NFL claims 82 of top-100 TV broadcasts of 2022 and accounts for 10% of all viewing in the US

Not the World Cup, not the Oscars, not the Winter Olympics, not even the President of the United States could compete with the NFL in 2022, as America’s favorite sports league accounted for 82 of the country’s 100 most-watched telecasts for the calendar year. 

That’s a modern record, according to Sportico’s tabulation, and just the tip of the NFL’s iceberg-sized media impact. The ‘Shield’ was responsible for nearly 10 percent of all live television viewing in 2022, and made an incredible 171.3 billion TV advertisement impressions. 

That the league would exert such dominance over the American media landscape isn’t a surprise. It was only a year earlier that the NFL set a then-record with 75 of the top-100 broadcasts, and that trend had been building for decades.

That the NFL is dwarfing the competition is more of a surprise. 

Neither the NBA, NHL, nor Major League Baseball cracked the top 100 with a single event. The only other sports broadcasts on the list were the College Football Playoff, NCAA men’s Final Four, the Kentucky Derby, and the World Cup, which came in at 38th (Argentina-France final) and 58.

Other contenders included Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address on March 1, as war was unfolding in Ukraine, and the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Another unscripted live telecast, the Academy Awards, drew 16.62 million viewers for 77th on the list, improving on a historically bad showing in 2021. Of course, the 2022 show was buoyed by Will Smith slapping host Chris Rock in the middle of the telecast. 

The Winter Olympics was conspicuously absent from the top-100 besides the No. 36 slot: A 10pm timeslot buoyed by its lead-in, the Super Bowl.

Joe Biden addresses the country at the onset of the war in Ukraine. The State of the Union broadcast ranked seventh among the top-100 telecasts of 2022 

Jordan Davis #99 of the Georgia Bulldogs celebrates with the National Championship trophy after the Georgia Bulldogs defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide 33-18 during the 2022 CFP National Championship Game at Lucas Oil Stadium on January 10 — No. 34 on the Sportico list

Lionel Messi of Argentina, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of Qatar and Gianni Infantino, President of FIFA are seen in the trophy presentation after the World Cup Final match between Argentina and France at Lusail Stadium on December 18 — No. 38 on the list

Dajuan Harris Jr. #3, Jalen Wilson #10 and Ochai Agbaji #30 of the Kansas Jayhawks celebrate after defeating the North Carolina Tar Heels 72-69 during the 2022 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament National Championship at Caesars Superdome on April 4 — No. 67 on the list 

And speaking of the Super Bowl, the Bengals-Rams tilt from Los Angeles unsurprisingly finished first overall with 99.2 million viewers – up from 91 million in 2021.

Most strikingly, the NFL has thus far appeared immune to the cord cutting and other trends negatively impacting the industry. According to Sportico, pay TV bundles were down 10 percent and the top scripted television show, CBS’ FBI, draws an average live audience of just 7.21 million.

For comparison, the NFL’s national Sunday afternoon window shared by Fox and CBS averages 25.8 million live viewers. Meanwhile, NBC’s Sunday Night Football checks in at 19 million live views per broadcast.

So while the overall pie of television viewers is shrinking, the NFL’s portion continues to grow larger. 

Another unscripted live telecast, the Academy Awards, drew 16.62 million viewers for 77th on the list, improving on a bad showing in 2021. Of course, the 2022 show was buoyed by Will Smith slapping host Chris Rock in the middle of the show