The NFL’s Week 2 TV numbers were better than what the league saw in Week 1. But Week 2 brought a noticeable jump in viewership, averaging 20.4 million viewers last week. That was up 6% from last year and set the best Week 2 average in the Nielsen people meter era, which dates back to 1988.
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Even so, the 2026 season is still behind last year’s pace. Through two weeks, NFL games are averaging 19.9 million viewers per window, down 4% from the same point in 2025, according to Sports Business Journal’s Austin Karp.
The bigger picture, however, shows why the early numbers have drawn attention. Week 1 averaged just 19.5 million viewers per game window, a 13% decline from the opening week of 2025. After two weeks, the NFL’s 19.9 million average is the third-highest in league history at this point in the season, trailing only 2015 and 2025.
There were also plenty of individual bright spots across the networks in Week 2.
FOX had the largest audience of the week with the Dallas Cowboys’ 37-20 win over the Commanders. The late-afternoon national window averaged 27.2 million viewers, the biggest NFL telecast of the season so far.
It was still well below the 33.8 million viewers who watched last year’s Week 2 Eagles-Chiefs Super Bowl rematch, but the Cowboys-led window was up 8% from FOX’s 2025 season average in that slot.
NBC also had reason to celebrate. The Kansas City Chiefs’ 33-30 overtime victory over the Colts averaged 24.3 million viewers across NBC and Peacock, making it the most-watched Week 2 Sunday Night Football audience since 2015. The game peaked at 27.4 million viewers during the second quarter.
CBS posted another notable number with its singleheader. The Steelers-Patriots game helped the network average 19.3 million viewers. It was the best Week 2 singleheader audience in network history and the largest September NFL singleheader audience since 1989.
Week 1 had Sunday afternoon doubleheaders on both FOX and CBS, something that had not happened since 2023. Week 2 went back to a single-network doubleheader. ESPN and ABC also aired a standalone Monday Night Football game after carrying a doubleheader during Week 2 last season.
That helped Monday Night Football rebound as well. The Giants-Rams matchup averaged 19.4 million viewers, topping both MNF games from last year’s Week 2 doubleheader and giving ESPN its biggest Week 2 audience since the network began carrying the package in 2006.
The NFL is also operating under a relatively new Nielsen measurement system. Big Data + Panel was introduced last season, while changes to co-viewing measurement have further altered how audiences are counted. Out-of-home viewing has also been incorporated more fully in recent years.
Streaming has been another positive. The Nielsen-measured streaming audience has reached a record 1.6 million viewers through two weeks.
The early numbers therefore tell two stories at once. The NFL is down 4% from last year through two weeks, but it is still producing its third-best two-week average ever, while Week 2 itself set several audience records.
Week 3 could provide another useful test, with Ravens-Cowboys in Brazil, Rams-Broncos on Sunday Night Football and Eagles-Bears on Monday night.
With the schedule settling into a more familiar rhythm, the league will get a clearer sense of where its television audience stands as the season moves deeper into September.