Overall, the NFL averaged 15.76 million viewers per game across CBS, FOX, NBC and ESPN for the 2018 regular season, an increase from 2017's 14.96 million.
The improved ratings come over a season when player protests during the national anthem, and the media attention surrounding the actions, greatly subsided.
This season also saw an increase in offensive production across the league. Three teams — Kansas City, the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans — finished the regular season with more points per game than the highest-scoring team the previous year, according to statistics from NFL.com.
ESPN's "Monday Night Football" saw the biggest year-over-year growth with increased viewership of 8 percent, while NBC's "Sunday Night Football" finished up 6 percent for the season from last year.
NBC's recently concluded 13th season of "Sunday Night Football" averaged 19.3 million viewers and is projected to finish as the most-watched program on television across all key metrics for the eighth consecutive year.
In its first year of owning Thursday Night Football rights, Fox saw an increase of 4 percent over 2017's numbers.
CBS and Fox on Sunday afternoons also saw an uptick of 6 percent and 2 percent, respectively.
The first round of the NFL playoffs begin this Saturday, with the Super Bowl set for Feb. 3 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
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