Big numbers from week 1 set the pace, even if headwinds threaten in the elections

In clear evidence of the enduring impact of live sports on ratings, the NFL has pulled in huge numbers in its return to American televisions, mobile phones and other screens. A new season, a new high-profile analyst and a new night have combined to set ratings records across the league.

The 2024 NFL season began Thursday night with the traditional Ravens-Chiefs kickoff game on NBC, which drew 29.2 million viewers. That's the largest NFL kickoff audience ever and NBC's second-largest regular season audience, behind the Washington-Dallas game in Week 17 in 2012, which drew 30.3 million viewers.

In a rare Friday night game, NBC's streaming channel Peacock averaged 14.0 million viewers for the Eagles-Packers game from Brazil. That's the second-largest audience ever to watch a live event on Peacock, behind last season's AFC wild-card game. The number was nearly double for the Bills-Chargers game last December, which drew 7.3 million viewers.

Tom Brady's debut on Fox drew a massive number of viewers: 23.8 million, a 46 percent increase over the comparable game last year. It's worth noting, however, that CBS did not broadcast a national game in the comparable time slot this year. CBS' “singleheader” – the only game broadcast on Sunday, which varied by region – drew an average of 17.8 million viewers, up 28 percent from the same time slot last year.

On Sunday night, NBC averaged 22.7 million viewers for the Lions' overtime win over the Rams, up slightly from the 22.0 million viewers for last year's Cowboys-Giants game.

As a reminder, ratings in and of themselves need not worry viewers; we are long past the point of using ratings to support political or social justice arguments. However, the fact that ratings outside of the traditional Sunday-Monday evening schedule – and, more importantly, ratings on streaming and subscription channels – remain high, will have an impact on fans. When the NFL and its broadcast partners realize that fans watch the games wherever they are televised, the games will spread even further across the broadcast spectrum.

There's little reason to worry about the sustainability of those ratings. The NFL has built an effective machine with a roster of stars and stories spread across the country and both conferences. Aside from the Kansas City Chiefs' connection to Taylor Swift, no team is dependent on an outside source for interest — and the Chiefs, two-time Super Bowl champions, can generate plenty of interest even without the Swiftie faction.

The presidential election could pose a challenge to the League's membership numbers, especially if competition boils over – as expected – before and after the usual election date, the first Tuesday in November.