The Thursday Night Football opening night matchup between the reigning Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs and Detriot Lions drew a huge viewership number per a release by NBC Sports Group. The game drew 26.8 million viewers, making it the highest-viewed television show since Super Bowl LVII in February. The numbers shared by NBC Sports Group are measurements based on viewership on NBC, Peacock, NBC Sports Digital, and NFL Platforms. NBC also reports that the game is the second most streamed NBC NFL game ever, even beating out the three previous Superbowls, and only trails Super Bowl LVI.

The Chief's 21-20 loss to Detroit peaked at 29.1 million viewers between 9:15 PM EST and 9:30 PM EST and 27.1 million watched the conclusion of the game from 10:45-11:00 PM. The game saw a 24% increase from the opening night matchup between the Bills and Rams last year, which drew 21.7 million viewers and slightly trailed 2021's seating opening game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Dallas Cowboys.

Fans surely were drawn to the intrigue of the game. Many in the sports world believed that the Chiefs would handle the Lions early, although Detroit was viewed as a viable playoff contender. The Chiefs took the field to start the season without injured superstar tight end Travis Kelcie and Pro-Bowl defensive tackle Chris Jones who is holding out due to a contract dispute with the team.

NBC looks to draw a huge viewership number once again as they will broadcast a huge Week 1 NFC matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants on Sunday at 8:20 PM.