Take one part Patrick Mahomes, one part Josh Allen, add the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs, the 8-2 Buffalo Bills, and the additional star power of a Hall of Fame-to-be tight end whose fame has grown significantly thanks to his association with the most famous pop star on the planet, and finally, air the game in the most-watched broadcast window on television (Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET) with 100 percent of the network’s affiliate markets having access to it, and what do you get?
The most-watched NFL regular season game of 2024.
Buffalo’s 30-21 win over the previously undefeated Chiefs game averaged a whopping 31.2 million viewers for CBS, per the NFL. That tops the previous high for the season — Kansas City’s 27-20 over Baltimore for the NFL Kickoff which averaged 28.9 million viewers on NBC and Peacock. The NFL said the Bills-Chiefs game was the fourth most-watched national window on record (dating back to 1988) and ranks among the 10 most-watched NFL games on record in any window excluding Thanksgiving.
Per Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal, who first reported the viewership number: If you exclude Thanksgiving and Christmas Day games, the Bills-Chiefs was the NFL’s most-watched regular season game since CBS’ Pats-Colts Week 9 in 2007 (33.8 million).
As noted by The Athletic last May, when the NFL schedule was released, CBS Sports president David Berson said that his company wanted to maximize the big AFC brands, and the Kansas City Chiefs were a major priority. The game he wanted above all was Sunday’s epic matchup in Buffalo. The company invested resources to build momentum including sending its pregame show, The NFL Today, on the road for the first time this season.
As far as upcoming Chiefs games regarding viewership to keep an eye on as the season progresses, Kansas City will face Pittsburgh on Christmas Day in a game that will air on Netflix, the streamer’s first-ever NFL broadcast.
Required reading
- Bills hand Chiefs first loss of season as Josh Allen rushes for late TD: Key takeaways
- NFL MVP odds: Josh Allen takes over lead from Lamar Jackson
- Chiefs kicking themselves over little mistakes that cost them in a big game
(Photo: Bryan M. Bennett / Getty Images)
