NFL's Ratings So Far Unaffected By Election Season

Historically, the viewership for NFL games declines during election years. The political news week begins on Sunday, the day most NFL games are played. By 10 am ET, the news cycle is already flooded with New York Times op-eds and soundbites from "Meet the Press." Even in America, football takes a backseat to the future of the nation. 

Yet, early signs suggest that the NFL will hold up better this season than in past presidential election cycles.

NBC started off the season with the Chiefs' last-second win over the Ravens – the "Toe Game," if you will – and saw its highest-rated kickoff game on record with 8.9 million, surpassing the 27.6 million, up 5 percent year-over-year.

Through two weeks, NBC's flagship Sunday Night Football (which also streams live on Peacock) package is averaging 24.1 million viewers, the highest since 2015.

CBS has an even better story to tell.

CBS is off to its best two-week start to an NFL season since 1998-1999, averaging 19.86 million viewers. On Sunday, the Chiefs' walk-off win (thanks to Harrison Butker) against the Bengals delivered the most-watched NFL game on CBS since 1998, with nearly 28 million viewers.

Fox is off to its best start since 2020, with an 18.68 million average. That average could push past 20 million viewers this weekend when the network airs Ravens at Cowboys at 4:25 pm. 

Tom Brady, Fox's new lead color commentator, just keeps on winning.

Kamala Harris, Patrick Mahomes, Donald Trump. (Getty Images)

On average, ESPN's Monday Night Football is hit the hardest during election years. Monday night games compete directly with primetime cable news. Hosts like Jesse Watters, Sean Hannity, and Rachel Maddow will outdraw almost every non-football program on cable this fall.

Still,