The NFL was once again the dominant force on American television in 2024 as viewers sat down in huge numbers to watch the league’s biggest games.

Data and graphics provided by Sportico have revealed that 72 of the 100 most-watched events last year were NFL games.

That number is down from 2023, when a staggering 93 of the top 100 spots were claimed by the NFL, but still puts the behemoth league way out in front of its sporting rivals.

Political programming made a slight dent in the NFL’s dominance because 2024 was an election year.

Despite that, the NFL juggernaut was impossible to slow down with the league taking 15 of the top 20 spots.

The Kansas City Chiefs’ win over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII back in February was the most-watched program in America last year by a huge distance.

The NFL dominated America’s TV ratings in 2024 with the Super Bowl taking No. 1 again

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s romance ensured all eyes watched the Chiefs win in Las Vegas

Thanks to an overtime thriller and Taylor Swift’s presence in Las Vegas as she raced from Tokyo to cheer on boyfriend Travis Kelce in Nevada, a mammoth 123.7million people tuned into the action.

Preventing the NFL from sweeping the top three sports in the rankings was the second presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, which saw 67.1m viewers and ranked second in the list.

Sandwiched between the first and second debates was the NFC Championship Game between the 49ers and Detroit Lions (56.3m) and the AFC Championship Game between the Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens (55.5m).

The first presidential debate – which was the only one Joe Biden participated in before he dropped out of the race – completed the top five with an audience of 51.3m.

The NFL’s Thanksgiving slate once again proved to be popular with viewers with 38.8m tuning into the Giants-Cowboys game, despite their dire performances this season.

The game between the Bears and Lions earlier on Thanksgiving drew an audience of 37.4m, seeing it come 13th in the rankings with playoff games on either side.

In terms of the NFL, teams in the NFC made up 28 of the year’s top broadcasts with the AFC getting 23. Interconference games filled the other 21.

The Chiefs and Cowboys were the most popular teams with 13 appearances each with the Ravens, Packers and 49ers on 10 and the Bills closely following behind with  nine.

The other political broadcasts to break into the top 25 were the vice-presidential debate between JD Vance and Tim Walz (43.2m), the presidential election returns (42.3m), the State of the Union address (32.2m) and President Biden’s Oval Office address on July 24 when he withdrew from the election (28.9m).

The first entry into the rankings that was not an NFL game or political program was the 110th Rose Bowl between Alabama and Michigan, which brought in 27.7m viewers.

The only other college football game in the top 50 was last year’s College Football Championship between Washington and Michigan, which saw 25m tune in to see Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines win.

It proved to be another disastrous ratings year for the NBA with their-most watched game being Game 2 of the Mavericks-Celtics finals, which ranked in 153rd place. 

The NFC Championship game between the 49ers and Lions was the most-watched NFL game after the Super Bowl

The women’s NCAA March Madness final featuring Caitlin Clark came 76th in the rankings

The NBA hasn’t been in the top 100 since 2019 and, despite Caitlin Clark fueling an explosion in women’s basketball, no WNBA game appeared in the top 100.

Sports claimed 80 of the top 100 spots. The only non-football broadcasts to break in were two nights of action at the Paris Olympic Games, the women’s NCAA March Madness final featuring Iowa and the South Carolina Gamecocks and Game 5 of the Yankees-Dodgers World Series.

The only non sports or political program in the top 50 was the 98th Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in New York. That raked in 23.6m for NBC. 

The 96th Academy Awards took 74th place with an audience of 19.5m while the 66th Grammy Awards crept into the top 100 with 17.1m viewers.