Ravens-Chiefs set kickoff ratings record with 28.9 million viewers

STAMFORD, Connecticut – Kansas City’s thrilling 27-20 victory over Baltimore on Thursday night was the NFL’s most-watched opener since it began in 2002.

The game averaged 28.9 million viewers, surpassing the 27.6 million viewers who watched the New England Patriots' victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on NBC in 2015. Streaming was not included in the viewership figures until 2016.

That's a 5% increase from the 27.5 million viewers who watched Detroit's opener against Kansas City last year.

Despite a 20-minute delay in the start of the game due to a lightning storm, NBC averaged 24.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen, with the audience peaking at 33 million in the second quarter (9:30-9:45 p.m. ET).

The game also garnered a 37% market share on NBC, the network's highest market share for a regular-season game since it began broadcasting NFL games in prime time in 2006. A market share is the percentage of all television sets being used to watch a broadcast at a given time.

According to Adobe Analytics, streaming on Peacock, NBC and NFL digital platforms averaged 4.6 million.