NFL games are averaging 18.3 million viewers through Week 9, the second-best midseason mark on record

NFL games are averaging 18.3 million viewers through Week 9, up 2% from the same point last season and the second-best average on record for this stage of a season. Sports Business Journal's Austin Karp and Front Office Sports both reported the figure on Thursday. The average covers games on NBC, Fox, CBS, Prime Video, Netflix, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and NFL Network.

That growth comes after the 2025 season drew the league's biggest audiences in 36 years, FOS reported, so the league was starting from a high mark.

Monday and Thursday are driving it

ESPN says Monday Night Football is averaging 19 million viewers nine weeks in, up 24% from the same point in 2025. Monday's Bills-Vikings game drew 21.7 million viewers across ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and NFL+, the most for a Week 9 Monday game since ESPN took over the package in 2006.

Amazon is averaging 17.2 million viewers for Thursday Night Football, up 13% from last season's midseason mark, according to FOS. That is also up 12% from Amazon's full-season 2025 average, which was the best since it got exclusive Thursday rights in 2022.

Sunday is flatter

On Sundays, CBS is averaging 19.5 million and is on pace for its most-watched season, FOS reported, and it has the two most-watched games of the year, both AFC West games involving the Chiefs. Fox is averaging 18.5 million and NBC's Sunday Night Football 22.5 million. Both are slightly below their 2025 full-season averages.

What's behind the weekday jump

FOS tied both gains to the schedule. ESPN got a more focused Monday slate this season after its equity deal with the NFL, and Amazon's week-to-week increases followed the better Thursday schedule it received this year. FOS also noted that the weekday numbers give the league an answer, at least in part, to growing government and regulatory pressure over its Sunday TV windows, where the number of games has stayed about flat. ESPN carries the Monday momentum into its first Super Bowl in February.

Next up are the holiday games, including a new Thanksgiving Eve game on Netflix.