NFL season opener ratings down 11% for Pats-Seahawks; Australia game draws 18.5M

Sep 9, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA;  Seattle Seahawks quarterback Drew Lock (2) runs against New England Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones (25) during the fourth quarter at Lumen Field.

Sep 9, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Drew Lock (2) runs against New England Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones (25) during the fourth quarter at Lumen Field. (Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images)


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Sep 14 (Field Level Media) - The NFL's decision ​to move its first game of the regular season up a day to Wednesday ‌did not seem to pay off in terms of television ratings.

Wednesday's ⁠Week 1 Super ​Bowl rematch between the ⁠defending-champion Seattle Seahawks and visiting New England Patriots ‌drew 25.1 ‌million viewers on NBC and Peacock.

The television ratings ⁠were down 11% from ⁠last year's opening game between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles, which was played on a Thursday night and delayed over an hour due to inclement weather. That Cowboys-Eagles game ‌was the least-viewed opening game ​of an NFL season since 2022.

The viewership numbers in the 18-49 age range were strong. This year's Patriots-Seahawks game was the most-viewed in that age group for an NFL opener since 2021, according to NBC.

The game on Thursday ​between the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles ‌Rams in Melbourne, ‌Australia ⁠averaged 18.5 million viewers on Netflix. It peaked at 21.3 million in the 9:30-9:45 p.m. ET time frame, before the 49ers separated after halftime ‌in the 27-7 ​victory.

Globally, the 49ers-Rams game drew ‌21.7 million, and ⁠was ​the most-viewed NFL game of all time in Australia.

(--Field ​Level Media)

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