Sports
Ranking the most watchable NFL wild-card games: Packers-Eagles, Vikings-Rams, more
The “wild card” name suggests the unknown or an unpredictable factor, but the NFL’s wild-card weekend is anything but when it comes to viewership.
Last year’s wild-card weekend (six games) averaged 31.4 million viewers, the NFL’s most-watched opening postseason weekend since 2016 (which was four games). The most-watched window of wild-card weekend last year was a matchup between the mega-viewership powers Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys on Fox. That game, won by Green Bay in a rout, drew 40.2 million viewers airing in the 4:30 p.m. ET Sunday window.
What will this year’s wild-card games bring as far as interest? We offer a quick take using a watchability index.
Green Bay Packers at Philadelphia Eagles (Sunday, 4:30 p.m. ET, Fox and Fox Deportes)
Watchability ranking: 10 out of 10
The skinny: This is your weekend viewership monster, given both teams are traditional television powers. There should also be plenty of offense — both teams ranked in the top 10 in points scored and total yards — plus an MVP candidate in Eagles running back Saquon Barkley. The game is being played in the most-watched over-the-air linear television window. Everything lines up for massive viewership.
Favorite: Eagles (-4.5)
Viewership prediction: 37 million
Minnesota Vikings at Los Angeles Rams (Monday, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN, ABC, ESPN+, ESPN Deportes, ESPN2 “ManningCast”)
Watchability ranking: 8 out of 10
The skinny: How will the Vikings react after losing the chance at a first-round bye and home-field advantage for the playoffs? They’ll face a rested Matthew Stafford, who threw four touchdowns against them in a 30-20 win on Oct. 25. There are a ton of Pro Bowl-caliber skill position players here, especially at wide receiver. Look for ESPN to inundate you with content all week. The odds (Vikings -1.5) suggest a tight game.
Favorite: Vikings (-1.5)
Viewership prediction: 30 million
Denver Broncos at Buffalo Bills (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS and Paramount+)
Watchability ranking: 7.5 out of 10
The skinny: Any game featuring one of the favorites for the MVP race (Josh Allen) will rate high as far as viewer interest. Buffalo ranks second in the league in points per game at 30.9, and Denver ranks 10th in points at 24.2 points. Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix tossed 29 touchdown passes this season, the second-most by a rookie in NFL history. It’s the first postseason appearance for the Broncos since the 2015 season, a streak of 3,296 days.
Favorite: Bills (-9)
Viewership prediction: 29.5 million
Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens (Saturday, 8 p.m. ET, Prime Video)
Watchability ranking: 6.5 out of 10
The skinny: Division rivals often make for interesting theater, but these teams are headed in opposite directions. The Steelers have lost four in a row and look like a mess. The Ravens are on a four-game winning streak. Ravens QB Lamar Jackson has had one of the greatest years in the history of the position. Given the game is on Amazon Prime Video instead of a traditional TV network, you’ll see a couple of million less in viewership here.
Favorite: Ravens (-10)
Viewership prediction: 22 million
Washington Commanders at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Sunday, 8 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock, Universo)
Watchability ranking: 6 out of 10
The skinny: This is a sneaky-interesting game, given a star rookie quarterback (Washington’s Jayden Daniels), a reclamation project (Tampa Bay’s Baker Mayfield) and a great time slot. Last year’s Sunday night wild-card game between the Rams and Detroit Lions drew 32.2 million viewers as Detroit won its first playoff game in 32 years.
Favorite: Bucs (-3)
Viewership prediction: 29 million
Los Angeles Chargers at Houston Texans (Saturday, 4:30 p.m., CBS and Paramount+)
Watchability ranking: 5 out of 10
The skinny: This could be an interesting game, given C.J. Stroud and Justin Herbert have a ton of talent at quarterback and there are some decent skill position players around them (including Nico Collins, J.K. Dobbins and Joe Mixon). But the day and time slot suggest this will be the lowest over-the-air network rating.
Favorite: Chargers (-3)
Viewership prediction: 23 million
Additional NFL media notes
The final global numbers for Netflix’s NFL Christmas games are in: The Baltimore Ravens-Texans game averaged 31.3 million viewers globally, and Kansas City Chiefs-Steelers drew 30 million viewers. Netflix said Chiefs-Steelers was in the streamer’s daily top 10 programming in 72 countries, and Ravens-Texans was in the top 10 in 62 countries. (International data is based on first-party Netflix Live + 1 data for TV, mobile and web, along with NFL-reported viewing for the NFL’s international distributors and NFL Game Pass on DAZN outside of the U.S.) It’s a win for both entities and just the beginning for Netflix’s NFL ambitions.
