ESPN’s Broadcast of the NFL Divisional Round Delivers Record-Breaking Ratings

After a triumphant 2024 that saw the network deliver record ratings across a multitude of sports, ESPN continued its momentum into 2025 with its presentation of the NFL Divisional Round.

Broadcasting Saturday’s matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans, ESPN delivered their highest-rated NFL game of all time.

In total, 32.7 million people tuned in to The Worldwide Leader in Sports for the matchup. By the time Nielsen reports the final audience, the number is expected to surpass 33 million.

The game reached a peak audience of 385 million viewers between 7:00 and 7:15 PM, giving ESPN the highest peak audience of any network on Saturday, January 18.

Photo: ESPN

Additionally, last Saturday’s Cheifs-Texans game drew the largest audience for a Divisional Saturday afternoon in 10 years across all networks. The previous record holder was last year’s Divisional Round broadcast on ESPN, which drew 32.3 million viewers.

Live Sports Continue to Deliver For ESPN

As ESPN has shown over the last year, live sports continue to deliver ratings. Amid the steady decline of cable, the network continues to post record viewership numbers with its premier sporting events.

Photo: ESPN

With ESPN Flagship set to launch later this year and Disney set to unveil a new sports-centric Fubo package, live sports will continue to be the backbone of the company’s television strategy. Thankfully, under the leadership of Jimmy Pitaro and Bob Iger, ESPN has been aggressive in securing more broadcasting rights.

Photo: Disney

As the Worldwide Leader in Sports prepares to enter the world of streaming, it will do so from a place of strength. After years of pundits and analysts predicting ESPN’s demise, the network’s future once again looks bright.