It was expected that the highly anticipated matchup between the Chiefs and Cowboys on Thanksgiving would shatter viewership records—and that prediction came true. In a big way.
The second game on Thanksgiving broke the league’s viewership record for a regular season game by drawing in 57.23 million viewers. The amount is combined from CBS and Paramount Plus viewers. This new record demolished the network’s previous record, which was 42.06 million viewers for the 2022 Thanksgiving game between the Cowboys and Giants.
The Cowboys, who play every year on Thanksgiving, beat the Chiefs 31–24 in the record-breaking game.
The most viewed regular season game in the history of the NFL...
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) December 3, 2025
Breaking the previous record by over 15 million viewers 📈🤯 pic.twitter.com/wHYqSSp0OA
This game wasn’t the only one on Thanksgiving to make a viewership record. The Lions–Packers game, which was the first of the day, drew in 47.7 million viewers on Fox and Tubi, which makes it the most watched early window game on Thanksgiving. This game broke the previous viewership record of 42 million from three years ago, that was until the Cowboys–Chiefs game crushed it even more.
The night game, an AFC North showdown between the Bengals and Ravens, brought 28.4 million viewers across NBC, Peacock and Telemundo, which makes it the most watched late Thanksgiving game in NFL history. A day full of record-breaking games. Good thing the games delivered in terms of competitiveness.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Chiefs–Cowboys Thanksgiving Game Smashes NFL Viewership Record.
