The NFL said Friday that the Thanksgiving Day game between the host Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants set a regular-season viewership record.
The FOX broadcast averaged 42 million viewers, according to the league.
Dallas has played on Thanksgiving for 45 straight seasons and 55 times overall. This year was the first time since 1992 that it played its division rival from New York, the largest media market in the country, on the holiday. Both teams entered the game 7-3, adding to the interest.
The Cowboys beat the Giants 28-20.
The league said it also set a record for its Thanksgiving Day “total unduplicated audience” of 138 million.
The Buffalo Bills, one of the AFC’s best teams, beat the host Detroit Lions 28-25 on a late field goal in the early game. The host Minnesota Vikings topped the New England Patriots 33-26 in the nightcap.
The average viewership across the tripleheader was 33.5 million viewers per game.
The news comes as the NFL and Amazon plan to begin staging a single Black Friday game beginning in 2023.
–Field Level Media
