When the final viewership data became available for the NFL's three Thanksgiving games this season, the numbers were so staggering that an impromptu conference call among the involved networks' chief sports honchos was called to essentially bask in the success. I'd never realized back-slapping was possible over a phone call until then. There was no such collective CEO celebration this week when the NFL's final 2025 viewership numbers were released by Nielsen Media Research on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The NFL averaged 18.7 million viewers per game during the regular season, the second-highest since audience averages began being kept in 1988. The per-game average on TV and digital platforms was a 10% increase from last season's 17.5 million and up 7% from 2023, according to the league and Nielsen. It also was just off the record average of 19 million, which was set in 1989.
A whopping 57.2 million viewers watched Dallas' 31-28 Thanksgiving Day victory over Kansas City on CBS, per a source with knowledge of the data. The late-afternoon game's average viewership shattered the previous regular-season record set three Thanksgivings ago, when the Cowboys and Giants drew 42 million viewers in 2022 on FOX. The record was not accidental. The NFL made a strategic decision this year to pit its two most-watched teams against each other on its most-watched day of regular-season football.
Well I spent a few years working in the National Football League, and one thing that I know - they value even more than politics is revenue, and Bad Bunny was the third most streamed artist globally last year. And the NFL is about setting records, the halftime show for a number of years has surpassed viewership even of the game. And last year, even as controversial as Kendrick Lamar was, he set the all-time viewership record for a halftime show, surpassing Michael Jackson.
