Thursday night’s thriller between the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs drew a record number of viewers for an NFL kickoff game.
According to NBC Sports, the Chiefs’ 27-20 victory had an average audience of 28.9 million across NBC and Peacock, surpassing the 27.6 million who watched the New England Patriots defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the network’s 2015 opener.
The numbers were 5 percent higher than last season’s opener when the Detroit Lions beat the Chiefs, 21-20.
The Ravens-Chiefs audience, which no doubt included a number of Taylor Swift fans, peaked at 33 million viewers in the second quarter.
The start of Thursday’s game at Arrowhead Stadium was delayed by 20 minutes due to the weather, but it did not appear to affect the numbers.
Kansas City and Baltimore were the top two markets for the game, which the Ravens lost by a toe when tight end Isaiah Likely was ruled out of bounds and his apparent touchdown catch on the final play was overturned.
–Field Level Media