Kansas City Chiefs vs. Miami Dolphins Sets Streaming Record with 23 Million Viewers
In a historic moment for the NFL and streaming services, the wild-card game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Miami Dolphins became the most-streamed game in NFL history. With an average of 23 million viewers, this matchup surpassed the previous record set by the Dallas Cowboys vs. Seattle Seahawks game on Prime Video, which had an average of 15.26 million viewers.
The surge in viewership for the Chiefs-Dolphins game can be attributed to the fact that fans from outside of Kansas City and Miami had to pay a subscription fee to watch the game on Peacock. As Peacock’s “Premium” subscription costs $5.99 per month and includes live sports, it saw a significant increase in subscribers. Reports suggest that the service had 30 million subscribers last week, representing a remarkable 75 percent growth compared to the previous year.
Notably, this playoff matchup was the first in NFL history to air exclusively on a streaming network. Prior to this, Peacock had already aired an exclusive regular-season game between the Los Angeles Chargers and Buffalo Bills, which attracted an average of 7.3 million viewers.
The success of the Chiefs-Dolphins game in terms of viewership has undoubtedly been a positive outcome for Peacock. It even managed to surpass last year’s least-watched playoff game by a few million viewers, cementing its position as a reliable streaming platform for live sports events.
Given the overwhelming response to this game, both the NFL and Peacock are likely to consider airing more exclusive live-streamed NFL playoff games in the future. This new approach to broadcasting games opens up opportunities for fans to enjoy the action from the comfort of their homes, even if they don’t have access to traditional cable or satellite TV.
As streaming continues to gain prominence, it seems the NFL and its streaming partners are ready to embrace the future and adapt to the changing landscape of sports broadcasting. With the success of the Chiefs-Dolphins game, it won’t be long before fans can expect more exhilarating NFL matchups to be exclusively available on streaming platforms like Peacock.
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