Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Ratings Roundup: Tampa Bay Bucs Defeat at SoFi Stadium Creates Most-Watched NFL Game in Week 3; 2021 WNBA Season Grabs Highest Viewership Since 2008

01/10/2021

Ratings Roundup: Tampa Bay Bucs Defeat at SoFi Stadium Creates Most-Watched NFL Game in Week 3; 2021 WNBA Season Grabs Highest Viewership Since 2008 By SVG Staff

Friday, October 1, 2021 - 7:00 am

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

Ratings roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week's edition, America's Game of the Week on Fox leads the pack with most-watched game of the week, the Shamrock Series between Notre Dame and Wisconsin at Chicago's Soldier Field won the day in college football, the 2021 WNBA season is the most-watched since 2008, and more.

America's Game of the Week on Fox Leads the Pack as Most-Watched Game of the Week America's Game of the Week between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Los Angeles Rams was the most-watched telecast of the week on any network with 22,604,000 viewers. This also was Fox's most-watched telecast since the NFC Championship in January.

Overall, the Week 3 slate drew 12,626,000 viewers, up 8% over last season's comparable window (11,957,000)

On digital, America's Game of the Week drew an AMA of 513,811 across Fox, NFL, and Yahoo! Sports properties (426,941 AMA), the most-streamed AGOTW this season. In addition, Fox NFL streaming is off to its second-best start ever with an AMA of 436,000 through three weeks. (Twitter)

Packers-49ers Thriller Is Most-Watched Week 3 Sunday Night Football Since 2015 The Green Bay Packers' last-second 30-28 victory over the San Francisco 49ers last night on NBC and Peacock - which featured three scoring plays in the last two minutes and 39 seconds, including the Aaron Rodgers-led drive to the game-winning field goal as time expired - is the most-watched Week 3 NBC Sunday Night Football game since NBC Sports' record-setting 2015 season, based on preliminary data.

Packers-49ers registered a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) average of approximately 21.1 million viewers across NBC TV, Peacock, NBC Sports Digital, and NFL Digital platforms - marking the largest Week 3 NBC SNF audience since Peyton Manning and the Broncos visited the Lions in 2015 (22.2 million TAD viewers) and up 14% from last year's Week 3 SNF game (18.5 million TAD for Packers-Saints, 9/27/20).

For the first time since 2016, NBC Sports has presented an NFL game averaging 20 million viewers in each of the season's first three weeks.

NBC's TV coverage (8:23 p.m.-11:31 p.m. ET) averaged approximately 20.2 million viewers, with a national TV household rating of 10.8/26 - up 8% from last year (10.0/22).

The Average Minute Audience (AMA) for last night's live stream via Peacock, NBC Sports Digital platforms, NFL Digital platforms, Packers and 49ers mobile properties, and Yahoo Sports mobile properties was approximately 910,000 viewers - up 52% from last year's game (600,000).

Top metered markets included Milwaukee (41.8/68), Sacramento (23.9/47), San Francisco (22.8/50), Minneapolis (16.6/34), Denver (16.2/34), Memphis (16.1/28), San Diego (15.5/32), Cleveland and Las Vegas (15.3/30), and Baltimore (14.6/29) (NBC Sports)

ESPN's Monday Night Football Delivers Franchise's Most-Watched Week 3 Game Since 2012 with 14.9 Million Viewers ESPN's presentation of the Monday Night Football matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys (September 27, 8 p.m. ET) delivered an audience of 14,904,000 viewers (ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes), the franchise's most-watched Week 3 presentation since 2012. The viewership is slightly up from the highly anticipated Kansas City-Baltimore showdown in 2020's Week 3 and up 40% from 2019's Week 3 game (Chicago at Washington).

Additionally, the Eagles-Cowboys viewership continued a viewership trend, as ESPN also notched its most-watched Week 1 game since 2013 and its second most-watched Week 2 game since 2014 to go along with the aforementioned most-watched Week 3 game since 2012.

Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli (ESPN2) delivered an audience of 1.9 million viewers, the game presentation's third straight week of viewership growth (1,899,000 viewers compare to 1,856,000 viewers in Week 2). The show's two most recent episodes now represent ESPN's most-watched alternate telecasts since the concept was largely adopted in 2014 (more than 30 presentations). The Super Bowl-winning brothers will return for Weeks 7 and 8 of Monday Night Football.

