In another example of the ratings juggernaut that NFL football has become for linear TV, ESPN is reporting that its ESPN’s NFL Divisional Playoff presentation of the Houston Texans versus the Baltimore Ravens on January 20 pulled in a record 31.8 million viewers.
The Texans-Ravens audience peaked at 36.2 million viewers in the third quarter (6:30 – 6:45 p.m. ET).
With an audience of 31.8 million – based on Nielsen fast nationals – Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens (ESPN, ABC, ESPN+ on Saturday, Jan. 20) surpassed the 2023 Super Wild Card Monday night game featuring the Dallas Cowboys at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (January 16, 2023) as the most viewed game since 1987 on ESPN.
ESPN also stressed that the audience is expected to elevate to more than 32 million when Nielsen reports final numbers this week.
That also means that ESPN has aired its five most-watched NFL games ever in previous 13 months.
With the addition of this season’s ESPN’s Super Wild Card Monday night game (Eagles at Buccaneers), ESPN’s three most-recent playoff games are also its three most-watched NFL games ever.
The record-breaking playoff viewership follows a history-making fall for Monday Night Football viewership. The 2023 Monday Night Football season is the franchise’s most watched since the 2000 NFL season, with viewership surpassing each of the previous 18 seasons in the ESPN era (2006 – present) and the five seasons leading into that era when MNF aired singularly on ABC. The franchise was up 29% year-over-year.
ESPN’s most watched NFL games dating back to 1987 are:
- 1. January 20, 2024, Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens, 31,767,000 viewers.
- 2. January 16, 2023, Dallas Cowboys at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 31,201,000 viewers.
- 3. January 15, 2024, Philadelphia Eagles at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 29,132,000 viewers.
- 4. November 20, 2023, Philadelphia Eagles at Kansas City Chiefs, 28,962,000 viewers.
- 5. December 25, 2023, Baltimore Ravens at San Francisco 49ers, 27,616,000 viewers.
- 6. January 4, 2020, Buffalo Bills at Houston Texans, 26,972,000 viewers.
- 7. December 30, 2023, Detroit Lions at Dallas Cowboys, 26,061,000 viewers
