FOX Sports ushered in its 27th season of NFL coverage Sunday with an average of more than 25 million viewers for AMERICA’S GAME OF THE WEEK (AGOTW), combining with FOX’s best Week 1 regional performance in four years to score the network’s most-watched opening week since 2016.
According to Nielsen Media Research, AGOTW, the No. 1 show on TV for 11 consecutive years, scored the most-watched telecast since Super Bowl LIV on FOX in February. The game, pitting Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers against Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints in Brady’s debut as a Buc, drew an average audience of 25,848,000, up +7% over last year’s Week 1 performance of 24,216,000 viewers.
FOX’s regional games posted their best Week 1 performance since 2016, scoring an average viewership of 13,530,000, up +6% over last year’s 12,723,000 viewers between the Giants and the Cowboys.
“What a way to start the FOX NFL season. Our NFC package is about storied brands and Hall of Fame quarterbacks, and those factors came together to produce a four-year Week 1 high and television’s biggest audience since the Super Bowl,” said FOX Sports’ Mike Mulvihill, Executive Vice President, Strategy & Analytics. “Sports is leading America’s comeback from a challenging summer, and FOX Sports’ powerful fall lineup is just getting started.”
On the streaming side, Week 1 accounted for FOX’s most-streamed NFL regular-season Sunday ever — an +84% increase over last year’s opening Sunday with an average minute audience (AMA) of 592,144 across regional and national windows. AGOTW drew an AMA of 647,000 and 3.5 million unique streamers, leading to the network’s most-streamed NFL regular-season window ever. FOX also set a record for its regional windows, with an AMA of 537,000 and 3.8 million unique streamers.
Key highlights are below:
AMERICA’S GAME OF THE WEEK
- AGOTW drew an average audience of 25,848,000 million, up +7% over last year’s Week 1 performance of 24,216,000 viewers
- Most-watched telecast of any kind since Super Bowl LIV on FOX
- FOX’s most-watched Week 1 national game since 2016
- Key demographic ratings increases over 2019 include:
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- A18-34 +8% 6.09 vs. 5.66 rating
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- A18-49 +3% 7.88 vs. 7.62 rating
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- A25-54 +4% 9.41 vs. 9.08 rating
FOX REGIONAL GAMES
- Average viewership of 13,530,000, up +6% over last year’s 12,723,000 viewers
- FOX’s best Week 1 regional performance since 2016
For more information on FOX NFL, visit FOX Sports Press Pass.
*All linear viewing is according to Nielsen Media Research.
*Digital streaming is according to Adobe Analytics.