People were really waiting all day for Sunday night.
The Giants-Cowboys matchup averaged 25.7 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, which made it the most-watched Week 1 “Sunday Night Football” game since 2015 (which also happened to be Giants-Cowboys), NBC revealed in a release on Tuesday.
Viewership for the 28-20 Giants win saw a 4 percent viewership increase from last year’s “SNF” opener between the Bills and Ravens.
It peaked in the second quarter at 29 million.
NBC and Peacock’s showing of the Seahawks-Patriots opener also averaged 25.1 million viewers, making it the first time both the season opener and the first game of “SNF” both averaged over 25 million viewers since 2015, NBC said.
This isn’t exactly an apples-to-apples comparison, as Neilson unveiled a new Big Data + Panel ratings collection methodology in September 2025 and tweaked it as recently as August.
The longtime Giants-Cowboys rivalry was renewed with extra firepower with the hiring of coach John Harbaugh, who got things off to a roaring start with his first victory. Jaxson Dart threw for 230 yards and three touchdowns, while running back Cam Skattebo ran for 81 yards and a touchdown, after which he unleashed his signature backflip.
In the lead-up to the game, though, there was some criticism, particularly from Steve Coughlin, who joined ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt on the “SVPod.” Coughlin said he was tired of seeing the two teams featured again after they’ve largely struggled to find success in the recent past.
“I have zero interest in watching that game,” Coughlin, who goes by the nickname “Stanford Steve” said. “Just seeing those two teams. Giants are going to wear dark jerseys, the Cowboys are going to wear the whites, no matter where the game is. They could be playing in Australia and that’s what the uniforms are going to be.”
Van Pelt noted that the New York-Dallas matchup is shown in primetime so often because of the size of the TV markets and because of the large fanbases.
And, at least for one night, it appears audiences on the whole were not tired of a rivalry game that’s so often played under the lights.
