NFL: 17.3 million viewers for the first game broadcast live worldwide on YouTube

Los Angeles Chargers - Kansas City Chiefs (27-21), the first regular-season game of the 2025-26 NFL season, drew 17.3 million viewers (average audience per minute) worldwide on the video platform YouTube (Google) on Friday 05/09/2025, according to data from the audience measurement institute Nielsen and YouTube.

16.2 million viewers watched the game in the United States, while 1.1 million people watched the game internationally. The event, held at the Corinthians Arena (49,000 capacity) in Sao Paulo (Brazil), was broadcast in over 230 territories.

This was the first time that YouTube had broadcast an NFL game live and free of charge. The League had announced that it was extending its partnership with the platform to broadcast the game free worldwide on 13/05/2025.

As part of its partnership with the NFL, Google has the rights to broadcast the NFL Sunday Ticket in the United States on its platform, YouTube, since the 2023 season. The NFL Sunday Ticket includes all Sunday afternoon games "outside the local market", i.e. matches that are not in the viewer's local region. Google…