The Kansas City Chiefs came up just short on the scoreboard last week, but despite the result, Kansas City still managed to make some history in terms of viewership.
In fact, while Thanksgiving games always draw sizeable audiences, no regular-season contest has ever captured quite the attention of last week's matchup against the Dallas Cowboys.
Nearly 60 million people – 57.2 million, to be exact – tuned into the game on CBS, breaking the all-time regular-season record by a wide margin. That figure surpassed the previous mark, which was set in 2022, by more than 15 million viewers.
"It's the biggest brands that the league has right now with the Chiefs and the Cowboys," said David Berson, President and Chief Executive Officer at CBS Sports. "It was the perfect recipe for record-breaking viewership."
The matchup marked the fourth-straight game for Kansas City that was aired in CBS' national broadcast window, continuing what has been CBS' top season in terms of ratings since the NFL returned to the network in 1998. The Chiefs have played a big part in those numbers, and Thursday's figure exists as yet another example of the nation's interest in Kansas City's brand.
"This was on par with a conference championship game," said Hans Schroeder, Executive Vice President of Media Distribution at the NFL. "You can pull the numbers a lot of different ways, but the Chiefs are just an incredible, national draw for us."
Indeed, Thursday's viewership figures were comparable with some of the most-watched games in NFL postseason history, many of which also share the Chiefs as a common denominator.
Specifically, the Chiefs now own the distinction of playing in the most-viewed regular-season game (57.2 million), Divisional Round playoff game (2023 vs. Bills, 50.4 million), AFC Championship Game (2024 vs. Bills, 57.7 million) and Super Bowl (LIX vs. Eagles, 191.1 million) in NFL history.
Additionally, those recent Divisional Round, AFC Championship Game and Super Bowl figures all broke the records that were also previously held by Kansas City.
"This run with [quarterback Patrick] Mahomes and [Head Coach Andy] Reid has been phenomenal, and as we've seen in our sport, we can have national brands in any market," Schroeder said. "The Cowboys have historically been called 'America's Team,' but the Chiefs have played themselves into the conversation with the success that they've had."
That reality has made the Chiefs one of the most desirable brands in all of sports, and it's reflected in the annual distribution of games among the networks.
"There's tremendous excitement across our partners about the Chiefs, and we try to make sure that all of them get a Chiefs game," Schroeder said. "That's why they're playing on Amazon, on Christmas, on Sunday night and Monday night. They're a huge draw, and you see that with our partners' requests."
The Chiefs will continue that tour of the networks on Sunday night with a prime-time clash against the Houston Texans on NBC, and as Kansas City aims to get its season back on track, one thing is certain: the nation will be watching.
"We're excited," said Rick Cordella, President of NBC Sports. "We're happy to have the record-breaking Kansas City Chiefs next week."
