Saints-Vikings ratings were incredible by just about any standard, except the NFL’s.
The Vikings’ thrilling, walk-off win had an additional streaming audience of 376,000 viewers on Fox Sports GO, the largest non-Super Bowl audience ever on the platform and a 4% increase over last year (363K). The combined TV and streaming audience of 36.0 million marks a 26% decline from Packers-Cowboys (48.9M).
The 19.3 rating is the lowest for the late Sunday Divisional Round game in 16 years, since Eagles-Giants on FOX in 2001 (18.6). With or without streaming included, viewership was the lowest in the window since Jets-Chargers in 2010 (35.62M).
Keep in mind the late Sunday Divisional game has typically featured some of the NFL’s most prominent teams. The Cowboys, Packers, Patriots or Peyton Manning’s Broncos have played in the window every year since 2010. Even with the all-time classic finish, neither the Saints nor the Vikings are in the NFL’s upper-echelon of popular teams. Not helping matters was a sluggish start that saw Minnesota lead 17-0 at halftime.
Viewership peaked with 46.1 million viewers from 8-8:15 PM ET. That compares to a peak of 62.4 million for Packers-Cowboys last year (7:45-8) and 49.1 million for Steelers-Broncos in ’16 (7:30-7:56).
Locally, Sunday’s game had a 57.3 rating in New Orleans, up 12% from the Saints’ previous Divisional Round game — a Saturday afternoon matchup with Seattle in 2014 (51.4). It had a 55.5 in Minneapolis-St. Paul, up 15% from the Vikings’ last Divisional Round game in 2010, against Dallas in the early Sunday window (48.4).
It should be noted that famine for the NFL would constitute a celebrated feast for most other sporting events. Not counting the Olympics, Saints-Vikings outdrew all-but-one non-NFL sporting event in the past 17 years — Game 7 of the 2016 World Series (40.1M).
Late Sunday Divisional Round Ratings, Viewership, Past Decade
[Numbers from Fox Sports, local numbers from Fox Sports’ Michael Mulvihill/Twitter 1.15]