Viewership reported by Nielsen for ESPN and ESPN2 includes streaming audience across ESPN, NFL, and Yahoo Sports properties.

Through three weeks, ESPN's Monday Night Football is averaging 14.7 million viewers (three games), up 23% from 2019 (four games) and 17% from 2020 (four games).

Additional Monday Night Football Highlights:

Monday Night Football was the most-watched telecast of the night among households, viewers, and all keys demos: Men 18-34, 18-49, 25-54 and 55 , as well as persons 18-34, 18-49, and 25-54 on ESPN.

Monday Night Football also helped ESPN become the most-watched network (broadcast and cable) in primetime among households, viewers and the same key male and people demos, including P55 (ESPN)

Panthers-Texans Is Most-Watched NFL Network Exclusive Thursday Night Football Game Since 2018 Total viewership for last night's Thursday Night Football game featuring the Carolina Panthers' 24-9 win over the Houston Texans was 7.9 million viewers (TV Digital) - slightly surpassing last week's New York Giants vs. Washington Football Team game to make it NFL Network's most-watched exclusive Thursday Night Football game since 2018 (New York Jets vs. Cleveland Browns, 2018 Week 3).

The 7.9 million viewers for Panthers-Texans on TV and Digital is up 35% versus last year's Week 3 Thursday Night Football matchup between the Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jag
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2021/10/01/ratings-roundup-tampa-bay-bucs-...
See more stories from svg

More from Sports Video Group

29/04/2026

Churchill Downs Racetrack Lifts Curtain on New Big Board Ahead of Kentucky Derby Week

It was a delicate job in a 150-year-old venue laden with traditions. Begun at th...

29/04/2026

How the MLS Innovation Lab Enhances Everything From Athlete Performance to Production to Ticket Sales

In annual event, the league gives startup companies the opportunity to prove the...

29/04/2026

Save the Date: SVG Venues & Teams Summit Travels South to Miamis Kaseya Center on Aug. 12

Panel discussions, networking, and a facility tour will take place in the renova...

28/04/2026

Sound for the NFL Draft Show Balances Often Conflicting Goals

The audio team for the entertainment event must blend speech intelligibility with full-range music reproduction while considering the broadcast Last week's...

28/04/2026

Pac-12 Releases New Primary Mark Ahead of 2026-27 Season

The Pac-12 Conference has released an updated primary mark and logo as the starting point of the new league's brand identity. The mark was soft-launched acr...

28/04/2026

DP World Tour to Become First Professional Sports Organization to Use Amazon Leo Satellite Connectivity

The DP World Tour and Amazon Leo have signed an agreement making Amazon's lo...

28/04/2026

Pixellot and HELIOS Announce Automated Hockey Shift Video Integration

Pixellot and HELIOS have announced an integration that automatically converts full-game hockey video into individualized shift videos for each athlete, without ...

28/04/2026

Daktronics Installs New LED Video Display at Asheville Tourists Ballpark

Daktronics has partnered with the Asheville Tourists to manufacture and install a new LED video display. The installation was completed in late 2025 and is now ...

28/04/2026

Eutelsat and PCTV Renew Long-Term Video Distribution Partnership in Mexico

Eutelsat has announced the renewal of its partnership with PCTV, a content aggregation and distribution company in Mexico and part of Megacable Holdings, for co...

28/04/2026

Gary SouthShore RailCats Install New Daktronics LED Display at U.S. Steel Yard

Daktronics has partnered with the Gary SouthShore RailCats to install a new LED video display at U.S. Steel Yard, replacing the previous Daktronics display inst...

28/04/2026

Telos Alliance and College Radio Foundation Award Omnia.11 Processor to Wright State Universitys WWSU-FM

Telos Alliance and the College Radio Foundation have announced that WWSU-FM of W...

28/04/2026

Inside the Mix: A1s Florian Brown and James Deason on Golfs Biggest Broadcasts

Golf viewership is growing. The 2025 Ryder Cup drew five million viewers in the UK, a 45% increase over the 2023 event. The US Open was the most streamed golf e...

