Ratings Roundup: Cowboys-Commanders Leads NFL Week 2 With 27.2 Million, College GameDay Posts Best Week 3 Ever

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week’s edition, the NFL claims the top six spots in Nielsen’s Top 25 Live Sports Events Telecasts, led by 27.2 million viewers for Cowboys-Commanders on FOX’s America’s Game of the Week; NBC’s Colts-Chiefs overtime thriller is the most-watched Week 2 Sunday Night Football game since 2015; Giants-Rams becomes ESPN’s most-watched Week 2 Monday Night Football game ever; the NFL on CBS posts its best Week 2 singleheader on record; Prime Video opens its fifth Thursday Night Football season with 18.6 million; College GameDay delivers its most-watched Week 3 episode ever; ESPN posts its most-watched WNBA regular season ever; and the PLL Championship sets a league record on ABC.

Nielsen’s Top 25 Live Sports Events Telecasts for the week of Sept. 14-20 featured a mix of NFL, college football, MLB, WNBA, PBR and NASCAR. FOX’s NFL coverage in the 4:25 p.m. ET window ranked as the week’s most-watched live sports event, delivering 27.2 million viewers on Sunday, Sept. 20. NBC’s Chiefs-Colts telecast placed No. 2 with 24.3 million viewers the same night, and NBC is pacing up 8% over last season through the first two weeks. The NFL swept the top six spots, each topping 13 million viewers: Broncos-Chiefs on ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 at No. 3, CBS’s 1 p.m. regional window at No. 4, Lions-Bills on Prime Video at No. 5 and FOX’s 1 p.m. regional window at No. 6.

ABC’s coverage of LSU-Mississippi ranked No. 7 with 11 million viewers on Saturday, Sept. 19, leading 15 college football spots in the ranker. The rest: Florida State-Alabama on ABC (No. 8), Kentucky-Texas A&M on ABC (No. 9), Georgia-Arkansas on ABC (No. 10), North Carolina-Clemson on ESPN (No. 11), Michigan State-Notre Dame on NBC (No. 12), Kentucky-Texas A&M on ESPN (No. 13), Houston-Texas Tech on FOX (No. 14), Kent State-Ohio State on FOX (No. 15), Miami-Wake Forest on ESPN (No. 16), Florida-Auburn on ESPN (No. 17), USC-Rutgers on CBS (No. 20), UTEP-Michigan on Big Ten Network (No. 21), Florida State-Alabama on ESPN2 (No. 23) and SMU-Louisville on ESPN2 (No. 25). Florida State-Alabama and Kentucky-Texas A&M each appear twice because the ABC and ESPN/ESPN2 telecasts were not true simulcasts.

CBS’s Professional Bull Riders telecast placed No. 18, and FOX’s MLB regional coverage of Phillies-Mets and Royals-Astros took No. 19. USA Network’s NASCAR Cup Series telecast from Bristol landed at No. 22, and ION’s WNBA coverage on Friday, Sept. 18, rounded out the list at No. 24.

FOX’s America’s Game of the Week drew 27.2 million viewers for the Dallas Cowboys’ 37-20 win over the Washington Commanders on Sunday, Sept. 20, making it the most-watched NFL telecast of the season to date and the most-watched telecast of the week on any network. The audience was up 8% over last season’s full-season average of 25.3 million for America’s Game of the Week.

The Kansas City Chiefs’ 33-30 overtime win over the Indianapolis Colts averaged 24.3 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, based on Nielsen Big Data inclusive of first-party data, the most-watched Week 2 Sunday Night Football game since 2015. The game, which featured five lead changes and 852 yards of offense, peaked at 27.4 million viewers in the second quarter (9:15-9:30 p.m. ET).

Colts-Chiefs ranks as the fourth-most-watched overtime game in 21 seasons of Sunday Night Football on NBC, a span of 22 OT games. Only three drew more: Packers-Cowboys in Week 4 of 2025 and a pair of Tom Brady-Peyton Manning matchups between the Patriots and Broncos in Week 12 of 2013 and 2015.

The New York Giants-Los Angeles Rams matchup on Monday, Sept. 21, drew 19.4 million viewers across ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and NFL+, the most-watched Week 2 Monday Night Football telecast of ESPN’s tenure (2006-present). It follows the Broncos-Chiefs season opener, which set ESPN’s Week 1 mark, giving the network its most-watched Week 1 and Week 2 games across 21 seasons with the franchise.

Through two weeks, Monday Night Football is averaging 21.4 million viewers, up 29% over the first two weeks of 2025, a comparison of two games this year against three last year, when the schedule included a Week 2 doubleheader. Monday Night Countdown (6-8 p.m. ET) averaged 1.6 million viewers across ESPN and NFL Network, up 106% over Week 2 last season, when the pregame show aired from 5-7 p.m. ET on ESPN to accommodate the doubleheader.

CBS Sports’ Week 2 singleheader averaged 19.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel, making it the most-watched Week 2 singleheader in NFL on CBS history. Led by Steelers-Patriots, coverage was up 29% over last year’s Week 2 singleheader and was the most-watched NFL on CBS singleheader in September since 1989.

