The Dallas Cowboys’ Thanksgiving Day win over the New York Giants is the most-watched NFL regular-season game of all time, averaging a record 42 million viewers
The Thanksgiving afternoon game between the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys set the mark for the most watched NFL regular season game of all time.
The Cowboys’ 28-20 win on Fox averaged 42 million viewers, according to Nielsen, beating the 41.55 million average for the December 3, 1990 Monday night game between the Giants and the San Francisco 49ers on ABC. Average viewership numbers go back to 1988.
Average viewership for Thursday’s three Thanksgiving Day games was 33.5 million, surpassing the previous peak of 32.9 million set in 1993 when two games were aired.
The Giants and Cowboys set the mark for the most watched NFL regular season game of all time
The average was also six percent above the previous year’s average of 31.6 million.
The Buffalo Bills’ 28-25 win over the Detroit Lions on CBS was the most-watched early Thanksgiving Day game of all time, averaging 31.6 million viewers.
The night game between the New England Patriots and the Minnesota Vikings averaged 25.9 million viewers, the second-highest viewership for a Thanksgiving night competition. The Vikings’ 33-26 win was surpassed only by the 2015 game between the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers (27.8 million).
CeeDee Lamb (88) breaks away from New York Giants cornerback Darnay Holmes (30)
During the Cowboys’ record game, Dak Prescott threw two touchdown passes at the tight end of Dalton Schultz, Ezekiel Elliott ran for a goal.
Rookie Peyton Hendershot ran for a two-yard touchdown before directing all three of his close friends into a giant red Salvation Army cauldron for a Whack-A-Mole celebration.
The win ended a three-game losing streak on the holiday for the Cowboys (8-3), who were a game ahead of the Giants in the NFC East while winning the season series.
Dallas Cowboys’ Dalton Schultz #86 catches a touchdown pass in the second half