The NFL crossed the 30 million threshold on Thanksgiving.
Thursday’s Washington-Dallas NFL Thanksgiving special earned a 12.5 rating and 30.5 million viewers on FOX, per Nielsen fast-nationals — up 13% in ratings and 16% in viewership from last year (Chargers-Cowboys: 11.1, 26.3M), but down 14% and 13% respectively from the same matchup in 2016 (14.5, 35.1M).
Including viewership on streaming and Spanish-language platforms, the game had 30.8 million.
Dallas’ win, which peaked with 32.7 million from 7-7:15 PM ET, delivered the largest NFL audience of the season, pending final results. Prior to Thanksgiving, the high water mark was 23.7 million for Packers-Patriots on NBC in Week 9.
Overall, it was the most-watched regular season window since the 2016 Washington-Dallas Thanksgiving game.
Excluding the NFL playoffs, it also delivered the largest television audience of 2018. It ranks ahead of the Alabama-Georgia college football national championship (28.4M) and the Academy Awards (26.6M).
In the past decade, only four non-NFL sporting events have earned a larger audience. Game 7 of the 2016 World Series had 40.1 million, Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals had 31.0 million, and the 2015 and 2009 college football national championship games had 34.1 and 30.8 million, respectively.
Even with the massive numbers, it ranks as the second-lowest rated and third-least watched Cowboys Thanksgiving game since 2009.
[Numbers from Fox Sports]
because of sports wagering being legal now in NM, WV, MS, NJ, PA, DE
It’s good to see the NFL experiencing some some YOY ratings increases at points during the season.