The NFL accounted for 75 of the 100 most-watched broadcasts in 2021.
Though some games happened earlier this year, the list includes Super Bowl LV and the conference championship games.
The top 11 broadcasts on the list were all NFL games, while Joe Biden’s inauguration takes the 12th spot.
Super Bowl LVI also pulled in an average audience of 112.3 million viewers and 11.2 million streamers.
Meanwhile, the four Divisional Round games last season, all of which went down the wire, accounted for 38.2 million viewers.
This season, the NFL’s ratings after Week 1 make them the undisputed king of television and digital coverage.
CBS had 17.4 million viewers for their 1pm NFL window.
The #Bengals–#Steelers game was the most watched regional game window for CBS since 1998.pic.twitter.com/YCVrEkbh2N
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) September 13, 2022
NFL insider Dov Kleiman tweeted, “CBS had 17.4 million viewers for their 1 pm NFL window. The #Bengals-#Steelers game was the most watched regional game window for CBS since 1998.”
His tweet also included a graphic that reads, “NFL on CBS kicks off season with record viewership across all platforms.”
It also mentioned, “CBS Sports delivered its most-watched Week 1 regional window since 1988 with 17.387 million viewers, up +21%.”
Furthermore, “NFL on CBS scored its Best Week 1 audience in four years as doubleheader averaged 17.042 million viewers.”
CBS Sports closed the statement, “Paramount+ recorded its most-streamed NFL regular season week ever.”
More Games To Come
As the league earns huge amounts of money from television and online coverage deals, the networks are also reaping the rewards with high ratings.
The best part is that the season has just started, and they have more opportunities to maintain or improve their ratings.
Having a massive audience will pull in advertisers that are ready to pour in money to these programs.
Therefore, ad spots during Super Bowl LVII will increase because it draws everyone’s attention.
Indeed, the NFL is king and the other sporting leagues can take a lesson from them in maximizing audience reach.
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