The Dallas Cowboys’ thrilling 31-28 win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Thanksgiving Day drew an average of 57.23 million viewers on CBS, officially becoming the most-watched regular-season game in NFL history.
Earlier that day, the Green Bay Packers’ 31-24 victory against the Detroit Lions averaged 47.7 million viewers, placing it second all-time among regular-season games and marking the most-watched regular-season broadcast since Fox began airing NFL games in 1994.
The Cowboys-Chiefs matchup shattered the previous regular-season record of 42.06 million viewers (set by the 2022 Giants-Cowboys game on Fox) by an impressive 36%. It also surged 47% higher than last year’s Thanksgiving late-afternoon game between the same two teams (38.84 million).
Viewership for the Cowboys-Chiefs game peaked at 61.36 million during the dramatic finish, while the Packers-Lions contest reached a high of 57.96 million.
The prior CBS regular-season record stood at 41.76 million, set by the 2023 Thanksgiving matchup between Washington and Dallas.
“The NFL on Thanksgiving featuring the Chiefs and Cowboys is the ultimate combination for a record-breaking audience. We’re thrilled and honored that this showcase became the most-watched regular-season game ever,” said David Berson, President and CEO of CBS Sports.
Notably, four of the five highest-rated regular-season games in NFL history have been the late-afternoon Thanksgiving games hosted in Dallas.
Later that night, the Cincinnati Bengals’ 32-14 rout of the Baltimore Ravens, highlighted by Joe Burrow’s return, averaged 28.4 million viewers on NBC—setting a new record for the most-watched Thanksgiving primetime game, eclipsing the previous high of 27.8 million (Bears-Packers in 2015, when Brett Favre’s jersey was retired at halftime).
