The dramatic finale to the 2024 NFL regular season delivered predictably big numbers for NBC.
The network said it generated a viewership average of 28.5 million for the Sunday Night Football matchup between the Vikings and Lions, according to preliminary data, representing the best season-ender for that NFL broadcast slot since 2012. It’s also the third-most-watched game in the network’s 18-year history with SNF, trailing only the 2024 season-opener between the Chiefs and Ravens, and the 2012 season finale between the Commanders and Cowboys.
Detroit prevailed over Minnesota 31–9, locking up the top-seed and home field advantage in the NFC playoffs. With the fairly lopsided score, viewership peaked in the second quarter at about 31 million viewers.
The league already was ending the regular season with divisional matchups for all 32 teams, but then hit a stroke of good fortune when it flexed the Vikings-Lions game into the primetime showcase. The teams’ 28 combined victories entering the game represented the winningest regular-season game in NFL history.
With so much competitively at stake, NBC Sports gave the contest playoff-level coverage—bringing the entire Football Night in America studio crew to Detroit’s Ford Field to help cover the event on-site.
![The University of Alabama showed off renovations to Bryant Denny Stadium Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. Sports Illustrated covers decorate the walls inside the new press box. [Staff Photo/Gary Cosby Jr.]](https://frontofficesports.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/USATSI_15005835_168422351_lowres-scaled-e1779297429645.jpg?quality=80&w=300)
