ESPN’s Monday Night Football season opener between the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs delivered an audience of 23.2 million viewers across ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and NFL+, becoming the most-watched Week 1 game in ESPN’s Monday Night Football era (2006-present, 36 games).
Among all ESPN Monday Night Football games, the marquee AFC West showdown ranked as the third-most-watched Monday Night Football telecast of ESPN’s era (2006-present; 362 games) and the most-watched MNF game since 2023. Only two telecasts have drawn larger audiences during that span: the 2023 Super Bowl rematch between the Eagles and Chiefs and the 2023 Christmas-night matchup between the Ravens and 49ers.
The audience was up 5% from last season’s Week 1 Vikings-Bears matchup, continuing the strong momentum of ESPN’s signature NFL franchise.
Meanwhile, it has been learned that 19.5 million was the per-game audience average for the NFL's first weekend. That's down 13% from 2025’s opening week and down 9% from 2024.
Despite the dip, it is still the third-most-watched opening week for the NFL in the last 10 seasons, trailing only the last two years. The NFL remains by far the most-watched programming in all of U.S. television, and even with the most recent declines, the league claimed eight of the top 10 viewership figures for the week.
Despite the dip, it is still the third-most-watched opening week for the NFL in the last 10 seasons, trailing only the last two years. The NFL remains by far the most-watched programming in all of U.S. television, and even with the most recent declines, the league claimed eight of the top 10 viewership figures for the week.