Football is the king of American sports, and the viewership from this past Sunday’s Chiefs-Bills showdown proves it.
In what was billed as a battle to the death between the Chiefs and Bills, it frequently felt like watching two gladiators trade blows.
As has been the case in the past two NFL postseason matchups with Buffalo, Kansas City reigned supreme. Patrick Mahomes scored 27 points in his first road play-off game, with Travis Kelce chipping in with two touchdowns.
Josh Allen did all he could to pull out the victory, but some mind-numbing mistakes by his team-mates prevented it. Stefon Diggs had a costly drop, while Tyler Bass shanked a potentially game-tying field goal late in the fourth quarter.
CBS claims Chiefs-Bills is most-watched NFL Divisional Round game ever
The @NFLonCBS scores the most-watched NFL Divisional Playoff Game ever as Chiefs-Bills is the first to surpass 50 million viewers (50.393).
Sunday’s game peaked with more than 56 million viewers (56.250).
More info here: https://t.co/cVrPE0x1Tq pic.twitter.com/1qdlSDDss7
— CBS Sports PR (@CBSSportsGang) January 23, 2024
CBS recently revealed the viewership numbers for the AFC Divisional Round, and they are astonishing. It is the most-watched Divisional Round game of all time.
At its peak, the game had more than 56 million people tuned in. Paramount+, CBS’ streaming platform, reported that the Chiefs vs. Bills was its most-streamed live event ever — by a wide margin.
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But wait, there’s more. It is a greater than 10 percent increase compared to last year’s Cowboys-49ers matchup, which occupied the same time slot.
Taylor Swift deserves some credit
Undoubtedly, the massive influx of “Swifties” plays a part in this new record. Kelce’s relationship with Taylor Swift is said to have brought millions of fresh eyes to the sport.
It also helps that the Mahomes-Allen rivalry mirrors what NFL fans watched with Tom Brady and Peyton Manning in the 2000s and 2010s.
If there was ever a question, tonight puts it to rest.
The Bills-Chiefs rivalry is the best in football right now. Every matchup has me on the edge of my seat.
— Hunter Haas (@NFLDraftHaas) January 22, 2024
If there was ever a doubt, Sunday night’s contest put it to bed — the Chiefs-Bills rivalry is the best in the sport. Lucky for fans, neither team is going away any time soon.