The Denver Broncos got a big win over the New Orleans Saints on Thursday Night Football last week. It was 33-3 late in the fourth quarter until the Broncos put in their second-string defense and the Saints made a change at quarterback. New Orleans then scored late to make the final score 33-10.
It was a fun game for Broncos fans, but not necessarily appealing to a national audience. Denver was 3-3 going into the game and the Saints were 2-4. The game did mark Sean Payton’s return to New Orleans, but that might not have been as big of a draw as the NFL thought it would be.
The Broncos-Saints showdown got 9.81 million viewers, according to Austin Karp of the Sports Business Journal. That marked the first time this season a TNF game averaged fewer than 10 million viewers.
While the number was a dip for this season, it was still higher than the NFL’s TNF game in Week 7 last year, which drew 9.79 million viewers.
Thursday wasn’t a great ratings night for Prime, but the league’s ratings are still up overall compared to last year.
