If you were picking games that could set NFL TV viewership records, it probably wouldn’t have been the Houston Texans and Baltimore Ravens. But, you’d be wrong.
The Ravens 34-10 win over the Texans on Saturday was the most-watched NFL game ever aired on ESPN. The network got the rights to show NFL games in 1987.
The game drew 31.8 million viewers, according to Nielsen. The audience peaked at 36.2 million viewers in the third quarter, when the game was still close.
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NFL TV viewership up across the board for ESPN
The five most-watched NFL games on ESPN have come in the past 13 months. A big reason was Monday Night Football, which had a record audience in the 2023 season.
| Rank | Date | Game | Viewership | Type |
| 1 | Jan. 20, 2024 | Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens | 31,767,000 | Playoff |
| 2 | Jan. 16, 2023 | Dallas Cowboys at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 31,201,000 | Playoff |
| 3 | Jan. 15, 2024 | Philadelphia Eagles at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 29,132,000 | Playoff |
| 4 | Nov. 22, 2023 | Philadelphia Eagles at Kansas City Chiefs | 28,962,000 | Monday Night Football |
| 5 | Dec. 25, 2023 | Baltimore Ravens at San Francisco 49ers | 27,616,000 | Monday Night Football |
Monday Night Football viewership was the best since the 2000 NFL season, with viewership surpassing each of the previous 18 seasons in the ESPN era (2006 – present). MNF viewership was up 29% year-over-year.
Related: 49ers win over Packers set viewership records for Fox TV