ESPN’s NFL Divisional Playoff presentation was a record-shattering showdown for ESPN, marking consecutive years in which the final game of the season was its most-watched NFL game ever, playoffs or regular season, dating back to 1987 when ESPN acquired NFL rights. The record viewership joins Monday Night Football in cementing a landmark season for the NFL on ESPN.
With an audience of 31.8 million – based on Nielsen fast nationals – Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens (ESPN, ABC, ESPN+ on Saturday, Jan. 20) surpasses the 2023 Super Wild Card Monday night game featuring the Dallas Cowboys at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (January 16, 2023) for ESPN’s top spot. Please note: ESPN’s audience is expected to elevate to more than 32 million when Nielsen reports final numbers this week.
The Texans-Ravens audience peaked at 36.2 million viewers in the third quarter (6:30 – 6:45 p.m. ET).
ESPN’s Five Most-Watched Games Ever Have Aired in Previous 13 Months; Multiple Monday Night Football Games Amongst the Records
With the addition of this season’s ESPN’s Super Wild Card Monday night game (Eagles at Buccaneers), ESPN’s three most-recent playoff games are also its three most-watched NFL games ever.
Inclusive of all NFL games, regular season and playoffs, ESPN has aired its five most-watched NFL games ever in the past 13 months (January 2023 to January 2024) and six of the seven highest-viewed games, buoyed by a record-setting 2023 Monday Night Football season.
ESPN’s Most-Watched NFL Games Ever, Dating Back to 1987
The streak of most-watched games coincides with the implementation of the newest rights agreements between ESPN and the NFL, as well as Joe Buck and Troy Aikman joining Monday Night Football.
Texans-Ravens is Disney’s Most-Watched NFL Game Outside of Super Bowls
The Texans-Ravens’ 31.8 million viewers also marks Disney’s most-watched NFL game, excluding Super Bowls. The audience of 31,767,000 viewers bested all 24 Disney NFL Playoff games in the previous 28 years, including 14 exclusively on ABC (1996-2005), nine available on ABC and ESPN (2016-23) and one solely on ESPN (2015). The game also surpassed every regular season game exclusively on ABC since 1996.
Please note: Disney’s ownership of ABC/ESPN began February 1996
Disney has aired Super Bowl XXXIV, Super Bowl XXXVI, and Super Bowl XL.
Texans-Ravens to Potentially Best All Early Divisional Playoff Games Dating Back to 2015
Looking across all networks, with its current viewership (31.8 million), ESPN’s game already surpasses every Divisional Saturday early game window (4:30 p.m.) dating back to 2015, except last season’s (Jaguars-Chiefs, 32.3 million). ESPN could surpass that viewership as well, needing only to boost its audience by 2% (500,000 viewers).
Playoff Success Cements Record Year for ESPN
ESPN’s record-breaking playoff viewership follows a history-making fall for Monday Night Football viewership. The 2023 Monday Night Football season is the franchise’s most watched since the 2000 NFL season, with viewership surpassing each of the previous 18 seasons in the ESPN era (2006 – present) and the five seasons leading into that era when MNF aired singularly on ABC. The franchise was up 29% year-over-year.
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