NFL's 2023 Thanksgiving Day games become most-watched ever

As we head into another Thursday Night Football evening, the NFL probably is still reveling in what unfolded on Thanksgiving in the way of TV ratings.

There were three NFL Thanksgiving games for your TV viewing. The Packers-Lions started the holiday at lunchtime. The Cowboys-Commanders were the main course. Then the 49ers-Seahawks followed as the nightcap. It was a decided NFC kind of holiday, with three of the conference’s best teams entertaining a broad NFL audience.

According to the NFL, average viewership for all three games was 34.1 million. (The total includes TV plus digital). That’s the highest Thanksgiving Day average on record. And the record it broke? The previous NFL Thanksgiving average viewership of 33.6 million was established last November. So don’t believe anyone who says the league is losing viewers.

The total unduplicated audience for all three games was 133 million. That’s the second-highest NFL Thanksgiving viewership. Last year’s audience topped it. Last year’s unduplicated audience for Thanksgiving NFL games was 138 million. Those games were Cowboys-Giants, Bills-Lions Patriots-Vikings.

Of course, the Cowboys always sit at the head of the NFL Thanksgiving table. This year’s game — a dominating, 45-10 Dallas win — drew a TV/digital audience of 41.8 million. For context, that total was higher than the averages for each of the first two rounds of last year’s NFL playoffs. It didn’t matter that the game never was competitive. Viewers got to see Dak Prescott throw four touchdown passes. And Dallas cornerback Daron Bland‘s 63-yard pick-six broke the NFL single-season record for most interception returns for a TD. Plus, Dolly Parton rocked her halftime show at AT&T Stadium.

Of course, last year’s Cowboys Thanksgiving contest was the most-viewed NFL regular season game in history. More than 42 million watched the Cowboys knock off the Giants. That beat the previous record established by the Giants-49ers all the way back in 1990 when Joe Montana was throwing to Jerry Rice.

The early game between the Packers and Lions on FOX averaged 33.7 million viewers. That’s a record total for a first game on the NFL Thanksgiving menu. The Packers pulled off the lone upset of the day, knocking off the Lions, 29-22.

The 49ers’ 31-13 win over the Seahawks also wasn’t that competitive. Christian McCaffrey saw to that with his two touchdowns and 114 yards to help San Fran build a 21-point lead in the first half. Still, NFL prime-time Thanksgiving averaged 26.9 million viewers. NBC began broadcasting Thanksgiving night games in 2012. The Seahawks-49ers average was the second-highest during this stretch.

NFL Thanksgiving also continued into Black Friday. Amazon Prime broadcast the Dolphins-Jets. But viewers didn’t find it as tasty as the Thanksgiving offering. The game averaged 9.61 million viewers, which was the second-lowest of any NFL game of Prime this season. It topped only the Bears-Panthers with 9.56 million viewers.

But it’s all good. The Cowboys play host to the Seahawks tonight, so they should pump up the Prime viewership.