NFL season opener overshadows Trump speech with 25 million viewers

By Harshita Mary ‌Varghese and ​Aditya ​Soni

Sept 14 (Reuters) - More than 25 million viewers watched the Seattle Seahawks beat the New ‌England Patriots in the NFL's season opener last ⁠week, giving the league a strong prime-time start that eclipsed ‌President Donald Trump's speech ‌at a Republican convention.

The Kickoff Game, a rematch of last season's Super Bowl LX, averaged more than ​25 million viewers across NBC and Peacock for the fourth straight year, the Comcast-owned network's sports ⁠division said on Monday, citing Nielsen data. .

The game also delivered NBC's ​largest Kickoff Game audience among adults 18 to 49 since 2021, averaging 10 million viewers ​in the advertiser-prized demographic across ‌NBC, Peacock and the company's digital platforms, NBC said.

The matchup coincided with the ⁠opening night of the first-ever Republican midterm convention, where Trump delivered a speech carried live by Fox News. Trump ⁠said the event's "overall numbers beat the NFL," but did not ​provide figures or explain his methodology.

Nielsen data showed the speech drew about 2.5 million viewers, potentially undercutting Trump's claim.

The NFL's ‌first regular-season game in Australia, meanwhile, drew an average of 18.5 million U.S. viewers ‌on Netflix, with the game between the San ⁠Francisco 49ers and Los ‌Angeles Rams peaking ​at 21.3 million.

(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru and Aditya Soni; Editing by Tasim ‌Zahid)

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