The National Football League (NFL) recorded its most-watched preseason since 2018, with an average of 2.2 million viewers per game across linear and digital platforms – a year-on-year (YoY) increase of 18 per cent.
Games shown on NFL Network averaged 1.8 million viewers, an increase of 26 per cent, its most viewed pre-season on record.
The NFL preseason got off to a strong start on 31st July, with the Pro Football Hall of Fame game between the Los Angeles Chargers and Detroit Lions averaging 6.9 million viewers, which made it the most watched edition of the game since 2021.
The preseason ratings will be encouraging for the NFL, which saw its average regular season viewership drop by two per cent YoY to 17.5 million viewers per game during 2025. Amazon Prime Video was the only broadcaster to increase its audience last season, with the quartet of Fox, CBS, NBC and ESPN all seeing declines in linear viewership.
The 2025 season gets underway on 4th September, with the defending Super Bowl champions in the Philadelphia Eagles hosting the Dallas Cowboys. NBC will air the season-opening game, before YouTube streams the league’s first international game of the campaign in Brazil a day later.
Credit: https://www.sportspro.com/news/nfl-preseason-tv-ratings-audience-college-gameday-september-2025/
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