The NFL crossed the rare 50 million viewer threshold for the latest chapter of the Chiefs-Bills rivalry.
Sunday’s Chiefs-Bills AFC Divisional Round playoff game averaged a 24.2 rating and 50.39 million viewers on CBS, marking the largest NFL audience on record outside of the Super Bowl and conference championship games. The previous mark was 48.52 million for a Packers-Cowboys Divisional Round game on FOX in 2017.
Keep in mind that out-of-home viewing was not included in Nielsen final nationals prior to 2020 (or measured at all prior to 2016), meaning that any number of games from past playoffs would likely have done better all things being equal. Per a source, the 2017 Packers-Cowboys game would have averaged 54.17 million including out-of-home (which was being tracked at the time, but not included in the final nationals).
The Chiefs’ win, which peaked with 56.25 million viewers, also ranks as the highest rated NFL game — again excluding the Super Bowl and conference title games — since the aforementioned Packers-Cowboys game (26.1). Out-of-home viewing is by definition not included in the household rating
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