RIO DE JANEIRO — The NFL's international presence expanded as the Ravens-Cowboys game from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, drew a record audience last Sunday. CBS Sports reported the game averaged 24.9 million viewers, setting a new mark for international NFL contests in records dating to the late 1980s.
The Week 3 matchup also was the most-watched game for CBS in that week since 2014. The Baltimore Ravens secured a 34-31 victory over the Dallas Cowboys, with Tyler Loop's 56-yard field goal deciding the game in the final moments at Maracanã Stadium.
The NFL and CBS strategically positioned the broadcast for maximum viewership. The game was scheduled in a national late-Sunday afternoon slot, a window traditionally recognized as the NFL's most-watched. This differed from the league's typical practice of staging international games in early-morning or primetime slots for U.S. audiences.
Rio de Janeiro's time zone offered a key advantage; it is only one hour ahead of the U.S. Eastern time zone. This allowed for greater scheduling flexibility compared to games held in Europe or Australia, which often require significant time adjustments for American viewers.
Additional factors contributed to Sunday's strong audience metrics. A severe nor'easter impacted much of the densely populated U.S. Northeast corridor, potentially keeping more viewers indoors. The game also concluded after Major League Baseball's final regular-season games and after the league's playoff field had been set, removing direct competition for sports fans.
Ticket sales for the Maracanã game reflected broad international interest, with purchasers from 67 different countries. Brazilian fans accounted for 88.3 percent of the total, while 6.9 percent were from the U.S. 0.9 percent from Mexico and 0.6 percent from the United Kingdom.
The record Brazil game highlighted a strong week for NFL viewership across multiple networks. Amazon Prime Video averaged 16.8 million viewers for its Thursday Night Football coverage of a Falcons-Packers game, marking a 2 percent increase from the comparable game in 2025.
This viewership represents Amazon's best start since it gained exclusive rights to Thursday Night Football in 2022. The online retail and streaming giant continues to build its audience for the weekly NFL fixture.
CBS has maintained robust NFL viewership through the first three weeks of the season. The network is averaging 19 million viewers for its overall NFL coverage, a 6 percent increase from the comparable period in a record-setting 2025 season. These figures support CBS's bullish outlook for the current NFL season.
These strong numbers reflect an upswing in NFL viewership observed during Week 2. This trend effectively reverses a 13 percent viewership decline that occurred in Week 1 of the season, showing the league's ability to rebound quickly.
NBC Sports presented a slight divergence from the overall positive trend. Its Sunday Night Football game between the Broncos and Rams averaged 20.8 million viewers, an 18 percent decrease from a comparable Week 3 game last year involving the Giants and Chiefs. Despite this, each of NBC's first four NFL games this season has topped 20 million in average viewership for the third consecutive year.
