NFL Ratings: TV Viewership for Monday Night Football Up By 36%

Week 3 NFL ratings saw a surprising increase, especially the Monday Night Football matchup between the Chiefs and Ravens.

Over the last couple of weeks, the NFL has had a serious problem. After they managed bring back football in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, it appeared that fans were not too enthusiastic about the new season.

The TV viewership and ratings took a serious hit. The numbers were down significantly from 2019 and previous years leading people to speculate why the games were underperforming on television.

Also read: NFL Ratings down 2020: Black Lives matter protest and and ‘kneeling’ to affect NFL Viewership

Many people, namely Donald Trump, believed it was due to the increased activism and politics involved in the sport. Others pointed to an overcrowded sports schedule, claiming that people were watching other events like the Stanley Cup or NBA playoffs.

Whatever the reason was, it looks like the narrative is beginning to change.

TV Viewership Up By 36% for Chiefs-Ravens Game

In week 1, the viewership for MNF was shocking. The Titans-Broncos game brought in just 7.7 million viewers, the lowest ever since ESPN got the rights in 2006.

However, week 3 painted a much different picture. An average 14.02 million viewers tuned into the game, and at it’s peak in the first half, there were more than 16 million people watching.

This is around a 36% increase from the same game last year. Although the 2019 matchup wasn’t the most exciting (Chicago vs. Washington), this is definitely good news for the NFL.

Monday’s game, which saw the Chiefs cruise past the Ravens in a 34-20 win, scored a 4.6 in TV ratings for ages 18-49, more than double what any other prime-time program received.

Also read: NFL Ratings Down: Donald Trump Attacks NFL for Disrespecting Flag and National Anthem

How Are NFL Ratings Doing in General?

It is beginning to look like the ratings correlate heavily with the anticipation for game, and depend less on some of the previously mentioned factors

It makes sense that more fans would decide to watch MNF this week: two exciting offenses, the defending the Super Bowl champs, and the battle between the reigning league MVP and Super Bowl MVP.

Also, there are some other promising signs for the league. CBS boasted an 8% year-on-year increase in viewership for week 3 and since the start of the season, the top 15 shows on TV have all been NFL games.