NFL Opening Night Ratings Hold Their Own Despite Buffalo Bills Blowout Of L.A. Rams

Bruce Haring
·1 min read
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People are obviously ready for some football, as even a noncompetitive Thursday night NFL game managed to hold an impressive audience size.

Surprisingly, it was a blowout start to the NFL’s 2022 season, as the defending champion Los Angeles Rams fell hard to the Buffalo Bills, 31-10. Bills quarterback Josh Allen had a huge game, making a statement to the rest of the league that any championship aspirations must go through Buffalo.

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Perhaps a bigger surprise was that the preliminary Nielsen ratings for the game held up nicely compared to last year. More than 21 million viewers watched across NBC, Peacock, and the NFL Digital properties, the fourth consecutive year topping that overall viewership number. Final numbers will be in on Monday.

While past opening nights had their various headwinds, this year’s game came as major breaking news on Queen Elizabeth and the lopsided contest itself offered hurdles to total viewership.

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