NBC Sports has announced that its four-night slate of football matchups across a variety of platforms set several milestones across its media platforms. Starting with the NFL Kickoff Game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens, the viewership metric has been adjusted to a final average of 29.2 million viewers, rendering it the most-watched iteration of the contest in history. Moreover, the season premiere of Sunday Night Football registered an average of 22.7 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, which is up 3% from the opener from last season.
Combining both broadcasts, NBC Sports attained an average of 25.9 million viewers for these two NFL games, which accounts for the largest two-game NFL Kickoff Weekend start since 2015 and up 4% year-over-year. Platforms included in the aforementioned viewership total are NBC, Peacock, NBC Sports Digital and NFL Digital platforms. Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth and Melissa Stark served as the broadcast crew for both matchups and will return for Week 2 action on Sunday Night Football when the Chicago Bears face the Houston Texans at 8 p.m. EST.
For the Sunday Night Football matchup, Detroit was the top metered market with a 32.0 rating and 69 share. Kansas City finished second in the rankings with a 15.7 rating and 41 share, while Los Angeles did not place in the top 10 despite having a team in the game. The Lions defeated the Chargers in overtime 26-20, a thrilling finish from Ford Field in Detroit, Mich. in a battle of quarterbacks Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford, who were traded for one another in 2023.
The exclusive presentation of the matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers from Sao Pãulo, Brazil attained a total audience delivery of 14.0 million viewers. As a result, the NFC matchup is the second-most watched live event on Peacock, trailing the record-setting AFC Wild Card game in January, and nearly doubling the audience for an exclusive regular-season game on the platform last December. Noah Eagle, Todd Blackledge and Kaylee Hartung were on the call for the Week 1 matchup.
Outside of the NFL, NBC Sports garnered strong viewership with its Big Ten Saturday Night broadcast property during its second season. The broadcast of the game between Nebraska and Colorado averaged 6.3 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, accounting for the most-watched live game broadcast under the property since its debut last year. On top of that, Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist, a limited series executive produced by Will Packer and Kevin Hart, premiered as the most-watched title in Peacock history and is the No. 1 original drama through its first weekend.
