With an average of 23 million streams, Dolphins vs. Chiefs was the most streamed game in U.S. history.
These days, a greater number of Americans get their TV shows and movies online, instead of through television. The NFL knows in which the puck is going and is trying to skate there.
It does work, From 2023 to 2024, the Thursday night viewing that was only available on Amazon saw growth.
The Dolphins and Chiefs’ first-ever streamed playoff game on Saturday night was watched by 23 million people, making it the most-streamed event in U.S. history.
The old record was 15.26 million people who watched the game involving the Seahawks and the Cowboys in late November. The NFL will do better if more people watch it.
As we’ve already said, though, taking away too many important games in free, over-the-air TV will finally put the NFL’s broadcast antitrust protection at risk. Which would make the league’s plan for getting TV rights a lot harder if it went away.
Additionally, there is a mix between making more money than free TV would and having fewer viewers overall. TV shows about football are like three-hour ads for the sport.
So, the NFL would be stupid to take a lot of games away from regular TV for a number of reasons, no matter what occurs with streaming.
The fact that the test was a success means that at least a single playoff game will probably be streamed every year.
The Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs’ AFC wild-card playoff game on Peacock on Saturday night was the most-watched event in a streaming service.
Nielsen says that 23 million people watched the Chiefs’ 26-7 win in very cold weather on Peacock, NFL+, and NBC stations in Kansas City as well as Miami. Nielsen also said on Sunday night that 27.6 million people watched the whole game.
The game was the NFL’s first playoff broadcast behind a gate, and fans had to pay a Peacock fee that starts at $5.99 to watch it. Fans were very upset about this decision by the league.
Still, the average number of people easily beat the old record of 15.3 million for the Seattle Seahawks vs. Dallas Cowboys game on Amazon Prime Video on November 30.
On top of that, more people watched than the weekend’s wild-card playoff games on NBC two of the last three years.
Twenty-six million people watched the first-round playoff game involving the Los Angeles Chargers or the Jacksonville Jaguars last year. NBCUniversal bought the rights for the game for $110 million, according to different sources.
There wasn’t much of a game between the Dolphins and the Chiefs, but it was one of the coldest in NFL history, and Taylor Swift was there to support her boyfriend, Travis Kelce.
Based on how many people watched, Saturday’s game probably won’t be the last playoff game shown on a service that streams games. There are four networks that show NFL games. They are NBC, CBS, Fox, and ESPN/ABC. Each of them gets at least among wild-card game.
Hans Schroeder, the NFL’s chief executive officer for media distribution, said that the number of watchers would be one of the things that would be used to decide if wild card games would continue to be streamed only in the future.
The two games that are still left will probably be put up for sale every year. One will go back and forth between NBC, CBS, and Fox every year. In the end, that means Peacock, Paramount+, Amazon, or ESPN+ could be in the race.
The Cleveland Browns lost to the Houston Texans 45–14, and the game was seen by 29 million people on NBC, Peacock, internet media, and Telemundo.
The last wild-card game that aired late on a Saturday afternoon that was watched by 30.06 million people on Fox and online services was the one between the Seahawks or the Cowboys in 2018.
On Saturday night, NBC said that the game, which could only be seen on Peacock, had an average of 23 million people. About 27.6 million people watched it all together, and more instead of 24.6 million watched at its peak in the subsequent quarter.
Saturday was also the busiest day for Peacock in its history. It was the most devices watching at the same time, with 16.3 million. Fans in Kansas City and Miami could also watch the game for free on the respective NBC networks.
This season, NBC has started showing some games only on Peacock. However, the game in Kansas City on Saturday was the initial playoff game to only be shown on a streaming service, which is likely a big reason why it set a record.