Prime Video opened its fifth season of Thursday Night Football with an average of 18.6 million viewers for the Buffalo Bills’ win over the Detroit Lions on Thursday, Sept. 17, at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y., according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel. The audience was up 5% over Prime’s 2025 opener and up 21% over last season’s full-season average of 15.3 million, the most-watched season in the package’s 20-year history. Lions-Bills ranks as the third-most-watched regular-season NFL game on Prime, behind Broncos-Chiefs (21.1 million, Dec. 25, 2025) and Cowboys-Lions (19.4 million, Dec. 4, 2025), and is the most-streamed game of the 2026 season. Viewership peaked at 21.4 million from 9:15-9:30 p.m. ET, and the opener was up 43% over Prime’s 2022 TNF debut (13 million).

The audience carried a median age of 47.7, more than six years younger than NFL audiences on linear television this season (54.0). Adults 18-34 averaged 4 million viewers, up 40% over last season’s average of 2.9 million, which led all NFL full-season packages. Adults 18-49 averaged 8.7 million (up 29%), adults 25-54 averaged 9.3 million (up 27%) and adults 55+ averaged 6.8 million (up 11%). Postgame show TNF Nightcap set an all-time high following a Thursday game with 3.7 million viewers, up 33% over last season’s average, while pregame show TNF Tonight averaged 2.8 million, its second-most-watched show on record and up 47%.

ESPN networks delivered the five most-watched college football games of Week 3, led by LSU-Mississippi on ABC with 11 million viewers, and accounted for two-thirds of all college football viewing. ESPN and ABC also claimed every Saturday window.

College GameDay averaged 2.8 million viewers from Oxford, Miss., its most-watched Week 3 episode ever and the fifth-most-watched regular-season episode in the show’s history, according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel. The final hour drew 3.6 million viewers, outdrawing the competition by 216% overall and 368% among adults 18-49. Through three weeks, the show is pacing up 4% over its 2025 season average, and all three episodes this season rank among the top eight regular-season shows all-time.

ESPN delivered its most-watched WNBA regular season ever in 2026, as the league celebrates its 30th season. It also marks the third straight year ESPN has delivered its most-viewed WNBA regular season on record. Across 29 games, the WNBA on ESPN networks averaged 1.37M viewers, up 17% year-over-year and ranking as ESPN networks’ most-viewed WNBA regular season on record. ESPN presented 17 games this season, averaging 1.24M viewers, up 32% year-over-year, while 12 games on ABC averaged 1.56M viewers, up 9% year-over-year.

ESPN’s record-setting WNBA season featured five games topping 2 million viewers, all involving the Indiana Fever: Fever-Dream on ESPN (2.58 million, Aug. 16), Fever-Sky on ABC (2.56 million, Aug. 8), Fever-Lynx on ABC (2.52 million, Aug. 2), Wings-Fever on ABC (2.49 million, May 9) and Liberty-Fever on ESPN (2.01 million, Aug. 11). Fever-Dream led all WNBA games across ESPN networks this season and became the most-watched WNBA regular-season or postseason game ever on cable. Beyond Indiana, non-Fever games averaged 984,000 viewers, up 24% year-over-year, and WNBA Countdown averaged 595,000, up 27%. The season also drew younger audiences, with viewership among persons 2-17 up 29% and persons 18-24 up 27%.

The NASCAR Cup Series Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, the third event of The Chase, averaged 1.4 million viewers and a 0.76 household rating on USA Network on Saturday, Sept. 19, down 3% from last year’s fall Bristol race (1.5 million). NASCAR ranked as Saturday’s No. 2 sport behind select college football games, and viewership peaked at 1.6 million from 10:30-10:45 p.m. ET. Post-race coverage, which featured an altercation between Carson Hocevar and Ryan Blaney, averaged 1.3 million viewers and a 0.71 rating, retaining 89% of the race audience and marking the most-watched Cup Series post-race coverage since May’s All-Star Race on FS1 (1.5 million). Through three events, The Chase is averaging 1.7 million viewers, up 5% from 1.6 million last year.

On The CW, Friday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Food City 300 averaged 738,000 viewers and a 0.44 rating, down 14% and 10%, respectively, from last year. It was The CW’s No. 1 sports event of the week for the 25th time in 27 races this season and peaked at 823,000 from 9:30-9:45 p.m. ET.

On FS1, Thursday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series UNOH 250, the first race of the seven-race Truck Series Chase, averaged 399,000 viewers and a 0.22 rating, up 46% and 47%, respectively, from last year. It was the most-watched fall Truck Series race at Bristol since 2022 and peaked at 441,000 from 10-10:15 p.m. ET. Earlier Thursday, the ARCA race at Bristol averaged 143,000 viewers and a 0.08 rating on FS1, up 8% from 133,000 last year and the most-watched ARCA race from Bristol since 2023 (212,000). It peaked at 223,000 from 7-7:15 p.m. ET.

ESPN’s Premier Lacrosse League coverage wrapped its most-watched season ever. The 2026 PLL Championship on ABC averaged 405,000 viewers, the most-watched championship in league history. Across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2, regular-season and postseason games averaged 265,000 viewers, up 22%. The season high came Aug. 2, when Atlas-Redwoods on ABC drew 612,000 viewers, the most-watched PLL game ever.