The New England Patriots-Seattle Seahawks matchup last week was the NFL’s lowest-rated opening-night game since 2022, averaging 25.1 million viewers on NBC and Peacock.
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matchup → rat → NBC
That figure represents a 12% decline from last season’s Dallas Cowboys-Philadelphia Eagles opener, which drew 28.3 million viewers on the same network.
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which → represent → network
Considering recent changes to Nielsen’s measurement system, the broader multiyear decline and the double-digit year-over-year drop are notable.
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decline → consider → year
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page → contain → partners
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News → sign → wager
This content was created by a team that works independently from the FOX newsroom.
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that → create → newsroom
The NFL and NBC will likely attribute the decline, at least in part, to the opener airing on a Wednesday for the first time.
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opener → attribute → time
Moving the game from Thursday, traditionally a stronger night for viewership, to Wednesday was likely a factor — perhaps a significant one.
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Moving → move → Wednesday
To understand why the NFL opened the season on a Wednesday, consider the league’s broader strategy.
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NFL → understand → strategy
The NFL views streaming and international games as its two biggest avenues for growth.
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NFL → view → growth
But the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 prohibits televised NFL games on most Friday nights during the high school and college football seasons.
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Act → prohibit → seasons
As a result, the league could not schedule the Los Angeles Rams-San Francisco 49ers game in Australia on Friday, as it had the previous two seasons.
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it → schedule → Friday
Instead, the game was played on Thursday, pushing the Patriots-Seahawks opener on NBC to Wednesday.
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game → play → Wednesday
The NFL will also play another Wednesday game on Netflix on the night before Thanksgiving.
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NFL → play → Thanksgiving
Nine games will be played internationally.
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games → play → ?
On one hand, the expanded schedule means more football on television.
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schedule → expand → television
On the other, it could lead to lower-quality football.
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it → lead → football
Fans saw last season how the additional windows, unusual days of the week, extensive travel, and limited rest hindered the quality of play.
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windows → see → play
Teams playing on short rest, sometimes overseas, frequently looked sloppy and unprepared.
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Teams → play → rest
The changes also diminished the games’ sense of occasion.
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changes → diminish → occasion
The Sunday slate, in particular, has become increasingly diluted by the addition of newly created national windows.
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slate → dilute → windows
It should come as no surprise that fewer people watched last Wednesday’s opener than in previous years.
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people → come → years
Working Americans faced two additional days of early wake-up calls that week.
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Americans → work → calls
Another primetime game (Rams-49ers) followed the next night.
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game → follow → ?
The game still averaged more than 25 million viewers.
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game → average → viewers
That is more than any NBA Finals game drew in June.
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game → draw → June
Still, signs of fan fatigue and frustration are growing.
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signs → grow → fatigue
We have not even discussed how expensive it is to follow the NFL across its various television networks and streaming services this season.
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it → discuss → networks
There is a reason the television networks did not cave and negotiate new rights deals with the league early, as some media analysts predicted.
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analysts → be → league
Put plainly, there is more resistance to the NFL’s insatiable appetite for growth than the league may realize.
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league → Put → growth
OutKick explained over the summer that raising the price of an inferior product is traditionally a poor strategy.
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raising → explain → product
The NFL appears to believe that standard does not apply to it.
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standard → appear → it
Based on recent viewership trends, the league is slightly overconfident.
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league → base → trends
The Aporia
