Sunday’s Jets-Chiefs matchup draws massive ratings for NBC

In light of the hype surrounding the game, the Jets-Chiefs matchup performed very well for NBC on Sunday night

The New York Jets were a part of another primetime game with huge ratings.

NBC announced that the Jets’ Sunday night game against the Kansas City Chiefs averaged 27 million viewers. As a result, the game was the most-watched show since the Super Bowl in February.

NBC announced that Sunday night's #Chiefs–#Jets game averaged 27 million viewers, making it the most-watched show since the Super Bowl.

Another huge night for the NFL.

🏈👑 pic.twitter.com/mt5Jmq7sar

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 2, 2023

The Jets’ matchup with the Chiefs was not the first time this season they were involved in a highly popular game. After a thriller against the Buffalo Bills in Week 1, the Sports Business Journal’s Austin Karp announced that the game broke the all-time viewership for “Monday Night Football.” Pulling in 22.6 million viewers, it surpassed the Packers-Vikings game in Week 4 of 2009.

Bills-Jets will in fact be new "Monday Night Football" record for ESPN (game aired on ABC/ESPN/ESPN2)

22.6 million viewers tops 21.8 million for Packers-Vikings in Week 4 of 2009 (Favre drama). Important to remember: that night in 2009, @officialdwts had over 16 million on ABC

— Austin Karp (@AustinKarp) September 12, 2023

While the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce storyline certainly influenced the ratings boom from this Sunday, the Jets have still been a key draw in their two primetime games this season. Furthermore, they have arguably played two of the best primetime games of the entire season, as the Jets competed with the Bills and Chiefs down to the final whistle.

It remains to be seen if the Jets can keep up their similar ratings going forward, especially without the involvement of Taylor Swift or Aaron Rodgers. But if the team consistently performs the way it did on Sunday night, the Jets will not need any gimmicks to draw attention to their upcoming games this season.

The Jets are currently scheduled for three more prime-time games: Monday night against the Chargers in Week 9, Sunday night against the Raiders in Week 10, and Thursday night against the Browns in Week 17. They will also host the Dolphins on Black Friday in Week 12.