TV Ratings: Cowboys-Chiefs Most Watched In NFL History

The Dallas Cowboys' dramatic 31-28 upset over the Kansas City Chiefs on Thanksgiving Day, November 27, 2025, drew a record-shattering 57.23 million viewers on CBS and Paramount+, marking the most-watched regular-season NFL game in history and eclipsing the previous mark by 36%, per official Nielsen data released Wednesday. 

The late-afternoon matchup at AT&T Stadium peaked at 61.36 million viewers in its final quarter-hour, fueled by a star-studded clash featuring Patrick Mahomes, Dak Prescott, and Travis Kelce amid family holiday gatherings, outpacing even the 2024 AFC Championship's 57.4 million and ranking as the third-largest TV audience of the year behind only the Super Bowl. 

Fox's early game between the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions averaged 47.7 million viewers—a 28% jump from 2024's Bears-Lions telecast and the second-highest regular-season figure ever—while NBC's primetime Bengals-Ravens blowout pulled in 28.4 million across NBC, Peacock, and Telemundo, setting a new holiday nightcap benchmark up 7% year-over-year.

The tripleheader's collective haul of 44.7 million average viewers across all platforms represented a 30% surge from 2024's Thanksgiving slate, underscoring the NFL's ironclad grip on the holiday amid Nielsen's enhanced big-data measurement that captures streaming, smart TVs, and nationwide out-of-home viewing for the first time. 

CBS Sports president David Berson hailed the "perfect recipe" of Cowboys-Chiefs branding and turkey-day timing, with the game up 47% from last year's Giants-Cowboys in the same slot (38.84 million); Fox credited an earlier 1 p.m. ET kickoff for boosting Packers-Lions accessibility, peaking at 57.96 million, while NBC's Joe Burrow-fueled Bengals win (32-14) benefited from divisional stakes and an alternate Madden NFL Cast stream. 

Analysts note the matchup's pre-game hype—Dallas riding a comeback high over Philadelphia, Kansas City clinging to playoff hopes—drove casual tune-ins, amplified by social media buzz around Kelce and Taylor Swift sightings.

Historically, Thanksgiving has been a ratings goldmine for the NFL, with four of the top five regular-season audiences now Dallas afternoon games, dating back to the 1990s; the prior CBS peak was 41.76 million for 2023's Commanders-Cowboys, but 2025's figures reflect broader trends like cord-cutting offsets via Peacock and Paramount+ integration. 

The full slate's success, including post-game boosts like Fox's record 5.49 million for Michigan State-North Carolina basketball, signals sustained league dominance despite a fragmented media landscape—NFL viewership is up league-wide in 2025 under the new metrics. As the season barrels toward playoffs, these numbers affirm Thanksgiving football's cultural staple status, with next week's Black Friday Eagles-Bears on Amazon primed to extend the momentum.