DALLAS — More than 31.2 million people watched the Dallas Cowboys defeat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football, making it Disney's most-watched NFL Playoff game ever, Walt Disney Company announced Wednesday.
The original report on Tuesday stated the game had amassed that 30.6 million figure based on Nielsen fast nationals (ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, and ESPN+), which made it the second-most-watched NFL Playoff game on its air, trailing only Cardinals-Cowboys matchup from January 1999 (30.7 million viewers). In an update on Wednesday, the final Nielsen viewership reporting (ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPN+ and ESPN Deportes) elevated that number to 31.2 million.
The Cowboys-Buccaneers audience peaked at 36.4 million viewers late in the first half (8-8:15 p.m. CT), according to ESPN.
The Cowboys-Bucs matchup is also Disney's most-watched NFL game since Super Bowl XL in February 2006, ESPN said in the press release. Super Bowl XL got 90.7 million viewers, according to Nielsen reports.
Excluding Disney's three Super Bowls, Cowboys-Buccaneers is the second most-watched NFL game in Disney’s history.
According to ESPN, here were the top local markets watching the game:
- Dallas-Fort Worth
- San Antonio
- Kansas City
- Austin
- Tampa-St. Pete
- Philadelphia
- Sacramento
- Norfolk
- Jacksonville
- Providence
Dallas and San Francisco will kick off Sunday, Jan. 22, at 5:30 p.m. CT. at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. The Cowboys are four-point underdogs. The Cowboys are also holding an official watch party outside of AT&T Stadium.
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