With three of the four games coming down to the final minutes, the NFL’s Wild Card Weekend was a massive draw in the overnights.
Sunday’s 49ers/Packers NFC Wild Card Game drew a 27.7 overnight rating on FOX, up 17% from Seahawks/Washington last year (23.7), up 7% from Steelers/Broncos on CBS in 2012 (25.9), and the highest overnight for an NFL Wild Card Game on any network since at least 1988.
49ers/Packers earned the highest overnight for any sporting event since last year’s Super Bowl. Excluding the Super Bowl, only one sporting event last year drew a higher overnight — the Ravens/Patriots AFC Championship Game, which earned a slightly higher 27.9.
Over on CBS, the Chargers/Bengals AFC Wild Card game earned a 20.3 overnight — up 3% from Colts/Ravens last year (19.7), and up 7% from Falcons/Giants on FOX in 2012 (18.9). The 20.3 is the highest for the early Sunday Wild Card window since 1995 (21.9).
Shifting to the Saturday games, NBC hit three-year highs for both games of its doubleheader. The primetime Saints/Eagles game drew a 20.5 overnight, up 12% from Vikings/Packers last year (18.3), up 6% from Lions/Saints in 2012 (19.3), and the highest overnight for the window since Jets/Colts in 2012 (20.8).
In the early window, Chiefs/Colts drew a 17.2 overnight — up 6% from Bengals/Texans last year (16.2), up 12% from Bengals/Texans in 2012 (15.3), and the highest overnight for the window since Saints/Seahawks in 2012 (18.3).
The Saturday games trailed only 2011 as the highest rated in their respective windows since 1999. Overall, NBC averaged an 18.7 overnight for “Wild Card Saturday” — up 9% from both last year and 2012 (17.2), and the highest average since 2011 (19.4).
(Weekend overnights from Sports Business Daily, The Futon Critic, NBC Sports Group Press Box)