One of the wildest viewership numbers of the NFL season: ESPN’s Week 17 “Monday Night Football” matchup between the Lions and San Francisco 49ers generated an audience of 22.2 million viewers (ESPN, ABC, ESPN+, ESPN Deportes and NFL+). That was MNF’s best for the 2024 season and ranks among the five most-watched games for the franchise since ESPN acquired the rights in 2006.
Amazon Prime Video’s coverage of “Thursday Night Football” averaged 14.23 million viewers this season, per Nielsen’s new Big Data + Panel measurement. Its top game was Packers-Lions on Dec. 5, which drew 18.48 million viewers and a peak audience of 20.29 million. (BD+P measurement features an enhanced methodology that combines data points from approximately 45 million households and 75 million devices with their person-level panel of more than 100,000 people to produce a deeper and more complete view of all Nielsen-measured programs.)
The streamer said its NFL audience had a median age of 49.0 years, nearly seven years younger than the average median age of viewers watching the NFL on linear TV (55.7), and more than 14 years younger than audiences watching prime-time broadcast television during the Fall 2024 season (63.3). Amazon’s NFL pregame show, “TNF Tonight,” had an average audience of 1.53 million in 2024, up 10 percent over its 2023 average (1.39 million).
Sports had 87 of the top 100 most-watched telecasts of the year, per Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal. That’s down from 2023, when 96 of the top 100 were sports. When Karp broadened the list, sports accounted for 182 of the top 200 shows of 2024. The NFL accounted for 70 of the top 100, down from last year’s 93 but almost the same as 2020, the last presidential election year.
Episode 463 of the “Sports Media with Richard Deitsch” podcast featured Karp. In this episode, we discussed the awful news out of New Orleans that left more than a dozen dead and about three dozen injured and how it will impact the Super Bowl news coverage, plus the best viewership scenarios between Notre Dame, Penn State, Texas and Ohio State.
Speaking of podcast listens, University of Nebraska professor John Shrader interviewed several sports media writers around the country for a podcast about covering the people who put on the games you watch. Worth your time.
Last item: My colleague Dan Shanoff reviewed “They Call It Late Night With Jason Kelce,” the first of a four-week “pop-up” experiment in sports TV leading up to the Super Bowl. Said Shanoff: “The results were a not-unexpected mix of raucous, ragged and relatable.” Musician-actor Steven Van Zandt had his own thoughts.
(Photo of Saquon Barkley: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)
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After a slow first round at Aronimink Golf Club in Philadelphia on Thursday, pace of play was a point of emphasis at the PGA Championship on Friday.
However, when an official approached Justin Thomas and Keegan Bradley, they became animated.
Thomas, a longtime Team USA Ryder Cup member, and Bradley, last year’s United States captain, were on the fourth hole when they were approached by an official in a cart, and the conversation quickly turned into finger-pointing.
Justin Thomas and Keegan Bradley watch from the tenth green during the second round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown, Pennsylvania, on May 15, 2026. (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Thomas said after the round that he, Bradley and fellow USA Ryder Cupper Cameron Young, who won the Cadillac Championship earlier this month, were put on the clock, with the official telling them to pick up the pace. However, both Bradley and Thomas appeared to point at the group in front of them.
“We just didn’t really agree with it,” Thomas said, citing course conditions, high winds and tough pins. “We were behind. That wasn’t our issue… It’s just the fact that we weren’t holding up the group behind us.”
Thomas said they were caught up with the pace on the very next hole.
Justin Thomas plays his shot on the 15th tee during the second round of the PGA Championship in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, on May 15, 2026. (Bill Streicher/Imagn Images)
GARRICK HIGGO SHARES BAFFLING COMMENTS WHILE REACTING TO TWO-SHOT PENALTY AT PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
Thomas had a lengthy conversation with the official, while Bradley appeared to make his point short and sweet — though he was definitely not happy with the call.
It is a large PGA Championship field, with 156 golfers at the course and groups even starting their rounds on the back nine. The scores have also been rather high, with just 25 players below par at the time of publishing.
Aronimink also features a shared tee box on 1 and 10, holes 9 and 17 crossing paths, and a lengthy par-3 eighth hole that’s causing problems. Three par-3s are over 200 yards on the course, and there is also a 457-yard par 4 on the fourth.
Keegan Bradley prepares to putt on the 14th green during the first round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, on May 14, 2026. (Bill Streicher/Imagn Images)
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As Chris Gotterup put it on Friday, “You’re not going to get any four-and-a-half hour rounds out here.”
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The Sparks are finally in the win column, but the outcome was in doubt late Friday night.
Behind double-digit scoring from all five starters, the Sparks had by far their best offensive showing of the season, shooting 63.8% during a 99-95 win over the expansion Toronto Tempo.
