LOS ANGELES, Sept. 15 (U.S.): More than 121 million fans watched a television broadcast of the NFL game during the league’s opening week, a 5% increase from last season.
The league and Nielsen also said on Wednesday that the average viewership of all games was 18.5 million, the best opening weekend in six years and up 3% from last year, the Associated Press reports.
The record was set seven games in the first week with three points or less and five points to the outcome of winning the game either in the last two minutes of regulation or in overtime.
NBC had the two most-watched games. Tampa Bay’s 19-3 win over Dallas on Sunday averaged 24.5 million, and last Thursday’s opener, in which Buffalo defeated the reigning Super Bowl Los Angeles Rams 31-10, drew 21.3 million.
Russell Wilson’s return to Seattle and the Seahawks’ narrow 17-16 win over Denver averaged 19.8 million across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2. This is the most-watched Monday night game since New Orleans’ clash with New England in 2009 (21.4 million). It’s also the fourth largest audience since “Monday Night Football” was acquired by ESPN in 2006.
Minnesota’s 23-7 win over Green Bay averaged 18.5 million over Fox, and was the most watched during Sunday afternoon. Fox’s double figures are up 11% over last season, averaging 15.4 million in his six games.
CBS was the most-watched first game, with Pittsburgh’s 23-20 overtime win in Cincinnati with an average of 17.5 million. CBS had seven games on Sunday and averaged a double-header of 17.0 million, the third most watched week on the network since 1998.