NFL Achieves Pair Of TV Ratings Milestones

The NFL kicked off the second half of its 2022 season with a bang, achieving two TV milestones on the same day.

NFL Network’s Sunday morning telecast of Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 21-16 win over the Seattle Seahawks from Munich was the network’s most-watched international game on record.

• The league’s first-ever regular-season game in Germany averaged 5.8 million viewers across TV/digital.
• That was up 5% from Packers vs. New York Giants in London in Week 5, up 19% from Minnesota Vikings vs. New Orleans Saints in London during Week 4, and a 63% increase from New York Jets vs. Atlanta Falcons in London last season.

Later that afternoon, Fox Sports’ national coverage of the Green Bay Packers’ 31-28 overtime win over the Dallas Cowboys was the most-watched NFL game across any network this season.

• Packers-Cowboys averaged a mammoth 29.2 million viewers, up 25% from last year’s comparable game window.
• The Minnesota Vikings’ wild 33-30 OT win over the Buffalo Bills, meanwhile, averaged 16.2 million viewers in Fox’s regional game window.

Over the weekend, Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league would like to play “at least” four games in Germany through 2025. Along with the United Kingdom and Germany, the NFL is also eyeing France and Spain for future expansion, and potentially Nordic markets after that.

Meanwhile. the Cowboys and Packers have two of the biggest TV fan bases. Fox executives had been salivating over the matchup for months.