NFL Wednesday Opener Draws Lowest Audience Since 2022
6 sourcesUpdated Sep 15, 2026
The NFL’s Wednesday night season opener between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots averaged 25.1 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, down about 11% from last year’s Cowboys-Eagles opener and the league’s lowest opening-game audience since 2022. The result came despite the matchup being a rematch of Super Bowl LX, which Seattle won 13-10, and renewed questions about whether a nontraditional Wednesday slot and less star-powered teams can attract broad audiences. The game still performed strongly among adults ages 18-49, producing the best demographic audience for an NFL opener since 2021 and extending the league’s run of opening games surpassing 25 million viewers to four years. The NFL’s broader experiment with unusual broadcast windows continued Thursday, when the 49ers-Rams game in Australia averaged 18.5 million viewers on Netflix and became the most-watched NFL game ever in Australia.
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“NFL ratings take stunning hit for season opener”A Seahawks-Patriots rematch was never going to pull strong ratings no matter the day.
The Wednesday slot killed the numbers since most people can't stay up late on a work night.
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