A Thanksgiving Day clash between the defending Super Bowl champions and ‘America’s team’ drew what may have been the largest audience for any sporting event since Super Bowl XLIV.
The Saints/Cowboys Thanksgiving Day game on FOX drew a 13.9 final rating and 31.874 million viewers on FOX, up 20% in ratings and 26% in viewership from last year’s comparable window on CBS (OAK/DAL: 11.6, 25.207 mil).
The Saints’ win ranks as the most-viewed NFL game of the season on any network, and the most-viewed sporting event overall since Super Bowl XLIV. The previous post-Super Bowl high was set by Game 7 of the NBA Finals on ABC (BOS/LAL: 28.203 mil).
Additionally, this marks the most-viewed regular season NFL telecast on any network since Patriots/Giants in December 2007, which aired on three different networks (34.5 mil).
Keep in mind this does not include Thursday’s Patriots/Lions game on CBS, which drew a higher overnight than Saints/Cowboys. Final ratings/viewership for that game were not immediately available.
