NFL Thanksgiving records, including CBS' mammoth regular-season high point, fit into wider story
Published 3 days ago • 6 min read
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CBS shatters NFL regular-season viewership record, part of league's overall success and sports' Thanksgiving success
The Cowboys' win over the Chiefs set records.
The NFL's viewership numbers over the past few years have been incredible even by its standards. Some of that is about changes to the way Nielsen measures ratings, including this year's full incorporation of the "Big Data+Panel" methodology, but even with that, the NFL's lift has far surpassed that seen by other sports. And the latest example of that comes from Thanksgiving Day last Thursday, where all three broadcasters posted slot records. To start with, CBS announced Wednesday that the final numbers for their Kansas City Chiefs-Dallas Cowboys broadcast (which got the coveted 4:30 p.m. ET slot, midway through the NFL's tripleheader on that day) not only set the league's regular-season record, but blew way past it.
“The NFL. Thanksgiving. Chiefs. Cowboys. A perfect recipe for a record audience. We’re thrilled and honored this NFL showcase on CBS and Paramount+ delivered the most-watched regular-season game in NFL history,” said David Berson, President and CEO, CBS Sports.
...The Cowboys’ 31-28 win over the Chiefs averaged 57.230 million viewers, up +47% vs. last year’s comparable game (38.839 million viewers, Giants-Cowboys) and shattering the previous NFL record by +36% (42.059 million viewers, Giants-Cowboys, 11/24/22).
Viewership peaked with 61.357 million viewers for the game’s thrilling conclusion (7:45-8:00 PM ET).
Yes, it obviously helps to have the high-drawing Cowboys in the game, but the difference versus those past two recent games involving the Cowboys remains dramatic. A big part of that is that the Chiefs were the most-watched team on national broadcasts last year, averaging 25.5 million viewers during the regular season (the Giants didn't make the top 10 there despite playing in the No. 1 media market, probably largely thanks to their 3-14 record). Another part of it is the point I keepreturningto about the value of good, close games. However, that also wasn't the only story here.
Dallas' 31-28 win here certainly qualified as an exciting, close game. While last year's Cowboys-Giants' game was close (a 20-15 Dallas win), this one featured two better teams, with the Chiefs and Cowboys 6-5 and 5-5-1 respectively going into it (versus 4-7 and 2-9 for the Cowboys and Giants respectively last season). But while the 2022 game that set the previous record was also close (a 28-20 Dallas win), it featured better teams (the 6-4 Giants and 7-3 Cowboys). And while the measurement shifts (which include a February 2024 expansion of out-of-home viewing to cover all U.S. households, not just the top markets) could account for some of that, they're probably not the only thing at play. The larger story is the incredible popularity of the NFL, and the way that continues to grow. And that's shown with our next point, the numbers Fox announced for their early (1 p.m. ET) Thanksgiving Day game between the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions.
Fox sets early Thanksgiving record with Packers-Lions
It wasn't just CBS that pulled in remarkable Thanksgiving numbers. Here's what Fox did:
Yes, that alone would be above not just the top game last year (38.8 million for Giants-Cowboys; 37.5 million for Bears-Lions on Fox in the early window, also a record at that time), but that regular-season record of 42.1 million viewers from 2022. The "most-streamed" notes for both Fox and CBS are also significant, as that's such a growing part of the way people consume TV (and it's counted much more in the new Big Data+Panel era). But, again, while measurement changes, a close game (a 31-25 Green Bay win), and good, popular teams (the Packers and Lions were 7-3-1 and 7-4 respectively coming in) all helped, the magnitude of these numbers suggests just overall further growth for the NFL (and from the notable heights it was already hitting). That's also seen with NBC's late-game numbers.
NBC sets Thanksgiving nightcap record
Could the NFL go three-for-three on Thanksgiving slot records this year? Why yes, yes it could.
Last year, NBC noted 26.6 million average viewers in Total Audience Delivery (a combination of the then-Nielsen metrics and their own numbers through Adobe Analytics that's at least somewhat comparable to the current Nielsen Big Data+Panel approach) for Dolphins-Packers, despite how lopsided that game was (24-3 at halftime, 30-17 Packers in the end). That was also a record at the time. And Bengals-Ravens featured teams that were just 3-8 and 6-5 going in (versus 5-6 and 8-3 for Miami and Green Bay respectively last year), and didn't wind up any closer (32-14 Cincinnati at the end), although it was more in doubt at the half (12-7). Thus, this looks like another case of just the NFL's popularity somehow continuing to rise even further, even with so many contextual factors accounted for. But they're not the only sports league finding success around this holiday. What about...college basketball?
CBS sets huge CBB record, Fox sets their own record
Yeah, even other sports did massive numbers on Thanksgiving Day. In college basketball, CBS set a record for Duke-Arkansas (8 p.m. ET, following their NFL game):
And it's not just the college ranks that hit success around the holiday, as ESPN's NBA numbers showed.
NBA on ESPN gets best "Thanksgiving Eve" audience in six years
We have to dial things down several orders of magnitude for these next numbers; they were on cable rather than broadcast, and on the day before the holiday rather than the holiday itself. But even with those caveats, what ESPN's NBA tripleheader on "Thanksgiving Eve" last Wednesday (up from a doubleheader the year before) accomplished is remarkable:
ESPN generated its most-watched NBA Thanksgiving Eve audience in six years, since 2019, on Wednesday, November 26. The inaugural tripleheader averaged 2,099,000 viewers, up 54 percent from last year’s Thanksgiving Eve doubleheader, according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel.
ESPN’s exclusive coverage of the Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Oklahoma City Thunder game averaged 2,433,000 viewers and peaked with 2,921,000 viewers at 10:15 p.m. ET. It was up 83 percent from last year’s comparable game.
In the nightcap, the Houston Rockets vs. Golden State Warriors game averaged 2,031,000 viewers on ESPN, up 45 percent from the 2024 game in the same window. The audience peaked with 2,448,000 viewers at 10:30 p.m.
ESPN’s tripleheader began with the Boston Celtics defeating the Detroit Pistons, which averaged 1,812,000 viewers for the 5 p.m. start. The audience peaked with 3,024,000 viewers at 7:45 p.m.
That's another sports holiday success story, even on something not officially a holiday (but yes, "Thanksgiving Eve" stands out from normal Wednesdays due to the ensuing day off and due to the people travelling for the holiday). And interestingly, in this time of broadcast TV proving so crucial, this one comes on cable (albeit in an era where ESPN finally offers full over-the-top streaming and where metrics services fully count that). It's part of a larger story for ESPN's NBA coverage, too, with that release noting their 2025 NBA average so far is 1,681,000 viewers, up 30 per cent from last year.
The overall takeaway
In an era of increasingly fragmented viewing, sports continue to be incredibly strong. And that's perhaps especially true around holidays, and on holidays and on broadcast networks in particular. It's most true for the NFL, but the CBB and NBA numbers here also stand out. And ads on any of these broadcasts definitely worked out for advertisers.
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