Taylor Swift, fresh from her red carpet appearance at The Eras Tour concert film in Los Angeles, made her way to Missouri to support Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs in their game against the Denver Broncos on Thursday. The NFL once again reaped the rewards of her presence at Arrowhead Stadium.
Around 13.83 million viewers tuned in to watch the Chiefs secure another victory on Prime Video, marking a 57% increase from last year’s comparable Thursday Night Football game (which had 8.79 million viewers for Commanders vs. Bears). The audience reached its peak at 15.51 million viewers at approximately 9:15 p.m. ET, as reported by Amazon.
Throughout the season, TNF has consistently shown viewership gains. However, this represents the most significant year-over-year jump to date. This game now ranks as the third most-watched TNF game ever on Prime Video, trailing only two other matchups this season (15.06 million for Vikings-Eagles and 13.92 million for Giants-49ers).
Of particular note is the surge in female viewership for the game, reminiscent of the effect Taylor Swift had when she attended the Chiefs-Jets game broadcast by NBC. The Broncos-Chiefs game saw an average female audience of 4.92 million, marking a 15% increase over the average female viewership of TNF’s first four games this season. Female viewers made up 36% of the total audience, compared to around 32% in the previous four games.
In the 18-24 age group, female viewership saw a 29% increase, reaching 303,000 (up from 234,000 in the last four TNF telecasts). In the 12-17 demographic, female viewership rose by 19% to 120,000.
However, the Taylor Swift effect is not solely responsible for these numbers. Thursday Night Football has consistently seen year-over-year viewership increases throughout the season. Thus far, Prime Video boasts a five-game average of 13.6 million viewers, marking a 26% increase over the previous year and a 23% boost from 2021. The current season’s five-game average represents a 42% increase in total viewers compared to last year’s full-season average.
In the 18-49 entertainment demographic, the Chiefs-Broncos game averaged around 6.41 million viewers. According to Amazon, the season-to-date median age for TNF viewers is 47, which is seven years younger than those watching the NFL on linear networks.
Disclaimer: The views, suggestions, and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Nook Explorer journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.