TV Ratings For NFL Games And Viewership Decline

NFL TV ratings by team for the 2022-23 season had Detroit Lions with the highest numbers with 27 million average viewers and an 11.9 rating based on the regular season.

The Super Bowl Champions Kansas City Chiefs had an average of 20.1 million viewers and Atlanta Falcons managed an average of just 6.8 million viewers.

NFL TV ratings 2023 are down this year as compared to the previous season with a dip of 3% averaging 16.7 million viewers.

The average viewers are calculated across all platforms (TV and digital platforms) and the previous season had an average of 17.1 million viewers.

The dip in the numbers is said to be courtesy of the shift of Thursday Night Football from linear TV to Amazon Prime's streaming service.

Had it not been for the shift, the NFL saw a 4% increase in numbers (excluding the 15 games streamed on Amazon Prime) with 18 million average viewers.

The sole reason for the drop in ratings for the NFL is the shift from linear TV to Amazon Prime. Amazon had estimated an average viewership of 12.6 million but only got an audience of 9.58 million for "Thursday Night Football".

Apart from TNF, all the other networks had gained viewership as compared to last season.

How much did nfl ratings drop?

The NFL ratings had a drop of 3% as compared to last season with an average of 16.7 million viewers for the regular season. The previous season had an average audience of 17.1 million.

Out of all the networks, Thursday Night Football had the worst viewership and ratings as compared to Monday and Sunday Night Football. Sunday Night Football had the best followed by Monday Night Football.

TV ratings for NFL championship games for the Super Bowl LVII with 115.1 million average viewers and earned a 40.0 rating overtaking Super Bowl XLIX (114,442,000) as the highest viewed championship game of all time.

The initial report for the Super Bowl XLVII was an average of 113 million viewers but in May 2023, Nielsen revised the ratings because of technical issues causing "irregularities" and the numbers rose to 115 million.

The Super Bowl viewership has seen the numbers rise and fall throughout its history with the lowest being 39.12 million in the Super Bowl II.

Viewership History and Ratings Of The Last 10 Championship Games

• Super Bowl XLVIII (112.19 million) rating of 46.7 - FOX
• Super Bowl XLIX (114.44 million) rating of 47.5 - NBC
• Super Bowl 50 ( 111.86 million) rating of 46.6 - CBS
• Super Bowl LI (111.32 million) rating of 45.3 - FOX
• Super Bowl LII (103.47 million) rating of 43.1 - NBC
• Super Bowl LIII (98.48 million) rating of 41.1 - CBS
• Super Bowl LIV (101.32 million) rating of 41.6 - FOX
• Super Bowl LV (95.2 million) rating of 38.2 - CBS
• Super Bowl LVI (99.18 million) rating of 36.9 - NBC
• Super Bowl LVII (115.1 million) rating of 40.0 - FOX

NFL Monday night football tv ratings garnered 19.85 million viewers and a rating of 11.1 on the opening weekend of Monday Night Football.

ESPN's "Monday Night Football now features Joe Buck and Troy Aikman who previously broadcasted for 'Fox' and are debuting for the live broadcast as the new announcing team.

The MNF averaged 13.4 million viewers resulting in a decline of 5% and the average excludes Week 17 as the game was called off due to the Damar Hamlin collapsing during the game.

The 2022-23 NFL season had a total of 17 games scheduled for "Monday Night Football" (MNF) with the highest viewership of 23.79 million and the lowest of 10.25 million.

• Week 1- 19.85 million (11.1)
• Week 2 - 12.86 million (7.0)
• Week 2 - 7.92 million (4.25)
• Week 3 - 19.34 million (10.8)
• Week 4 - 12.50 million (6.75)
• Week 5 - 15.79 million (8.7)
• Week 6 - 12.05 million (6.7)
• Week 7 - 11.83 million (6.5)
• Week 8 - 11.30 million (6.2)
• Week 9 - 10.53 million (5.8)
• Week 10 - 12.77 million (6.9)
• Week 11 - 11.17 million (5.9)
• Week 12 - 10.88 million (6.0)
• Week 13 - 12.27 million (6.3)
• Week 14 - 10.25 million (5.8)
• Week 15 - 16.03 million (8.9)
• Week 16 - 10.94 million (5.6)
• Week 17* - 23.79 million (12.8) (Game not Completed)

NFL Thursday Night Football TV ratings have not met the expected numbers which were estimated at 12.6 million but only garnered an average of 9.58 million viewers.

After a shift in the streaming services from TV to Amazon, it is said that this is the only reason that led to the dip in numbers for the NFL as other broadcasting networks showed a gain in viewership.

The 2022-23 NFL season had a total of 15 games scheduled for "Thursday Night Football" (TNF) with the highest viewership of 13.03 million and the lowest of 6.80 million.

• Week 2 - 13.03 million (6.4)
• Week 3 - 11.03 million (5.4)
• Week 4 - 11.72 million (5.7)
• Week 5 - 9.70 million (4.9)
• Week 6 - 8.79 million (4.3)
• Week 7 - 7.82 million (3.9)
• Week 8 - 10.01 million (4.95)
• Week 9 - 7.86 million (3.7)
• Week 10 - 6.80 million (3.3)
• Week 11 - 10.32 million (5.1)
• Week 13 - 9.97 million (4.9)
• Week 14 - 8.26 million (4.1)
• Week 15 - 10.31 million (5.0)
• Week 16 - 8.26 million (3.9)
• Week 17 - 9.73 million (4.5)

NFL Sunday Night Football TV ratings have the highest viewership of 28.7 million and a rating of 18.3 which they achieved in the year 2016.

Cris Collinsworth and Mike Tiricio began their new partnership as broadcasters after Al Michaels joined Amazon's "Thursday Night Football".

The yearly viewership (average) ratings of Sunday Night Football since it aired in 2006:

2006 - 17.5 million (11.0)
2007 - 16.0 million (10.0)
2008 - 16.6 million (10.2)
2009 - 19.4 million (11.7)
2010 - 25.8 million (13.0)
2011 - 21.5 million (12.9)
2012 - 21.4 million (12.8)
2013 - 21.495 million (12.8)
2014 - 21.3 million (12.5)
2015 - 22.5 million (13.0)
2016 - 28.7 million (18.3)
2017 - 18.2 million (10.3)
2018 - 20.0 million (16.1)
2019 - 20.5 million (11.30
2020 - 17.4 million (9.3)
2021 - 19.3 million (9.9)

NFL Sunday Night Football TV Ratings

The 2022-23 NFL season had a total of 18 games scheduled for "Sunday Night Football" (SNF) with the highest viewership of 23.03 million and the lowest of 15.38 million.

The broadcast averaged 18.7 million viewers with a rating of 9.8 with a slight increase in viewership but a drop in ratings (18.5 million and a rating of 9.9)

• Week 1 - 23.03 million (12.3)
• Week 2 - 19.55 million (10.6)
• Week 3 - 17.80 million (9.6)
• Week 4 - 20.85 million 11.2)
• Week 5 - 15.88 million (8.6)
• Week 6 - 20.79 million (11.0)
• Week 7 - 15.53 million (8.5)
• Week 8 - 19.62 million (10.6)
• Week 9 - 17.69 million (9.7)
• Week 10 - 15.84 million (8.4)
• Week 11 - 17.89 million (9.5)
• Week 12 - 19.57 million (10.5)
• Week 13 - 18.13 million (9.8)
• Week 14 - 15.76 million (8.7)
• Week 15 - 15.38 million (8.4)
• Week 16 - 17.15 million (7.7)
• Week 17 - 17.18 million (8.9)
• Week 18 - 22.51 million (11.9)