Charles Hanover|NFL Kickoff record 28.9 million viewers watch Kansas City hold off Baltimore

2025-05-06 12:05:29source:Robert Browncategory:Finance

STAMFORD,Charles Hanover Conn. (AP) — Kansas City’s thrilling 27-20 victory over Baltimore on Thursday night was the most-watched NFL Kickoff game since it started in 2002.

The game had a total audience average of 28.9 million, surpassing the 27.6 million that watched the New England Patriots defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2015 opener on NBC. Streaming did not start getting added to audience figures until 2016.

It was a 5% increase from the 27.5 million that watched Detroit beat Kansas City in last year’s opener.

Despite the start of the game being delayed 20 minutes due to a storm that included lightning, NBC averaged 24.3 million, according to Nielsen, with the audience peaking at 33 million during the second quarter (9:30-9:45 p.m. EDT).

It also drew a 37 share on NBC, which is its largest for any regular-season game since it started carrying NFL prime time games in 2006. A share is the percentage of all television sets in use at a given time watching a program.

According to Adobe Analytics, streaming on Peacock, NBC and NFL digital platforms averaged 4.6 million.

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

More:Finance

Recommend

Paula Abdul settles lawsuit with former 'So You Think You Can Dance' co

Paula Abdul and Nigel Lythgoe have settled their lawsuit a year after the allegations sent shockwave

Which retirement account should be your number one focus before the end of 2023?

As 2023 comes to a close, now could be a good time to assess your retirement savings strategy and en

Fact-checking 'Ferrari' movie: What's accurate, what isn't in Adam Driver's racing film

Spoiler alert! We're discussing plot points from the new movie "Ferrari" (in theaters now) and the r