The Tempo didn’t make things easy, cutting the deficit to two points late and later trailing by just three with 31 seconds remaining and possession of the ball. Marina Mabrey missed a three-point attempt before late Tempo fouls gave the Sparks enough of a cushion to win.
Kelsey Plum nearly claimed a double-double with 27 points and nine assists, while Dearica Hamby had 19 points with seven rebounds and Nneka Ogwumike scored 20 points.
Erica Wheeler, who started in place of Ariel Atkins (concussion), scored 10 points with seven assists and was a plus-16 as the primary ball handler after starting the season two for 16 from the field. That freed up Plum to be in position to score, setting up a much more efficient Sparks offense.
Toronto was shorthanded in the frontcourt without starting center Temi Fagbenle (right shoulder), and the Sparks trio of bigs had a field day with 54 points in the paint.
The Sparks came out firing on Friday, opening with a 17-2 run.
The Tempo went on a 10-0 burst heading into the second quarter but the Sparks countered to maintain momentum and led 46-38 at halftime.
A Wheeler three-pointer early in the third quarter gave the Sparks a 20-point lead. The Tempo cut it to three midway through the fourth while Brittany Sykes (27 points, seven assists) sparked Toronto’s rally. The Tempo put up more shots than the Sparks, 70-58, largely because of a 10-2 offensive-rebounding gap.
Cameron Brink’s 10 points were the only ones provided by the Sparks’ bench, while the Tempo got 42 points from reserves.
Toronto was coming off its first win in franchise history on Wednesday when it defeated Seattle but struggled against a more complete offensive team in the Sparks.
In her return to Los Angeles after winning a national championship with UCLA this spring, Tempo rookie Kiki Rice netted 11 points.
Kate Martin made her Sparks debut as a developmental player with Atkins and Sania Feagin (lower left leg) unavailable and picked up one rebound in six minutes.
The Sparks will face Toronto again on Sunday at Crypto.com Arena.
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The WNBA season has been in session for about a week, so it is far too early to make assumptions about teams. That doesn’t mean we won’t make them; it’s just too early to really believe it. I lost my first WNBA bet this season, so I’m hoping to avenge that loss here as the Sky take on the Mercury.
The Chicago Sky are one of the most poorly run franchises in basketball. They have had some great names on their team and only one championship to show for it.
Phoenix Mercury forward DeWanna Bonner shoots over Indiana Fever guard Aerial Powers in the first half at PHX Arena. (Rick Scuteri/Imagn Images)
There really isn’t a clear indication of what is wrong with the franchise, but they’ve never been able to retain their talent. Aside from Kamilla Cardoso, I can’t name a player on this team that they’ve actually drafted. They just seem to get good players and then show them the door.
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Even though they’ve had questionable front office decisions, they seem to have put together a solid team for this season – something I didn’t expect before the season started.
They are 2-0, which is too early to really say they are a good team. I also want to reserve judgment until they face a team with a longer history than last year. The Portland Tempo played their first-ever game against the Sky, and Golden State was good last year, but still is in just their second season of existence.
The Phoenix Mercury are actually considered one of the best franchises in the league. I’m sure there are issues that people have reported, but for the most part, they have good facilities, and people want to play for their team. They made it all the way to the WNBA Finals last season before falling to the Las Vegas Aces. This year, they are looking to restart that journey and see if they can win the last game of the year.
Phoenix Mercury guard Kahleah Copper dribbles the ball in the second half at CareFirst Arena in Washington, D.C., on July 27, 2025. (Emily Faith Morgan-Imagn Images)
It will need to come with some better play than they’ve shown through three games this year. They are just 1-2 for the year with a 0-1 home record. The lone win was a blowout victory over the Aces (a clear revenge game if we’ve ever seen one). Then they lost the next two games against Golden State and Minnesota. Losing to the Lynx wouldn’t be a problem, but they didn’t have Napheesa Collier, who still has an ankle injury.
I expect the Mercury to make some adjustments for this game. They haven’t looked very crisp to begin the year, but they’ve been strong on offense, averaging 87 points per game.
The Sky are going to keep relying on their offense to do just enough and their defense to lock in. The Sky do have an edge on the interior, so they can get buckets fairly easily down low. I like the over 166.5 in this game.
Chicago Sky guard Skylar Diggins chases the ball during the fourth quarter against the Golden State Valkyries at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on May 13, 2026. (Bob Kupbens/Imagn Images)
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I also think it is worth betting on Kahleah Copper to go over her point total. Copper had two rough games before she broke out in the last game. Now she has the same sight lines and can attack the bigs from the Sky with her athleticism. Since going to Phoenix, she has scored 29, 7, 16, 25 and 28 points in five games against them.
For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on X/Twitter: @futureprez2024
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