28/04/2026

The CW Network Acquires Exclusive Broadcast Rights to WWE NXT Premium Live Events

The CW Network and WWE, part of TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO), have announced t...

28/04/2026

NAB 2026: AIMS Wins NAB Show 2026 Product of the Year Award for IPMX

The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) has announced that the Internet Protocol Media Experience (IPMX) suite of standards and specifications has been named...

28/04/2026

NAB 2026 SportsTechBuzz in Review: A Look Back at the Big News From 150+ Companies in Vegas

The 2026 NAB Show is in the books and the show once again served up a cavalcade ...

28/04/2026

Gray Media, RAJ Sports Launch New Womens Sports RSN in Portland - Rose City SportsNet

Gray Media and RAJ Sports have announced Rose City SportsNet (RCSN), a new netwo...

27/04/2026

CES Power Acquires Three Ireland-Based Businesses

CES Power, a provider of infrastructure for live events, has announced the acquisition of three Ireland-based businesses: GH Energy Rental Ltd, Event Power, and...

27/04/2026

Fubo to Launch Multiview on Select LG TVs Ahead of 2026 Football Season

FuboTV Inc. has announced it is developing its Multiview feature for the Fubo streaming service on select LG TVs, including 2024, 2025, and newer 4K and 8K mode...

27/04/2026

Shade Raises $14 Million in Funding Round Led by Khosla Ventures

Shade, a file management platform for creative teams, has announced a $14 million funding round led by Khosla Ventures, Construct Capital, and Bling Capital, br...

27/04/2026

AES to Present Immersive Audio Academy 12th Edition on April 30

The Audio Engineering Society (AES) will present the Immersive Audio Academy 12th Edition - Immersive Audio in All Flavors - on April 30, 2026, at 12:00 p.m. ...

27/04/2026

DAZN Launches DAZN48 Creator Program for FIFA World Cup 2026

DAZN has announced DAZN48, a creator program for the FIFA World Cup 2026 that will recruit 48 creators - one representing each of the 48 qualified nations - to ...

27/04/2026

FloSports Acquires Streaming Rights to Four CrossFit Events

FloSports has announced exclusive streaming rights to four CrossFit competitions: Legends Del Mar: CrossFit Semi-Finals, Magic City Games, NorCal Classic, and t...

27/04/2026

NAB 2026: Telestream Pulse Named NAB Show 2026 Product of the Year for Monitoring and Measuring

Telestream has announced that Pulse, its software-defined test and measurement p...

27/04/2026

NAB 2026: Shade Wins 2026 NAB Show Product of the Year Award

Shade has announced it is a Cloud Computing and Storage winner in the 2026 NAB Show Product of the Year Awards. Winners were selected by a panel of industry exp...

27/04/2026

SVG All-Stars: Kelsey Kjeldsen, Senior Director and Video Ads Platform Lead, DTC Products, Tech, and Operations, NBA

Leading the NBA's video-ads platform, this Penn State grad is at the forefro...

27/04/2026

DAZN Extends T100 Triathlon World Tour Rights to Africa

DAZN has expanded its international broadcast rights for the T100 Triathlon World Tour to include Africa. All races from the T100 calendar will be available for...

27/04/2026

NAB 2026: NAB Show Announces 2026 Project and Product of the Year Award Winners

NAB Show has announced the recipients of its 2026 Project of the Year and Product of the Year Awards at a ceremony at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Each wi...

27/04/2026

DIRECTV Launches on Meta Quest Headsets as Sports Season Heats Up

DIRECTV has launched on Meta Quest headsets, becoming the first MVPD to offer live TV through the platform. The timing coincides with the stretch run of the MLB...

27/04/2026

TBL Team Boxing League and MSG Networks Announce Broadcast Partnership

TBL Team Boxing League has announced a broadcast agreement with MSG Networks to air all remaining Season 4 fights live across MSG's television and digital p...

27/04/2026

Audio Exhibitors Showcase New Platforms, Innovative Solutions for Complex Issues

IP integration, interoperability, growth of intercommunications were key concerns for vendors and visitors alike Attendees at the recently concluded 2026 NAB S...

