The NFL’s 2025-26 season is just hours from kickoff, and the league wants to make sure you’re watching some of the blockbuster matchups in week one and beyond. They also want to make sure the people who count their viewership numbers are doing it correctly.
What were the NFL’s viewership numbers in 2024?
The NFL saw a 2.2% decline in its Nielsen ratings across its broadcast networks last year. The league averaged 17.5 million viewers per game, a slight decrease from 2023’s 17.9 million. Not exactly dire straits, especially considering NFL broadcasts were 70 of the top 100 most-watched shows in 2024 in any category.
That hasn’t stopped the NFL from publicly complaining about Nielsen’s numbers and its audience measurement techniques. NFL Chief Data and Analytics Officer Paul Ballew said Nielsen is underestimating the audience for league games, especially in the co-viewing category, meaning the league believes they are undercounting the number of people who watch games in large groups.
Why are Nielsen ratings so important?
The league is constantly evaluating its viewership metrics. Who, when and how people watch are the most important numbers of all. Lower numbers can cost the league’s media partners advertising revenue and hamper its future rights negotiations. Roger Goodell discussed the league’s viewership and addressed the scattered media landscape during his state of the league press conference at the Super Bowl.
“You see the quality of the content and what it can do,” Goodell said. “I think with the changing media landscape, we’re changing also. We still have nearly 88% of our games on either broadcast or over the air, the highest by any standard of any other league. No one comes close.”
Nielsen believes the 2025 season “will be the most accurately rated football season in history,” according to the Wall Street Journal. The company is also working with the league to innovate its data collection and hopes to deliver it quicker. None of the back and forth, however, will likely affect which games you see on your local station come Sunday.
How does your local station choose its games?
Local network affiliates are contractually obligated to show you all 17 games played by the local team. They are also obligated to broadcast the network’s nationally televised games each week, unless the local teams’ matchup replaces that game.
As a former sports director in NFL markets for more than two decades, I’ve had the opportunity to work with local programming departments and station managers to determine which alternative matchups fans might want to see. Those choices aren’t necessarily based on the highest ratings, but cater more to the local team’s situation. In Milwaukee, for instance, an NFC North division rivalry game between the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions would take precedence over a national brand like the Dallas Cowboys or Pittsburgh Steelers.
An educated guess as to what the local audience may favor can also influence decisions. When Seahawks star quarterback Russell Wilson was traded to the Denver Broncos in 2022, the local CBS affiliate in Seattle chose to air nearly all of Denver’s matchups that fall, believing fans would want to see their former quarterback in action. The Broncos were not competitive, finishing with a 5-12 record.
How will streaming services affect NFL ratings?
Those local decisions can affect ratings all season long. Commissioner Goodell said the league is also ready to embrace the surge in streaming options for fans.
“Amazon, I think, had another 40% increase in audience,” Goodell said. “Their ratings are now coming very close to broadcast audiences and about to cross over, and I think they will very shortly. So, when you see what we’re doing with the Netflixs and the Amazons and the Peacocks of the world, I think that’s going to be a very important advancement for us in the context of media strategy.”
Capturing streaming viewership is complicated. Mostly because streaming services are protective of their data and audience particulars. The NFL has been exploring alternative solutions to supplement Nielsen’s data, like VideoAmp, which specializes in measuring streaming content.
With Nielsen’s changes and several high-profile standalone games in 2025, the league is expecting a bounce back in its viewership numbers. Navigating this changing media landscape may soon feel like a small bump in the road for one of the most powerful sports entities in the world.
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