30 most insane stats in the NFL so far this season
By Nick Villano
22. Most watched Week 1
21 million viewers per game
Most of the statistics you’re seeing here are impacting the game itself. However, this statistic is probably the most impactful statistic and the one Roger Goodell cares about the most. It’s all about dollars and sense regarding viewership with the NFL. They want as many eyes on the product as possible, and Week 1 showed just how much fans were missing the game.
Every Week 1 game averaged 21 million viewers. That’s not collectively. Every game had 21 million people clicked on, on average. The league was seeing some incredible games in the first week, which likely drove viewership numbers higher. This was a 12 percent rise from last year's Week 1, and the total viewership was the most we've seen since 2019.
Of course, those numbers are generally elevated in specific ways to showcase the impact of the league. Do we think 21 million people were watching Raiders vs. Chargers? Gosh, we hope now.
However, the reality is 123 million people watched at least part of one game across all the days of Week 1. That is more viewers than watched this past year’s Super Bowl, and this year’s Super Bowl broke its own viewership record. Football is as popular as ever, and fans cannot get enough of it. Somehow, we feel like this is all Taylor Swift’s fault.