The New England Patriots’ 28-21 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers has officially kicked off the 2015 National Football League season.
American football fans celebrated by turning out in droves to watch the NBC broadcast that kicked off at 8:30 p.m. EDT on Thursday night in Foxboro, Massachusetts.
The game posted a 17.7/30 overnight rating/share per NBC Sports. That ties the record for the NFL Kickoff Game with 2010’s game and is 5% better than last year’s Kickoff game.
International ratings numbers have yet to be determined.
These days, American markets ratings numbers are reported almost instantaneously. By the end of the weekend we should have a good idea how the NFL’s opening weekend performed internationally.
| Year | Network | Teams | Overnight Rating |
| 2015 | NBC | Steelers – Patriots | 17.8 |
|
2014
|
NBC
|
Packers – Seahawks |
16.8
|
|
2013
|
NBC
|
Ravens – Broncos |
16.2
|
|
2012
|
NBC*
|
Cowboys – Giants |
16.5
|
|
2011
|
NBC
|
Saints – Packers |
17.2
|
|
2010
|
NBC
|
Vikings – Saints |
17.7
|
|
2009
|
NBC
|
Titans – Steelers |
13.8
|
|
2008
|
NBC**
|
Redskins – Giants |
10.1
|
|
2007
|
NBC
|
Saints – Colts |
13.0
|
|
2006
|
NBC
|
Dolphins – Steelers |
13.5
|
|
2005
|
ABC
|
Raiders – Patriots |
13.1
|
|
2004
|
ABC
|
Colts – Patriots |
12.6
|
|
2003
|
ABC
|
Jets – Redskins |
14.5
|
|
2002
|
ESPN
|
49ers – Giants |
12.7
|
*Game aired on a Wednesday to accommodate Democratic convention
**Game started at 7pm to accommodate Republican convention.
Top ten local markets per NBC:
- Boston 39.5/62
- Pittsburgh 34.5/51
- Providence 34.1/51
- Baltimore 24.4/39
- Richmond 23.9/36
- Norfolk 23.4/37
- Buffalo 23.2/37
- West Palm Beach 22.4/39
- Cleveland 21.7/33
- Denver 21.7/38
Overnight household rating = the live+same day DVR overnight metered-market household rating from the top 56 Nielsen television markets. The 56 markets (out of 210 total) account for about 70% of the US TV-viewing population. The overnight household rating is the percentage of the households that were tuned-in in those market.
Source: sportstvratings.com