NFL viewership nears historic highs at midseason, led by ESPN and Amazon gains
Through Week 9 of the 2026 season, the NFL is averaging 18.3 million viewers per game, the second-highest audience average on record for that point in the season and a 2% increase over 2025, according to the report. Weekday packages have been a primary growth engine: ESPN's Monday Night Football is up 24% year-over-year at 19 million viewers per game, while Amazon's Thursday Night Football is averaging 17.2 million viewers, up 13% from last year's midseason mark. Among Sunday rights holders, NBC leads with 22.5 million viewers for Sunday Night Football, followed by CBS at 19.5 million and Fox at 18.5 million, though both CBS and Fox are running slightly below their respective 2025 full-season averages. The league holds the top 49 shows of the current television season and is heading into the traditionally high-viewership Thanksgiving and Christmas windows, including a newly created Thanksgiving Eve game on Netflix.
the league has the top 49 shows since the start of the current television season.
Why it matters
For service providers: Player marketing and sponsorship professionals should note which broadcast windows and matchups are drawing the largest audiences when planning activation strategies.
For brands: Advertisers and sponsors can gauge the relative value of NFL inventory across broadcast windows, with NBC, CBS, and ESPN all posting strong per-game averages.
For media: Broadcasters and streamers holding NFL rights — ESPN, Amazon, CBS, Fox, NBC, and Netflix — can benchmark their audience performance against competitors and prior-season records.
Read the full story at Front Office Sports
Sources
- Front Office Sports · Eric Fisher: NFL Viewership Climbs As ESPN, Amazon Deliver Double-Digit Gains