Sports Ratings Tracker

Sunday’s Dolphins-Bears NFL preseason game averaged 2.34 million viewers on NFL Network, followed by Saints-Chargers at 2.18 million — up 60 and 6 percent respectively from last year (Broncos-Colts: 1.5M; Cowboys-Rams: 2.07M).

On Saturday, NFL Network averaged 2.1 million for Texans-Vikings, 1.81 million for Giants-Bills and 1.73 million for Jets-Packers — each up sharply from last year’s Saturday slate, which had to compete with the Olympic men’s basketball gold medal game.

Friday’s Browns-Panthers game, marking the preseason debut of Browns QB Shedeur Sanders, averaged a 1.1 rating and 2.24 million — nearly doubling Texans-Steelers last year, which again faced the Olympics.

Finally, Colts-Ravens drew a 0.9 and 1.89 million last Thursday night, which again nearly doubled last year’s equivalent game opposite the Olympics.

Thursday’s Chargers-Lions Pro Football Hall of Fame Game averaged a 3.3 rating and 6.21 million viewers on NBC — not including the Adobe Analytics-measured streaming figures NBC typically adds to its Nielsen-reported data — marking the largest audience in four years for the annual NFL preseason opener.

For more, see this article.