How good were the TV ratings for Dallas Cowboys opener against Tampa Bay Buccaneers?
The Dallas Cowboys season-opening game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is the most-watched NFL opener in six years.
The Cowboys 31-29 loss to the defending Super Bowl champions at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., received an average of approximately 26 million viewers across NBC TV, Peacock (online streaming service), NBC Sports Digital, and NFL Digital platforms. It’s the largest audience since 2015 when the Steelers and Patriots faced off in the NFL’s season-opener on NBC. That game drew 27.4 viewers.
The preliminary data shows Thursday’s opener was up 20% from 2020’s opener pitting the Chiefs against the Texans. That drew 21.6 million.
Thursday’s game had an average pf 24.4 million views on NBC’s telecast, which makes it the most-watched television program since the Buccaneers beat the Chiefs in the Super Bowl in February.
The Average Minute Audience (AMA) for last night’s live stream on various platforms, including on Peacock, NBC Sports Digital platforms, NFL Digital platforms, Cowboys and Buccaneers mobile properties, and Yahoo Sports mobile properties, was approximately 1.6 million viewers, according to preliminary data from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics. It’s the highest ever for an NBC NFL game, not counting Super Bowls, and was up 64% from last year’s season opener.
Dallas and San Antonio were the top two metered markets for Thursday’s game, according to preliminary date. The Tampa market was third.
| 1. | Dallas | 29.1/56 |
| 2. | San Antonio | 25.5/45 |
| 3. | Tampa | 24.6/50 |
| 4. | Providence | 23.1/44 |
| 5. | Austin | 22.9/46 |
| 6. | Boston | 21.4/43 |
| 7. | Cleveland | 20.3/40 |
| 8. | Jacksonville | 20.1/38 |
| 9. | Norfolk | 19.9/39 |
| 10. | Milwaukee | 17.7/37 |
This story was originally published September 10, 2021 at 3:21 PM.
