NFL Playoff Game Outshines Iowa Caucuses And Emmy Awards In Viewership

The NFL’s Monday night playoff game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Philadelphia Eagles outperformed the Iowa caucuses and the Emmy Awards, setting a new record for viewership.

What Happened: A whopping 28.6 million viewers tuned in to watch the Buccaneers secure a 32-9 victory over the Eagles, making this match ESPN’s second most-watched NFL playoff game in history, reported HuffPost on Wednesday.

In stark contrast, the Iowa caucuses, which witnessed Former President Donald Trump’s predicted win over Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former U.N Ambassador Nikki Haley, attracted an average of 4.67 million viewers across Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN. This number is about half of the viewership seen during the 2020 election season.

The Emmy Awards viewership was even lower with an all-time low of 4.3 million viewers.

Why It Matters: The NFL has been a ratings powerhouse, with the 2023 season drawing strong viewership. Comcast Corporation, Fox Corp, Paramount Global, and Walt Disney Co., which all have rights to NFL games, have seen a surge in viewership during the playoffs. Comcast reported raking in 23 million viewers on average by streaming, making the AFC Wild Card Game one of the biggest live-streamed events in U.S. history.

Just days before the caucuses, Trump's live town hall on Fox News drew in approximately 4.4 million viewers, eclipsing the 2.6 million audience for the debate between his Republican rivals that aired on CNN. This further underscores Trump’s continued influence and visibility within the political sphere.

Image via Shutterstock

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