NFL's massive ratings weather election season

The NFL's television ratings remained strong in the wake of the recent election season.

An average of 17.5 million viewers have tuned in to an NFL game this season, which does not count international games carried by NFL Network or other exclusive broadcasts streamed on ESPN+ and Peacock. The league reported it is the highest average viewership through Week 11 since the 2015 season.

The increased ratings come after speculation that viewership might decline during the election season. That's what happened in 2016, when the ratings dipped 8 percent from the previous year, according to Front Office Sports. Viewership also fell across multiple sports leagues during the COVID-impacted 2020 election season.

That changed this year, as ratings remained steady around the election window.

Late Sunday afternoon games aired on CBS and Fox, along with primetime games shown on Amazon Prime Video, NBC and ESPN, averaged 18.48 million viewers in the two weeks before the Nov. 5 election, according to Nielsen data. That average fell slightly to 18.18 million viewers in the two weeks after Election Day.

Week 11 featured the NFL's top-rated game so far this season, with the Buffalo Bills' 30-21 win over Kansas City, the Chiefs' first defeat of the year, drawing 31.2 million viewers.

The two-time defending champion Chiefs have now played in four of the five most-watched games this season:

--Chiefs vs. Bills, Week 11: 31.2 million viewers

--Ravens vs. Chiefs, Week 1: 28 million

--Bengals vs. Chiefs, Week 2: 27.9 million

--Ravens vs. Cowboys, Week 3: 27.3 million

--Chiefs vs. 49ers, Week 7: 27.1 million

The NFL also drew its largest Week 11 "Monday Night Football" TV audience since 2006, as 17 million viewers tuned in for the Houston Texans' 34-10 win over the Dallas Cowboys.

--Field Level Media