Despite a 40-minute weather delay and the presence of the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game held up reasonably well in the ratings.
Thursday’s Jaguars-Raiders Hall of Fame Game averaged a 3.1 rating and 5.48 million viewers on NBC (5.7M including additional streaming viewership not tracked by Nielsen), marking the lowest rated and second-least watched edition of the game in the past decade. Only Broncos-Falcons in 2019 averaged fewer viewers over that span (5.33M).
Ratings and viewership fell well short of last year’s Steelers-Cowboys Hall of Fame Game on FOX, which averaged a 4.0 rating and north of seven million viewers despite facing the Summer Olympics.
As is usually the case, weak numbers for the NFL still outpace the rest of television. The Hall of Fame Game was Thursday’s top program in viewership and all of the key adult demographics (1.4 in 18-49, 0.9 in 18-34, 1.8 in 25-54). In the demos, it was NBC’s top program in three months — since the Kentucky Derby — topping even the series finale of the network’s much-hyped “This is Us” (0.95, 0.48, 1.4) in mid-May. (In viewership, it was only the network’s top program in 48 hours — since “America’s Got Talent” on Tuesday.)
Compared to other sporting events, the Hall of Fame Game ranks as only the most-watched sportscast in two weeks — since the MLB All-Star Game on FOX (4.2, 7.51M).
The start of the game was delayed 40 minutes by a weather delay. The delay averaged a 2.4 and 4.16 million viewers, Thursday’s most-watched program outside of the game itself.
(Nielsen estimates from Programming Insider 8.5)
