NBC draws over 20M for first games of NFL season

STAMFORD — NBC Sports’ first two broadcasts of the 2020 NFL season averaged 20.5 million viewers across TV and digital platforms, according to new data from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics — marking the 12th straight year that the Stamford-based sportscaster’s coverage of kickoff weekend has surpassed 20 million.

The average viewership for Super

Bowl champions Kansas City Chiefs’ defeat of the Houston Texans last Thursday and the Los Angeles Rams’ victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday equaled last season’s audience average for “Sunday Night Football,” which has ranked as the No. 1 prime-time TV show for a record nine straight years.

Although the vast majority of the viewership for “Sunday Night Football” comes from fans watching on TV, its reach across digital platforms is growing markedly. The “average minute audience” for streaming viewers of the ChiefsTexans and Cowboys-Rams contests averaged 809,000, up 39 percent from the first two SNF games of the 2019 season.

In contrast with other leagues whose seasons were suspended or delayed by the coronavirus crisis, the NFL was able to start its 2020 campaign on time.

While the league’s 32 teams will be playing in largely empty stadiums for now to adhere to social-distancing regulations, experts do not expect the in-person turnout to significantly affect viewership this season.

“Whether a stadium has partial capacity, virtual fans or no fans — it should have no bearing on the number of fans who tune in to watch on television,” said Josh Shuart, director of sports management at Sacred Heart University’s Jack Welch College of Business & Technology. “Hopefully that much has been learned by watching other professional leagues and how they have handled this wrinkle.”

“Sunday Night Football” has experienced some small fluctuations in viewership in recent years, but its massive popularity is unquestionable. Last season’s audience average represented a 5 percent increase from 2018 and a 12 percent uptick from 2017.

Cementing its supremacy, “SNF” last season again claimed the top spot among viewers between the ages of 18 and 49.

“SNF’s” nine-year run at the top of the prime-time ratings compares with the 2005-2011 run, when “American Idol” was No. 1. “The Cosby Show” in the 1980s and “All in the Family” in the

1970s each ranked top for five straight years. “Gunsmoke” ranked No. 1 from 1957 to 1961.

Complementing its on-location coverage from the stadiums, NBC Sports’ studio production for its NFL broadcasts is filmed at its headquarters at 1 Blachley Road, on the east side of Stamford.