A rematch of last season’s Super Bowl generated the largest "Monday Night Football" audience in nearly 30 years.
Coverage of the Philadelphia Eagles' win against the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs on Nov. 20 averaged a combined 29.0 million viewers across ABC (US) (15.6 million) ESPN (US) (11.5 million), ESPN2 (US) (1.9 million for the "Manningcast"), ESPN Deportes (US) (64,000) and NFL+. That stands as the most-watched "Monday Night Football" game since the Green Bay Packers-Dallas Cowboys drew 31.5 million in Nov. 18, 1996. ESPN became the primary "MNF" rights holder in 2006.
The Super Bowl LVII rematch was the first in a series of highly anticipated games. There will be an NFL tripleheader on Nov. 23 that includes Detroit-Green Bay on FOX (US) at 12:30 ET, NBC (US)'s presentation of the Seattle Seahawks-San Francisco 49ers at 8:30 p.m. ET, and CBS (US)'s coverage of the Dallas-Washington Commanders game at 4:30 p.m. ET. The latter figures to surpass the Nov. 20 "MNF" matchup.
Last Thanksgiving, FOX tallied the most-watched NFL regular-season game to date as "America's Team," the Dallas Cowboys, defeated the New York Giants before 42.1 million. That delivery edged out the 41.6 million for the Giants-49ers on ABC's "MNF" coverage on Dec. 3, 1990, as the league's most-viewed regular-season contest. On Thanksgiving 2021, Dallas-Las Vegas Raiders notched 40.8 million viewers on CBS.
Amazon.com Inc.'s Prime Video also seems poised to deliver a pro football regular-season record for streaming with the NFL's inaugural Black Friday game. Amazon will make the Miami Dolphins-Jets game at 3 p.m. ET available to all of its customers, not just those with Prime Video memberships.
Thus far, this year's Philadelphia-Minnesota matchup on Sept. 14 has garnered the most streaming viewers with almost 15.1 million, according to Nielsen Holdings PLC data. The total includes streaming viewership, out-of-home watching, and simulcasts on stations in the participating teams' home markets.
As for the college ranks, FOX will likely register the most-watched regular-season game of the 2023 season on Nov. 26 at noon ET, with the annual Michigan-Ohio State battle, which last year led the way with 17 million watchers.
This season's contest not only again benefits from the teams looking to secure a position in the College Football Playoff — the Buckeyes currently place second and the Wolverines third — but Michigan has been embroiled in a sign-stealing scandal that has drawn heavy sports media scrutiny. Wolverines Head Coach Jim Harbaugh is in the midst of a three-game suspension from the Big Ten in relation to the scandal.
