Eagles-Chiefs is most-watched game of 2023 NFL season, largest MNF draw in 27 years
The rematch of last season’s Super Bowl drew a massive audience, as 29.02 million viewers tuned in to watch the Philadelphia Eagles take down the Kansas City Chiefs on “Monday Night Football.” Here’s what you need to know:
What’s the significance of the numbers?
“Monday Night Football” play-by-play broadcaster Joe Buck said last week that the Eagles-Chiefs game was likely the biggest regular-season game he and partner Troy Aikman had been assigned in their 22 years of calling NFL games together. Buck’s bosses knew that this would be the most-watched game of the regular season on their schedule — at least based on paper — but this number exceeds everyone’s wildest expectations.
The viewership on ABC alone was 15.549 million — the game was also simulcast on ESPN (11.489 million viewers) as well as the ManningCast on ESPN2 (1.92 million viewers). Even in a declining universe of linear and cable television viewers, Eagles-Chiefs reminds people of how powerful television can be when it has a compelling NFL product that people desperately want to watch. — Richard Deitsch, sports media senior writer
(Photo: Denny Medley / USA Today)
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