27/04/2026

Behind The Mic: Kenny Beecham to Launch NBA Radio Show on SiriusXM; Mike Tomlin to Join NBC Pregame Show

Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...

27/04/2026

On the Show Floor, the Microphone Is Still the Place Where Audio Begins

A pro-audio emphasis, spectrum changes, and on-field audio mark the new products and enhancements to existing offerings Microphones remain the primary point of...

27/04/2026

NAB Show 2026 In Review: Our Complete Collection of Video Interviews with Industry Thought Leaders

The Sports Video Group team was all over the NAB Show floor out in Las Vegas las...

24/04/2026

Churchill Downs Inc. Acquires Preakness Stakes for $85 Million

Churchill Downs Inc. (CDI) has announced a definitive agreement to acquire the intellectual property of the Preakness Stakes and Black-Eyed Susan Stakes from 1/...

24/04/2026

Inter Miami CF Opens Miami Freedom Park with 26 LED Displays From Daktronics, DCL

Daktronics has partnered with DCL (Design Communications, Ltd.) to design, manuf...

24/04/2026

NAB 2026: Chyron Launches PRIME Translate for Multi-Language Live Production

Chyron has announced PRIME Translate, a workflow solution that produces live content simultaneously in multiple languages within the PRIME platform. The system ...

24/04/2026

Eutelsat Supports Co-op Cable in Launching Expanded DTH Offering Across the Caribbean

Eutelsat has announced a new partnership with Co-op Cable, introducing an expand...

24/04/2026

Pitch Dublin Deploys Panasonic Laser LCD Projectors for Indoor Golf and Hospitality Venue

Pitch Dublin, an indoor golf simulation and hospitality venue on Dawson Street i...

24/04/2026

G&D and VuWall Appoint Mirko Aubel as EVP Sales EMEA/APAC, Eric Hnique as Chief Revenue Officer

G&D and VuWall have announced two senior leadership appointments, effective Apri...

24/04/2026

Victory+ Becomes Exclusive Local Streaming Home for Minnesota Lynx

Victory , the free sports streaming service from A Parent Media Co. Inc. (APMC), has announced a multi-year agreement to become the exclusive local streaming ho...

24/04/2026

SVG Students To Watch: Jason Weitz, University of South Florida

The former business major from Massachusetts has found his home in graphics and bug operation while contributing to live ESPN productions In the live-sports-vi...

24/04/2026

MASN and Spectrum Announce Multiyear Carriage Agreement

The Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) and Spectrum have announced a multiyear carriage agreement making MASN available to Spectrum customers in areas of southe...

24/04/2026

Case Study: 4Wall Entertainment Powers 2026 NFL Draft on NETGEAR AV Line Network

The NFL Draft is rebuilt from the ground up in a new city every year. The three-day fan festival is expected to draw 500,000 or more attendees, with millions fo...

24/04/2026

Diversified Continues Live Sports Expansion, Supports Mobile TV Group Ops Center Buildout

Diversified has continued expansion of its sports and media capabilities to supp...

24/04/2026

NAB Show 2026 Is In The Books! Our Coverage Continues at SVG's SportsTech@NABShow Blog

NAB reports that the 2026 NAB Show wrapped with more than 58,000 registered atte...

24/04/2026

NAB 2026: Clear-Com Announces Updates to Arcadia Central Station and Eclipse HX with New ARC Architecture

Clear-Com has announced significant updates to its Arcadia Central Station and E...

24/04/2026

NAB Reports 58,000+ Registered Attendees at 2026 NAB Show, Up From 2025 but Down From 2024

NAB reports that the 2026 NAB Show wrapped with more than 58,000 registered atte...

24/04/2026

Ratings Roundup: NHL Sees Best Regular Season Average Since 2013; CBS Sports Secures Most Watched Final Round Masters

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...

24/04/2026

Bleacher Reports Live NFL Draft Stream Builds on Record-Breaking Audience With Player-Driven, Interactive Production

B/R NFL Draft Live' refines the digital giant's productions around footb...

24/04/2026

Sportradar Report: The Viewing Experience Is the Product' as Sports Media Enters New Era of Personalization, Data-Driven Storytelling

Study highlights five pillars shaping modern fan engagement as broadcasters reth...