In the fourth-coldest NFL game ever Saturday night, two-time Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes led the Kansas City Chiefs to a 26-7 win over the Miami Dolphins in front of more than 71,000 fans who cheered in below-zero weather. It was also the NFL’s first-ever exclusively live streamed playoff game on Peacock, owned by Comcast.
While some fans were upset the game wasn’t on a major TV network, viewers flocked to Peacock, setting records for the most-streamed live event in U.S. history and driving the Internet to its largest U.S. usage ever on a single day and the largest Internet event ever, consuming 30 percent of Internet traffic during the game.
Peacock charges $5.99 per month for access with ads or $11.99 per month without ads. Comcast didn’t release signup figures after the game but did release the following. The game aired free for local viewers in Kansas City and Miami on NBC stations.
Among the milestones and metrics:
- The Peacock Exclusive AFC Wild Card reached 27.6 million total viewers, according to Nielsen.
- Dolphins-Chiefs peaked at an average of 24.6 million viewers in the second quarter from 9:15-9:30 p.m. ET, according to Nielsen custom fast national data (includes out-of-home viewership).
- The Peacock Exclusive AFC Wild Card ranks as the most-streamed event ever in the U.S. with an average audience (AMA) of approximately 23.0 million viewers across Peacock, NBC stations in Miami and Kansas City, and on mobile with NFL+, according to Nielsen custom fast national data. Viewership for Dolphins-Chiefs (8:11-11:01 p.m. ET) is up 6% from last year’s primetime AFC Wild Card Game (21.8 million TAD on NBC, Peacock, NBC Sports Digital, NFL Digital).
- In addition, according to a combination of preliminary first party and Nielsen data across every platform, the Peacock Exclusive AFC Wild Card averaged 26.3 million viewers across Peacock, NBC stations in Miami and Kansas City, and NFL+.
- With blockbuster programming across sports and entertainment, Peacock delivered its largest single day ever in audience usage, engagement and time spent, with a record 16.3 million concurrent devices.
- NBC Sports’ Saturday afternoon presentation of the Browns-Texans AFC Wild Card Game averaged 29.0 million viewers across NBC, Peacock, NBC Sports Digital, NFL Digital and Telemundo – ranking as the most-watched Saturday NFL Wild Card game on NBC since 2014. Led by Peacock, Browns-Texans delivered a digital Average Minute Audience of 3.1 million viewers — NBC Sports’ largest streaming simulcast of an NFL game, excluding Super Bowl LVI.
“From NBC Sports and Peacock to the Comcast team, our entire company worked seamlessly to plan for this game and executed flawlessly to deliver a streaming experience with the NFL on a scale that’s never been done before. It’s a very proud moment,” said Brian Roberts, Chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation.
“We couldn’t be prouder of our partnership with Peacock and are thrilled with the results of the first-ever exclusively live streamed NFL playoff game,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “To best serve our fans, we need to ensure games are available to them as their viewing habits change and this includes digital distribution as we continue to help shape the future of the sports and entertainment industry.”
Dolphins-Chiefs delivered a 45.1/74 on KSHB (NBC Kansas City) and a 14.5/41 local rating/share on WTVJ (NBC Miami).
