NFL Network’s Initial ESPN Preseason Ratings Rise 3%

NFL Network’s first preseason under ESPN ownership began with six national game broadcasts in Week 1 that averaged 1.93 million viewers.

Last year’s eight-game Week 1 preseason slate on NFL Network averaged 2.1 million viewers, which marked an all-time high in the channel’s final season under league ownership. That included two Sunday games; NFL Network did not air any games on Sunday last week.

Excluding the two Sunday games from last year, NFL Network’s average audience of 1.93 million viewers is up about 3% over 1.88 million viewers for the comparable six non-Sunday games in Week 1 a year ago, according to ESPN. This year’s figures are measured using Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel methodology, while last year’s preseason audiences were calculated with panel-only data.

NFL Network officially became part of ESPN on April 1 after the finalization of the deal that saw the league acquire a 10% equity stake in ESPN in exchange for Disney and ESPN acquiring NFL Network and the rights to distribute NFL RedZone. Thanks to the deal, all NFL Network preseason game broadcasts are available on the ESPN app for subscribers of ESPN Unlimited—the company’s direct-to-consumer streamer product.

Here were the average audiences for NFL Network’s six Week 1 preseason games:

• Rams-Chiefs: 2.38 million
• Packers-Steelers: 2.28 million
• Cowboys-Seahawks: 2.23 million
• Browns-Bears: 1.65 million
• Titans-49ers: 1.59 million
• Buccaneers-Jets: 1.36 million

Rams-Chiefs becomes NFL Network’s most-watched Week 1 preseason game since 2015, edging out Dolphins-Bears (2.34 million viewers) from last year.

The entire 2025 preseason averaged 2.2 million viewers per game across all networks, which was up 17% from 2024 and the best mark since 2018. NFL Network games last year averaged 1.8 million viewers—the channel’s best preseason mark on record and up by 26% from 2024.

NFL Network has seven more national game broadcasts in Week 2 of the preseason, which begins Thursday night. ESPN and Fox also have their lone preseason games this week. In Week 3, NFL Network will conclude the preseason with six games, while CBS and Amazon Prime Video each air one of their own as well.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame Game drew 7 million viewers on Aug. 6—the most-watched NFL preseason opener since 2021—as the Panthers defeated the Cardinals 33—30 in Canton, Ohio.

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