s future, women’s sports, and upstart leagues like TGL and Unrivaled. 
May 30, 2025

Panthers-Oilers Rematch Could Be Big in Canada. Will U.S. Ratings Dip?

Likely viewership declines in the U.S. are countered by robust Canadian audiences.
May 28, 2025

NBA East Finals Delivers Strong TV Ratings, but West Is Struggling

The Pacers and Thunder are both up 3–1 in their conference finals series.
Around the Horn
May 23, 2025

Behind the Scenes of Around the Horn’s Final Days

FOS followed Tony Reali at the penultimate taping of the ESPN icon.
Around the Horn - October 26, 2020
May 23, 2025

‘Quirky, Nutty, Bombastic’: 10 ‘Around the Horn’ Faces on Their Top Moments

“A quirky, nutty, bombastic, mostly wrong, sometimes right, crazy sports family.”