Tom Brady and Bill Belichick went through the past 20 years dominating the NFL. On Sunday, they saved it from five years of declining ratings.
Total much-hyped “Sunday Night Football” matchup between Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Belichick’s New England Patriots brought about a total audience delivery of 28.5 million across NBC, Peacock and other digital platforms. That is the second-highest “Sunday Night Football” game ever, after a Dec. 30, 2012 Dallas-Washington game that drew 30.3 million.
Total watchers on NBC alone were 27.2 million, making the game the most-watched occasion this year other than February’s Super Bowl. Tampa Bay-New England additionally drew a 34 offer, which means in excess of 33% of all TVs being used were turned to the game. That is the best grade for “Sunday Night Football” since the show started in 2006.
This follows strong ratings for last Thursday’s Bengals-Jaguars game, the most-watched NFL Network-exclusive “Thursday Night Football” game since 2018. The game’s 8.5 million viewer total is a 47 percent increment over last year’s Week 4 game between the Broncos and Jets.
The astounding numbers from Bucs-Pats appear to validate the theory that the NFL is a game of matchups, and that watchers will check out see the marquee games paying little mind to other entertainment options or political leanings. The NFL is cutting from a smaller overall pie currently, yet it’s actually getting the greatest cuts.
Disclaimer: The views, suggestions, and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Chicago Headlines journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.
