How Ravens' win over Texans made ESPN history

Stop if you've heard this before, but the NFL keeps helping networks break records.

According to ESPN, 31.8 million viewers tuned into its telecast of the Baltimore Ravens' win over the Houston Texans in the AFC divisional round on Saturday, making the game its most-watched NFL game in network history. The Athletic's Richard Deitsch details how well the game performed on its family of channels:

"The audience of 31.8 million viewers — which swelled to a peak of 36.2 million in the third quarter — surpassed the company’s record of 31.2 million viewers, which was set on Jan. 16, 2023, when the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2023 wild-card round."

A few things played in the league and ESPN's favor for such a big number. For starters, there's a bit of a caveat in that it's common now for major media companies such as Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery or Paramount to broadcast a single event on multiple channels. 

While ESPN had the rights to this particular game, it also aired on ABC and ESPN Deportes as well as its streaming companion, ESPN+. 

Secondly, the NFL had routinely posted some of its best viewership numbers in years during the regular season, with several games flirting with totals back in the early to mid-1990s. 

With all playoff games shown across the nation as opposed to the predominantly regional coverage of the majority of Sunday afternoon games, all NFL fans can tune into just one network for a given time.

Speaking of having one game on at a time in those national windows, the cold weather truly helped the cause this weekend. Many parts of the country had been under a massive chill due to recent snowstorms and dangerously cold temperatures. 

There was already huge interest in the game to begin with, but with more people compelled to stay indoors, there were certainly more traditional TV sets tuning into the game.

A third reason is technical and is frequently noted by sports media observers such as Deitsch. Nielsen, the famed insights company that essentially created TV ratings, tabulates the numbers differently than in recent years:

"The expansion of out-home-viewing metrics also pushes viewership numbers up. Last Saturday’s NFL record for ESPN/ABC is of course going to be shattered as the years forward given they have a Super Bowl. For a point of reference, this is not ESPN/Disney’s most-watched ever game telecast. That came on January 4, 2006, when Texas beat USC in a Rose Bowl classic. That game drew 35.6 million viewers on ABC."

Finally, for as much as some may not want to focus on it, "narratives" can play a role in driving interest in a game beyond the inherent drama that comes with single-elimination events. 

Lamar Jackson, who's in the running for his second NFL MVP award, continues to illicit some of the wildest conversations about what makes the ideal quarterback in the modern era. 

From the absurd "quarterbacky" comment or Bill Polian's outdated takes to the defenses of the former Louisville product in response to those beliefs, people are as excited to see a team win as they are a "narrative" to lose.

If you think those "narratives" kicked up interest in Texans/Ravens, just wait until the ratings from Sunday's thrilling matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills are announced.