NFL Viewership Climbs As ESPN, Amazon Deliver Double-Digit Gains

As the 2026 NFL season reaches its halfway point, viewership is reaching historic levels, with weekday games playing a significant role in the growth. Through Week 9, the league is averaging 18.3 million viewers per game, a 2% increase from the 2025 mark. The NFL maintains the top 49 shows in U.S. media throughout the current television season.

Following its record-breaking 36-year high last season, the NFL experienced a strong climb in 2026, with optimism high among league executives after the schedule release in May. A key contributor to the audience growth has been the league's two weekday game packages. ESPN's Monday Night Football package is averaging 19 million viewers, a 24% increase from 2025, as it prepares for its first Super Bowl in February.

ESPN has also set several game records for Monday Night Football broadcasts this season, including the Bills-Vikings game, which averaged 21.7 million viewers and was the best Week 9 broadcast in ESPN's Monday Night Football era. ESPN's Monday Night Football schedule has been more focused this season due to its equity deal with the NFL.

Amazon is averaging 17.2 million viewers for Thursday Night Football, up 13% from last year's midseason and 12% from the 2025 full-season average. The consistent double-digit percentage increases in Amazon's Thursday Night Football audience confirm the improved schedule that Amazon received this year. The NFL's weekday packages counter the scrutiny surrounding the league's reduced Sunday broadcast windows.

CBS, which holds Sunday rights, averages 19.5 million viewers and is on track for its most-watched season yet, with the two most-watched games so far involving the AFC West matchups featuring the Chiefs. Fox averages 18.5 million viewers, while NBC averages 22.5 million viewers for its Sunday Night Football package, both slight decreases from their 2025 full-season averages.

The NFL Network, now under ESPN control, has concluded a record-breaking run of international games on Sunday mornings. As the NFL heads towards Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, including a newly created Thanksgiving Eve game on Netflix, the late afternoon Thanksgiving Day game, traditionally the league's high point of the regular season, is expected to be less impressive, given the likely inclusion of losing teams.