Big Turk Posted February 10 Posted February 10 (edited) The numbers for the NFL are just staggering when it comes to TV ratings. I think it's safe to say it's the national obsession, and it's only increasing year after year. In 2025, 84 of the top 100 rated TV shows were NFL games. The top 4 and 15 of the top 16 were NFL games, broken only by World Series Game 7. Eagles/Chiefs Super Bowl was #1 with 126.7 million viewers, which was then followed by 2 Bills games in 2nd and 3rd...the Bills/Chiefs AFCCG at 57.8 million and Bills/Ravens at 43.1 million. World Series Game 7 came in a distant 5th at 27 million. The Academy Awards came in at 17th followed by 8 more NFL games to make it 23 of the top 25, and 46 of the top 50. In addition to 84 NFL games appearing on the list, there were 8 college games, meaning football in total made up 92 of the top 100 watched TV shows in the US in 2025. Absolutely absurd, especially when you consider this doesn't even include anyone watching on Sunday Ticket or Red zone, which would likely add several more million to each broadcast. Edited February 10 by Big Turk 8 2 2 5 Quote
MJS Posted February 10 Posted February 10 People watch the Academy Awards? I had no idea. 6 1 5 1 Quote
Goin Breakdown Posted February 10 Posted February 10 (edited) 21 hours ago, MJS said: People watch the Academy Awards? I had no idea. Yeah man. I didn't know there were awards for police training. Ya learn something new everyday. Apparently a play on words warrants an eye roll. Ok. Guess I struck a nerve. Edited February 11 by Goin Breakdown 2 Quote
HardyBoy Posted February 10 Posted February 10 I hear ya, and I don't think you're entirely wrong by any means when it comes to tv...but gangam style currently has 5.8b views on YouTube... Live sports is absolutely one of the only draws left on TV though, of which the nfl is absolutely the main draw...but I'd be curious what a metric like total engagement hours looks like, and where tv ranks as a whole in that and the nfl looks like in terms of the overall number... I'm guessing TikTok and YouTube and such dwarfs tv 3 Quote
Breakout Squad Posted February 10 Posted February 10 40 minutes ago, Big Turk said: The numbers for the NFL are just staggering when it comes to TV ratings. I think it's safe to say it's the national obsession, and it's only increasing year after year. In 2025, 84 of the top 100 rated TV shows were NFL games. The top 4 and 15 of the top 16 were NFL games, broken only by World Series Game 7. Eagles/Chiefs Super Bowl was #1 with 126.7 million viewers, which was then followed by 2 Bills games in 2nd and 3rd...the Bills/Chiefs AFCCG at 57.8 million and Bills/Ravens at 43.1 million. World Series Game 7 came in a distant 5th at 27 million. The Academy Awards came in at 17th followed by 8 more NFL games to make it 23 of the top 25, and 46 of the top 50. In addition to 84 NFL games appearing on the list, there were 8 college games, meaning football in total made up 92 of the top 100 watched TV shows in the US in 2025. Absolutely absurd, especially when you consider this doesn't even include anyone watching on Sunday Ticket or Red zone, which would likely add several more million to each broadcast. America likes watching the BILLS 😃 Quote
Big Turk Posted February 10 Author Posted February 10 15 minutes ago, HardyBoy said: I hear ya, and I don't think you're entirely wrong by any means when it comes to tv...but gangam style currently has 5.8b views on YouTube... Live sports is absolutely one of the only draws left on TV though, of which the nfl is absolutely the main draw...but I'd be curious what a metric like total engagement hours looks like, and where tv ranks as a whole in that and the nfl looks like in terms of the overall number... I'm guessing TikTok and YouTube and such dwarfs tv Watching 5 minute Tik Tok or YouTube videos are completely different from watching 3 hour football games. 4 Quote
Chaos Posted February 10 Posted February 10 (edited) Its not really an obsession. with the ever expanding universe of viewing options, everything else gets diluted. you are mostly seeing the reflection of a hard core aging group that continues to watch football. Edited February 10 by Chaos 1 1 Quote
Big Turk Posted February 11 Author Posted February 11 2 minutes ago, Chaos said: Its not really an obsession. with the ever expanding universe of viewing options, everything else gets diluted. you are mostly seeing the reflection of a hard core aging group that continues to watch football. Oh it's absolutely an obsession. 1 Quote
Nitro Posted February 11 Posted February 11 51 minutes ago, MJS said: People watch the Academy Awards? I had no idea. Moving to YOUTube. It is that bad. Quote
TheyCallMeAndy Posted February 11 Posted February 11 It's more an addiction almost. I know some who are 'done' with NFL but continue to watch. I watch the Bills, that's it. That's just me though! To each their own. 5 Quote
Best Williams Available Posted February 11 Posted February 11 It’s a combo of being live with no interest in watching a game after it occurred, coupled with the ever-increasing availability of good TV provided by streaming outlets and not ABC/CBS/NBC/Fox. Years before many non cable tv shows probably competed with games because there were no re-runs for years after. I think this is as much a result of modern media variety and how it’s consumed as much as the NFLs popularity. Quote
Whkfc Posted February 11 Posted February 11 18 minutes ago, TheyCallMeAndy said: It's more an addiction almost. I know some who are 'done' with NFL but continue to watch. I watch the Bills, that's it. That's just me though! To each their own. Thats kinda where im at. i was kinda all in for a few years of the JA 17 experience Bills win i could watch any other game all week but hinestly the crazy hestbreaking way we lose every year has pretty much got me watching my guys amd thats it. 2 1 Quote
