NFL already seeing the Mahomes effect when it comes to TV ratings

The Patrick Mahomes effect is real when it comes to television ratings, per NBC Sports.

Top metered markets for Chiefs-Patriots

The Kansas City Chiefs-New England Patriots Sunday Night Football game delivered NBC’s highest viewership of the season with a total average delivery of 21.5 million viewers across NBC TV, NBC Sports Digital and NFL Digital Platforms, the network says.

That number is an increase of 32 percent from last year’s Week 6 Sunday Night Football game between the New York Giants and Denver Broncos.

The final quarter, which saw two lead changes and six scoring plays, registered 23.7 million viewers. I found this data, in particular, very interesting:

NBC: Football Night in America averaged 8.4 million viewers on Sunday night, an advantage of 38 percent over Game 2 of the ALCS (Astros-Red Sox, TBS) from 6:30-7:15 p.m. CT, and up 10 percent vs. last year.

Football is very much still king in America.

I find the game numbers have a lot to do with the quarterback matchup between Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes. Early indications say that Mahomes is the real deal—I believe to the point of “elite” status—and with that being the case, the Chiefs are in for many primetime games for years to come.

We already are seeing the product of that with this weekend’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals flexed to Sunday night.

Sorry, Jimmy G.