The Thanksgiving Day matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs drew a record 57.23 million viewers, becoming the most-watched regular-season NFL game in history. Dallas secured a 31-28 victory over Kansas City, with Dak Prescott outdueling Patrick Mahomes in a thrilling contest. The game's audience peaked at over 61 million viewers, surpassing the previous record by 36%.
The 2025 NFL Thanksgiving slate delivered historic viewership numbers, led by the late-afternoon clash between the Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs on CBS. According to CBS Sports, the game averaged 57.23 million viewers, shattering the prior mark of 42.059 million set by the Cowboys-Giants Thanksgiving game in 2022. Viewership peaked between 7:45-8 p.m. ET with 61.357 million tuning in, marking Paramount+'s most-streamed NFL regular-season game ever.
On the field, the Cowboys improved to 7-5 with the win, while the Chiefs fell to 6-6, dealing a blow to their playoff hopes. Kansas City led early but faltered in the middle quarters as Dallas took control. Mahomes orchestrated a fourth-quarter comeback, but the Cowboys responded with 11 straight points to seal the victory. The entertaining back-and-forth highlighted two of the league's most popular teams, contributing to the massive audience.
Other Thanksgiving games also set benchmarks. FOX's early game between the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions averaged 47.7 million viewers, FOX's most-watched regular-season broadcast ever, peaking at 57.957 million. NBC's primetime matchup saw the Cincinnati Bengals defeat the Baltimore Ravens with 28.4 million viewers across NBC, Peacock, and Telemundo—the highest for a Thanksgiving night game. Viewership data for Amazon Prime Video's Black Friday Eagles-Bears game was pending release.