NFL viewership continues to be historically strong on account of Nielsen’s new Big Data + Panel measurements and expanded out-of-home viewing.
A Super Bowl rematch between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs led the way in Week 2, averaging 33.8 million viewers in the late-afternoon window on Fox. It was the most-watched regular season Sunday NFL telecast ever on Fox, and the largest audience for any television event since the Super Bowl in February. Earlier in the day, Fox averaged 20.7 million viewers during the regional window, which primarily featured an overtime thriller between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys.
A few folks joined the @NFLONFOX for Sunday’s Eagles-Chiefs #SuperBowlLIX rematch. 😉
A massive 33.8 million viewers delivers @FOXSports its best-ever regular season Sunday telecast, most-watched Week 2 @NFL telecast on record and more all-time viewership highs! pic.twitter.com/qVqoCSjc8b
— FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) September 16, 2025
Over on CBS, the network’s singleheader window averaged 15 million viewers for a slate that featured Bills-Jets, Rams-Titans, Patriots-Dolphins, Browns-Ravens, and Jaguars-Bengals in the early window.
Sunday Night Football on NBC averaged 21.5 million viewers for the Atlanta Falcons’ win over the Minnesota Vikings. The game marked the most-watched Week 2 SNF game since 2016 (23 million for Packers-Vikings).
pic.twitter.com/qCBIloK8RK
— NBC Sports PR (@NBCSportsPR) September 16, 2025
Lastly, Game 1 of ESPN’s Monday Night Football doubleheader averaged 17.4 million viewers as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won a tight game against the Houston Texans. The game was also simulcast on ABC. Per ESPN, it was the most-watched Week 2 game on the network since 2008.
Game 2 of the doubleheader, featuring the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders, which aired only on ESPN, averaged 9.7 million viewers for the 10 p.m. ET kickoff. Accounting for the six-hour window that featured both games, ESPN averaged 13.5 million viewers for the night.
The return of ESPN’s Monday Night Football doubleheader brought a great finish, great drama & strong viewership for 6+ hours🏈
More: https://t.co/g4LVyC2qGR pic.twitter.com/Aiq07F5xQz
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) September 17, 2025
As previously reported, Thursday Night Football‘s season debut on Prime Video set a record for the streamer.
It is important to reiterate, Nielsen’s new methodology creates very favorable conditions for historical comparisons. Multi-year highs should be the expectation for all live sports properties throughout the next 12 months. Anything less would be cause for great concern among leagues and networks.
Nevertheless, the NFL is still putting up monster numbers. Whether they’re truly up or down from previous years is aside the point; the league is far and away the most popular and valuable programming on television, and nothing else is close.