When the final viewership data became available for the NFL’s three Thanksgiving games this season, the numbers were so staggering that an impromptu conference call among the involved networks’ chief sports honchos was called to essentially bask in the success. I’d never realized back-slapping was possible over a phone call until then.
There was no such collective CEO celebration this week when the NFL’s final 2025 viewership numbers were released by Nielsen Media Research on Tuesday and Wednesday.
But this must be acknowledged: The viewership details are so impressive that a recurrence of giddy self-congratulations would have been warranted.