On Sunday night, Tom Brady’s first game against his long-time team garnered a large crowd on NBC.
The 19-17 win by Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers over the New England Patriots brought the largest Sunday Night Football audience for NBC since late 2012 and is on course to be the franchise’s second most-watched game in its 15-year existence.
According to Nielsen’s time zone-adjusted quick national ratings, the game received 27.2 million viewers on NBC and 28.5 million across all platforms. The 1.3 million audience average (through Adobe Analytics) for NBC Sports, the NFL, the two teams, and Yahoo Sports on Peacock and internet and mobile domains is the highest for any NFL game on NBC (not including Super Bowls).
The rapid national ratings do not include out-of-home viewers; NBC’s TV audience is expected to climb somewhat in the final nationals, which will be released Tuesday morning.
Only once has Sunday Night Football attracted a larger audience: a Dec. 30, 2012 game between the Dallas Cowboys that decided the NFC East title averaged 30.3 million people. The attendance for Sunday’s game is presently up by a stunning 80% compared to the same week last year (15.08 million viewers). According to Nielsen, more than a third of TV households with sets on Sunday night watched the game, the highest percentage in SNF history.
The weekend’s final numbers, including the season debut of Saturday Night Live, will be revealed Tuesday morning. This storey will be updated at that time.