Tough Day For The ‘NFL Ratings Are Hurting’ Crowd: Cowboys-49ers Drew Biggest Wild Card Viewership In 7 Years

• In a sign that the NFL’s ratings are thriving, the 49ers-Cowboys matchup on Super Wild Card Weekend drew the biggest Wild Card viewership in 7 years
• Interestingly, the Patriots vs Bills drew the lowest viewership of any Super Wild Card Weekend games despite the Bills riding the hype train
• Read more articles on BroBible right here

The NFL’s coming off its hottest Wild Card Weekend in the better part of a decade. If we’re being honest, I don’t really have a strong gauge on how much the average sports fan cares about the NFL Playoffs this season because I’m a Buccaneers fan living in Florida and my experience is warped by my surroundings.

It’s Brady/Bucs/Playoffs mania around here. But if the NFL’s ratings are any indication the entire country is all-in on the playoffs this season.

The Twitter account @SportsTVRatings shared the ratings for all five Super Wild Card Weekends which combined for over a hundred and fifty million viewers. And the cherry on top was the NFL saw its most-watched Wild Card Weekend game in 7 years. Anyone who thinks the NFL isn’t thriving is going to have trouble processing these numbers.

NFL Ratings For Wild Card Weekend Were Best In 7 Years

49ers/Cowboys: 41.5M (CBS & Nick)
Eagles/Buccaneers: 30.4M
Steelers/Chiefs: 28.9M
Raiders/Bengals: 27.7M
Pats/Bills: 26.4M

— Sports TV Ratings (@SportsTVRatings)

Twitter

The Nickelodeon contribution was 1.333M which, I don't think is that great (don't think it's awful either) considering total viewership.

— Sports TV Ratings (@SportsTVRatings)

Twitter

Last year's SlimeCast averaged 2.1M on NICK for a game (Bears/Saints) that had 10M+ fewer viewers overall.

— Sports TV Ratings (@SportsTVRatings)

Twitter

Years into the haters hating, I legitimately don’t understand the crowd who loves to parade any low NFL ratings around as if it’s indicative that people somehow don’t care about the sport. There might be some games here or there that doesn’t draw a ton of attention but consider this: the NFL had a total viewership of 154.4 MILLION viewers across Super Wild Card Weekend’s five games.

So anyone out there who thinks the NFL is suffering in the ratings department needs to accept that about half the entire United States population watched NFL on Super Wild Card Weekend.

Meanwhile, ESPN is off to its hottest start in over a decade. ESPN’s ratings thus far in 2022 are outperforming every other cable network and it’s not even close. ESPN is up 245% over second-place Fox News. And in primetime with the 18-49 demo, ESPN is up 766% over TBS. Check these stats out.

ESPN Seeing Best TV Ratings In Over A Decade

A fast start for ESPN in the new year!

The best start in prime time in over a decade
Boosted to the top of cable by #CFBPlayoff games & #MNF

More: https://t.co/08NKgEkH2N pic.twitter.com/vmqxiHKRNs

— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR)

Twitter

ESPN is off to its best start in years after the first 2 weeks of 2022

More: https://t.co/08NKgEkH2N pic.twitter.com/Sy82uy2GAQ

— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR)

Twitter

Sports is BOOMING right now.

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