New ESPN record for Cowboys-Bucs wild card game with 31.2 Million viewers
The Dallas Cowboys’ 31-14 win over Tom Brady The Tampa Bay Buccaneers Monday night’s new ESPN viewership record was set.
The wild-card match in Tampa attracted 31.2 million viewers. This is the highest number of NFL viewers since Super Bowl XL 2006. It was the second most-watched non-Super Bowl game in Disney’s history, and was the most-watched non-Super Bowl playoff game ever seen on the network.
The numbers are up about 35% from ESPN’s wild-card game last year, too.
Late in the first period, the game reached a peak of nearly 36.5 millions viewers.
“This exceptional number proves once again that live sports are unequaled in amassing large audiences,” ESPN chairman Jimy Pitaro said in a statement. “The success is also a clear reflection of how ESPN, working alongside the NFL and our colleagues at Disney, can help attract fans, build anticipation, and expand our reach. Even without a dramatic ending, it was an extraordinarily memorable evening.”
Joe Buck and Troy Aikman close out the first year of ESPN
Though the record audience is impressive, it shouldn’t be that big of a surprise considering who was playing in the game.
Pitting “America’s Team” against , is sure to draw massive numbers — especially as it was the only game of the day.
It did, however, mark a fitting ending to Troy Aikman and Joe Buck’s first season in the booth for ESPN.
The longtime broadcasting duo joined ESPN to start the season after a long run at Fox, which gave the network a proven broadcasting crew after years of struggling to get “Monday Night Football” working. The two were on their first playoff game for Disney while working with longtime sideline reporter Lisa Salters — who was calling her ninth postseason game for the company.
ESPN had 14.8 million viewers on average for this season’s games, the highest total since it began broadcasting wild-card games during the 2014-15 season.
The decision was clearly a success. While ESPN won’t have an NFL game again until next fall, Aikman and Buck certainly ended their first season there on a high note.