Sunday Night Football Registers Record Fourth Blockbuster Audience of 25+ Million Viewers This Season, as Lions-Chiefs Averages 27.3 Million Viewers on NBC & Peacock
Lions-Chiefs is second-most watched October game in NBC SNF history; audience peaked at 30+ million viewers in second quarter
October 15, 2025
Sunday Night Football Off to Best Six-Week Start in 20 Seasons of NBC SNF
Two seasons after the Detroit Lions defeated the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs by one point in the NFL Kickoff Game, the teams played another tight game into the fourth quarter (Detroit pulled to within three points of Kansas City 46 seconds into the final quarter). The matchup delivered 25+ million viewers for the fourth time on Sunday Night Football in 2025, the most audiences of 25 million viewers through Week 6 in NBC SNF history and matching the entire 2024 season.
Lions-Chiefs averaged 27.3 million viewers across NBC and Peacock, based on official Nielsen Big Data + Panel and digital data from Adobe Analytics, marking the second-most watched October audience in the history of NBC SNF, joining two memorable “return” games in the month’s top three.
Most-Watched October Games, NBC SNF History
| Audience | Date | Matchup |
| 28.4 million viewers* | Oct. 3, 2021 | Tom Brady returns to New England and leads Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 19-17 victory over Patriots |
| 27.3 million viewers* | Oct. 12, 2025 | Patrick Mahomes leads Kansas City Chiefs to a 30-17 win over Detroit Lions in a matchup of the prior season’s top playoff seeds in each conference. |
| 26.9 million viewers | Oct. 20, 2013 | Andrew Luck and Colts spoil Peyton Manning’s return to Indianapolis as Colts top Denver Broncos 39-33 |
*Total Audience Delivery
Additional metrics and milestones:
- The audience for Lions-Chiefs peaked at 30.6 million viewers in the second quarter (9-9:15-9:30 p.m. ET), as the teams exchanged the lead.
- Through Week 6 (seven games), SNF is averaging 25.2 million viewers across NBC and Peacock – marking the best six-week start in the 20-season history of NBC’s Sunday Night Football, and up 11% from 2024.
- SNF is off to its best six-week streaming start ever with an Average Minute Audience (AMA) of 3.0 million viewers across Peacock, NBC Sports Digital platforms, and NFL Digital platforms – up 10% from last season, based on data from Adobe Analytics.