HardyBoy Posted February 11 Posted February 11 1 hour ago, Big Turk said: Watching 5 minute Tik Tok or YouTube videos are completely different from watching 3 hour football games. Watching 5 minute youtube videos for 3 hours is literally exactly the same thing as watching football in terms of time spent watching something Quote
Augie Posted February 11 Posted February 11 (edited) I guess I’m a contrarian. I care less about the NFL as a whole every year. It’s easy to do. I pretty much just watch the Bills now, and the Super Bowl was on in the background until the wheels fell off and I had to watch the Drake Maye meltdown. Anything deeper than 4 yards was a 50/50 ball, and that was very entertaining! . Edited February 11 by Augie 1 Quote
boyst Posted February 11 Posted February 11 16 minutes ago, HardyBoy said: Watching 5 minute youtube videos for 3 hours is literally exactly the same thing as watching football in terms of time spent watching something It doesn't provide endorphins from click after click. It's like a video game. The football game watcher just doesn't turn on a game because nothing else is on anymore. They tune in to watch football. 2 Quote
PonyBoy Posted February 11 Posted February 11 The Sunday ticket was such a thrill for me to always watch the Bills while not living there, but pretty much every game. The witching hour before they had Red zone switching back & forth. However the replays, what's a catch, control to the ground, spots, forward motion, forward progress & on & on. It just spoiled the sport for me to watch any team but the Bills. I watch a little bit of other games & the witching hour pretty much. Long story short the NFL would be dead if it was trying to retain fans like me. The week after week controversies are exhausting & uninteresting. Maybe I just got old or with age came wisdom 🤷♂️ Quote
JohnNord Posted February 11 Posted February 11 2 hours ago, Big Turk said: The numbers for the NFL are just staggering when it comes to TV ratings. I think it's safe to say it's the national obsession, and it's only increasing year after year. In 2025, 84 of the top 100 rated TV shows were NFL games. The top 4 and 15 of the top 16 were NFL games, broken only by World Series Game 7. Eagles/Chiefs Super Bowl was #1 with 126.7 million viewers, which was then followed by 2 Bills games in 2nd and 3rd...the Bills/Chiefs AFCCG at 57.8 million and Bills/Ravens at 43.1 million. World Series Game 7 came in a distant 5th at 27 million. The Academy Awards came in at 17th followed by 8 more NFL games to make it 23 of the top 25, and 46 of the top 50. In addition to 84 NFL games appearing on the list, there were 8 college games, meaning football in total made up 92 of the top 100 watched TV shows in the US in 2025. Absolutely absurd, especially when you consider this doesn't even include anyone watching on Sunday Ticket or Red zone, which would likely add several more million to each broadcast. the crazier thing is the market share inside of Buffalo/Rochester. So many are tuned to Bills games Quote
HardyBoy Posted February 11 Posted February 11 35 minutes ago, boyst said: It doesn't provide endorphins from click after click. It's like a video game. The football game watcher just doesn't turn on a game because nothing else is on anymore. They tune in to watch football. Totally agree on the people are intentionally watching football more and that nfl viewership is likely up a lot and in very significant ways. I'd just argue that it's taking from the live sports pie that is basically all that remains of a communal entertainment experience (and live events like the oscars). And in no way am I arguing that 30 second or whatever short form videos are a good thing...far far far from it...just that stuff and streaming fragmented the viewing experience...so when someone is saying the top 80 most watched things on tv were nfl games, when in the past that might have been eaten into a ton by something like Seinfeld...but not all the people watching Seinfeld in the past combined would be way more than people watching nfl games, but all those people are fragmented across short form video content and 20 different streaming platforms...that stat just doesn't necessarily mean as much as it seems on the surface, all while I fully acknowledge the nfl is growing insanely in popularity 2 1 Quote
Big Turk Posted February 11 Author Posted February 11 (edited) 1 hour ago, Best Williams Available said: It’s a combo of being live with no interest in watching a game after it occurred, coupled with the ever-increasing availability of good TV provided by streaming outlets and not ABC/CBS/NBC/Fox. Years before many non cable tv shows probably competed with games because there were no re-runs for years after. I think this is as much a result of modern media variety and how it’s consumed as much as the NFLs popularity. Those ratings don't even count streaming media. That would add at a least a few million to each broadcast if they were counted, pushing the numbers even higher than they already are. Edited February 11 by Big Turk Quote
WeckMonster Posted February 11 Posted February 11 Gambling is a massive factor in the NFL’s popularity. It’s the easiest, most engaging sport to gamble on. Fantasy is such a part of the culture that I bet half of middle school boys are in a league. As gambling has become more legal and more prevalent, the NFL grows. There’s no other explanation for death of the monoculture, even within live sports (rise of Premier League, WNBA, UFC, etc) yet the NFL only grows in viewership. 1 1 Quote
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