The broadcast debut of FOX Sports lead analyst Tom Brady in a matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and Cleveland Browns on America’s Game of the Week drew an average of 23.8 million viewers. Despite the 33-17 margin of victory for the Cowboys, the game was up 46% from last season’s opener and ranks as the most-watched Week 1 NFL telecast for FOX Sports since 2020. Moreover, the game is the most-watched telecast of any kind since the NFC Championship Game between the Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers. This matchup peaked with approximately 25.7 million viewers as well, according to data from Nielsen Media Research and Adobe Analytics.
This year’s Week 1 schedule is the first time in four years that FOX and CBS did not air competing doubleheaders, according to Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch. When FOX aired a broadcast that had to compete with a CBS doubleheader, the network was outdrawn in head-to-head coverage. The game also marks the first time in which the NFL on FOX lead broadcast team of Kevin Burkhardt, Tom Brady, Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi all worked together on a regular-season game broadcast.
FOX Sports will broadcast Super Bowl LIX in its second season of a 10-year media rights deal with the National Football League worth an estimated $2.25 billion annually. The company has been broadcasting NFL games since 1994 and is celebrating the 30th season of its NFL on FOX property. The lead broadcast team is slated to call another Dallas Cowboys game in Week 2 as the team hosts the New Orleans Saints for its home opener from AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas.
