Chiefs-Ravens opener draws top Thursday opener rating

The dramatic first game of the NFL season between the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens drew record viewership numbers for a Thursday opener.

An average of 28.9 million people watched the game, which the host Chiefs won 27-20 when an apparent last-second Ravens touchdown was overturned on a video review.

The NFL first started Thursday openers in 2002. The previous high rating for one of those contests was 27.6 million in 2015, when the New England Patriots opposed the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Last year's Thursday opener, in which the Detroit Lions upset the Chiefs, was seen by 27.5 million.

The total from the Chiefs-Ravens game included 24.3 million watching on NBC plus 4.6 million viewers on Peacock plus NFL and NBC streaming options.

Viewership reached its high point in the second quarter at 33 million, around 9:30-9:45 p.m. ET. The game didn't end until nearly midnight ET due in part to a pregame weather delay.

According to NBC, among the 44 markets whose ratings were available, the biggest markets for the game were Kansas City (43.4 rating, 80 share), Baltimore (24.5, 60), Denver (18.0, 50), St. Louis (17.0, 46) and Norfolk, Va. (16.9, 49). The rating is the percent of all televisions in the market watching, while the share is the percent of television in use at the time that were watching.

--Field Level Media