Driven by game action featuring more touchdowns than have ever been scored during an opening week in NFL history, Week 1 of the 2019 NFL season was an unqualified success across all forms of media. Below are Week 1 media consumption, merchandise and on-the-field figures and notes.
NFL TV Notes from Week 1
NFL games were the top six programs of the broadcast week (Mon-Sun, 9/2-9/8), highlighted by the top three games, each delivering an average minute audience of over 22 million viewers through Nielsen-measured platforms.
- New York Giants at Dallas (FOX - 23.9M) 2. Green Bay at Chicago (NBC - 22.2M) 3. Pittsburgh at New England (NBC - 22.2M)
» The top non-NFL programming of the week was 9.1M
For Week 1, NFL games were viewed by a total audience of over 109 Million viewers with a per game average minute audience of 17.1M viewers through Nielsen-measured platforms, up +5% vs. 2018 Week 1
» The 2019 Kickoff game on NBC between Green Bay and Chicago averaged 22.2M viewers, up +17% versus the 2018 Kickoff game (Atlanta at Philadelphia)
»New York Giants at Dallas was the most-watched Week #1 FOX National game since 2016
» Compared to 2017, the 2019 CBS Single (led by Tennessee at Cleveland & Kansas City at Jacksonville) was up +16% in viewers
» Houston at New Orleans was the most-watched Week #1 ESPN early game since 2015 while Denver at Oakland was the most-watched Week #1 ESPN late game since 2015
Source: Nielsen National Viewership Data and Nielsen Fast Total Audience Estimates; excludes certain digital streaming platforms
NFL Digital Notes from Week 1
» Live streaming across Week 1 game windows on NFL, Verizon Media, and broadcaster digital platforms delivered an average minute audience of 514K, up +43% versus Week 1 in 2018.
Source: Adobe Analytics
Social Media Highlights from Week 1
» All 16 games were the most social sports events during opening weekend
» There were 38M social interactions generated around NFL Football games during opening week
»During Week 1, there were over 250M views of NFL video clips (not live) across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (+33% YoY)
» The three most social games of the week were: 1. Pittsburgh at New England (5.6M Interactions) 2. New York Giants at Dallas (4.8M Interactions) 3. Houston at New Orleans (4.8M Interactions) Source: Nielsen Social Content Ratings from 9/5 - 9/9/19 NFL Merchandise Sales Highlights from Week 1
» Week 1 NFL merchandise sales at NFLShop.com and across the entire Fanatics network of ecommerce sites (which also includes many of the NFL Clubs online stores) were up +30% YoY (sales for 9/5/19-9/9/19 vs. same period in 2018)
2019 NFL Kickoff Presented by EA Sports Madden NFL 20
» The NFL kicked off its 100th season with "NFL Kickoff Presented by EA Sports Madden NFL 20" on Thursday, September 5 when artists and Inspire Change advocates Meek Mill, Meghan Trainor and Rapsody performed a free concert in front of over 42 thousand fans -- one of the largest crowds in NFL Kickoff history -- at Grant Park in Chicago. The event culminated with the first ever official NFL Kickoff Watch Party for the Green Bay-Chicago game.
NFL Week 1: Scoring, Comebacks, and Close Games
» In the first week of the season, there were 90 total touchdowns, the most in NFL history for Week 1
» Both the Bills, trailing 16-0 to the Jets, and Eagles, down 17-0 to the Redskins, came back to win their games. The only other year in which multiple teams overcame deficits of at least 16 points to win their opening games was 1999. That season, the Cardinals won in Philadelphia and the Cowboys won in Washington, with each team having trailed by 21 points earlier in the game.
» Nine games in Week 1 of the 2019 season were decided by eight points or fewer, while 10 of the contests were within one score during the fourth quarter.
