COWBOYS-EAGLES ON NBC & PEACOCK IS 2nd MOST-WATCHED NFL KICKOFF GAME
Dallas-Philadelphia Averaged 31.9 Million Viewers Before 65-Minute Weather Delay & was Pacing to Be Most-Watched Kickoff Game Ever
Audience Peaked at NFL Kickoff Game-Record 34.3 Million Viewers in Second Quarter
Led By Peacock, Cowboys-Eagles is 2nd-Most Simulstreamed NBC NFL Game Ever - Topping Three Prior NBC Super Bowls (Trailing Only Super Bowl LVI)
STAMFORD, Conn. - September 8, 2025 - The milestone 20th season of NBC Sports' Sunday Night Football package kicked off last Thursday with the Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles and their division rival Dallas Cowboys delivering seven consecutive scoring drives in the first half and pacing to deliver an NFL Kickoff Game viewership record until it was hit with a third-quarter weather delay of more than an hour.
The exciting back-and-forth put the Eagles ahead 21-20 at halftime and averaged 34.3 million viewers on NBC and Peacock from 9:30-9:45 p.m. ET (late second quarter) - marking the largest peak audience ever for an NFL Kickoff Game, based on official Nielsen Big Data + Panel and digital data from Adobe Analytics. It was a stretch highlighted by Saquon Barkley's 10-yard touchdown run with 51 seconds left in the second quarter, followed by a 53-yard Brandon Aubrey field goal as time expired.
The Eagles were ahead 24-20 with 4:44 remaining in the third quarter when a weather delay stopped the game for 65 minutes. Thrilling from the game's kickoff through the weather delay, Cowboys-Eagles averaged Total Audience Delivery of 31.9 million viewers from 8:23-10:15 p.m. ET, and was on pace to deliver a Total Audience Delivery of 31.6 million viewers, which would have ranked as the most-watched NFL Kickoff Game ever.
Including the game's late-night conclusion, which had no scoring after the delay, the Eagles' 24-20 victory averaged 28.3 million viewers (8:23-10:15 p.m. ET and 11:24 p.m.-12:18 a.m. ET). Despite the delay, Cowboys-Eagles ranks as the second-most watched NFL Kickoff Game (behind only last year's 29.2 million viewers for Ravens-Chiefs, which came down to the final play). The post-weather delay TAD was 20.2 million viewers (11:24 p.m.-12:18 a.m. ET).
The Average Minute Audience (AMA) for the Cowboys-Eagles live stream via Peacock, NBC Sports Digital platforms, and NFL Digital platforms, was 4.9 million viewers - marking the 2nd most simulstreamed NBC NFL game ever, topping three NBC Super Bowls (trailing only Super Bowl LVI in 2022) based on data from Adobe Analytics.
--SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL--
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