Sunday’s AFC championship clash between the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills was the most watched conference title game on record, according to The Athletic.
A TV industry source told the outlet that the game averaged 57.7 million viewers throughout its broadcast.
The game, which aired on CBS, saw the Chiefs route the Bills 32-29 to punch a ticket to the Super Bowl in New Orleans in their quest for a three-peat.
Furthermore, it topped the ratings for the NFC championship game starring the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders, which averaged 44.2 million viewers, per The Athletic’s source.
Excluding Super Bowls, the Chiefs-Bills showdown ranks as the second most-watched NFL game of all time behind the NFC title game between the Vikings and Saints in 2009-10.
The Minnesota-New Orleans game averaged 57.9 million watchers as fans witnessed the Saints win their first-ever NFC title in overtime against a Vikings team led by soon-to-be-retired quarterback Brett Favre.
New Orleans would beat the Indianapolis Colts in the Super Bowl that year.
Despite the league’s viewership spike in recent years, the all-time viewership record for any conference championship remains untouched. In 1982, the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers drew 68.7 million pairs of eyes on CBS.
The game would be remembered for ‘The Catch’ by San Francisco’s Dwight Clark.
Kansas City’s showdown with Buffalo is a rematch of last year’s Divisional Playoff classic between the two rivals. Like their previous postseason meeting, the game had fans on the edge of their seats with the protagonists going neck and neck through four quarters.
The Chiefs will take on the Eagles for the Lombardi Trophy on February 9.
