One of the most highly awaited games of the 2023 NFL season was the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs’ face off and one of the major reasons behind that was the long-anticipated Aaron Rodgers vs. Patrick Mahomes showdown. After the regular season in 2019 and 2021, fan’s hope of enjoying the on-field clash of these two elite quarterbacks ended in smoke this year as well following A-Rod’s season-ending injury.
Though the intense face-off between the four-time MVP and two-time MVP didn’t happen this season, fans seemingly didn’t lose interest in the Jets vs. Chiefs match as it amassed a phenomenal viewership, creating a new record in the NFL.
Sunday NFL audience peaks with Chiefs-Jets game
The Sunday Night Football game between the Kansas City Cheifs and the New York Jets on NBC averaged approximately 27 million viewers, and it is marked as the most-watched Sunday show since Super Bowl LVII on Fox in February this year.
According to sources, the viewership reached its peak (estimated 29.4 million viewers) between 9:30 and 9:45 p.m. ET when Gang Green bounced back in the second quarter to reduce the Chiefs’ 17-0 lead of the first quarter.
The match also recorded a national TV household rating of 12.9/35, which is up 15% from the Week 4 campaign of last year. NBC cited the Taylor Swift effect as playing a major role behind this as female viewers notably increased in the game than before. While teenagers tend to lean less toward the NFL, the game amassed more than two million new viewers among the ages 12-17 (+53%). Besides this age group, the viewership from women ages 18 to 24 was 24% up and the women ages 35 or up marked a 34% increase.
More than 115 million viewers tuned in for Super Bowl LVII
Swift’s effect might lead song lovers to tune in for football matches, but the Super Bowl LVII between the Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2023, has been all about crazy sports enthusiasts. According to average audience estimates from Nielsen, nearly 113.7 million viewers tuned in for the game which ran from 6:44 PM ET to 10:14 PM ET on FOX.
However, the amount was revised later by ratings agency Nielson in May this year, and according to ESPN, the Chiefs vs. Philly showdown drew an average of 115.1 million viewers across all platforms. With this updated number, the previous Super Bowl surpassed the early record of 114.4 million viewers in 2015 when Tom Brady’s New England Patriots beat the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX.
Following the campaign, the next-highest-rated telecast happened two years later in Super Bowl LI (2017) in a match between the Patriots and Atlanta Falcons, which was viewed by nearly 113.7 million audience.
What’s your take on these spectacular stats? Tell us in the comments.
