A move from Sunday to Thursday night sank the NFL’s unofficial season debut.
The Cowboys-Cardinals NFL Hall of Fame Game earned a 5.0 final rating and 8.2 million viewers on NBC Thursday night, down 24% in ratings and 23% in viewership from Vikings-Steelers two years ago (6.6, 11.0M). Last year’s Hall of Fame Game was cancelled due to field conditions.
Including the streaming audience on NBC Sports and the NFL’s digital platforms, the game had 8.3 million.
The Cowboys’ win ranks as the lowest rated and least-watched Hall of Fame Game since Saints-Cardinals in 2012, which aired on NFL Network (1.2, 2.0M). Excluding games on cable, it was the lowest rated and least-watched since Titans-Bills in 2009 (4.9, 7.9M).
The last time the Hall of Fame Game took place on a weeknight — 2005 as part of ABC’s Monday Night Football package — Bears-Dolphins had a 6.2 and 9.1 million.
Declines were even steeper in young adult demos, with ratings down 31% in adults 18-49 (from 3.6 to 2.5) and 37% in adults 18-34 (from 2.9 to 1.8).
Though low for the Hall of Fame Game, Cowboys-Cardinals delivered the largest weeknight preseason audience since Eagles-Steelers on FOX in 2011 (8.6M). No other weeknight preseason game has had as large an audience in at least a decade.
It also ranks as the highest rated sporting event since the NBA Finals in adults 18-49, edging the MLB All-Star Game (2.3). It tied the MLB ASG in adults 18-34 and trailed the “Midsummer Classic” in viewership (9.3M).
Dallas-Ft. Worth led all markets Thursday night with a 13.9 rating, followed by San Antonio (13.5). Albuquerque, N.M. was the top neutral market at an 11.9, with Phoenix (11.2) and New Orleans (10.9) rounding out the top five.
[Numbers from NBC Sports, Programming Insider 8.4, ShowBuzz Daily 8.4]
