September marks a pivotal moment in American television. As summer fades, networks reset their programming strategies to capture audiences returning from seasonal routines. Within this landscape, football holds a commanding presence—not just as a sport, but as a cultural and commercial juggernaut. Its return each fall shifts the rhythm of prime-time schedules, anchors weekend viewership, and substantially lifts advertising revenue. From flagship NFL matchups to high-stakes college games, football’s seasonal comeback isn’t just expected—it’s relied upon.
In the 2023 season, the return of NFL and college football delivered a measurable surge in both ratings and ad sales for broadcast networks, reaffirming sports as the cornerstone of traditional TV. This dynamic continues to shape network strategies, driving year-to-year growth during a critical ratings period.
Television audiences followed a predictable rhythm in 2023. During the summer, broadcast networks experienced a noticeable lull in viewership. According to Nielsen data, total day ratings across the Big Four broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX) slipped by roughly 14% in July compared to the same period in 2022. Without tentpole live events driving engagement, weekday primetime slots leaned heavily on unscripted shows and reruns—neither of which sparked significant audience growth.
That trend reversed decisively in September. The return of football reignited interest, with viewers flocking back to live games in numbers not seen since pre-pandemic seasons. Nielsen’s Live + Same Day data showed a 23% week-over-week viewership boost among adults 18–49 during the 2023 NFL Opening Weekend, and the first full week of college football delivered ABC’s most-watched Saturday since 2017.
This seasonal rebound made one reality unequivocal—audience appetite for live sports remains unshaken. Despite evolving content consumption habits, fans continue to prioritize real-time experiences they can’t replicate on-demand. Football, in particular, holds a unique position. It doesn't just attract casual viewers—it anchors weekends, drives social conversation, and shapes TV habits across demographics.
Momentum picked up with each weekend, demonstrating that sports programming doesn’t just fill a schedule gap—it redefines it. Before football returned, networks were leaning on game shows and dramatized reality. After September kicked off, they leaned on football to reestablish primacy in the weekly ratings race. The difference in outcomes was measurable and immediate.
September marked a turning point for broadcast television as the return of football delivered a swift uplift in weekly viewership. Networks like Fox, CBS, NBC, and ABC reported steady audience growth throughout the month, driven primarily by NFL and college football telecasts. These marquee games reclaimed prime TV real estate, drawing millions back to linear programming after a sluggish summer schedule.
Fox commanded two critical weekend slots in September and capitalized with consistent ratings dominance. On Sundays, the network’s coverage of marquee NFL matchups, particularly in its late afternoon national window, not only topped all TV programs for multiple weeks but also drove household share to its highest levels since 2019.
Fox’s “Big Noon Saturday” broadcast also cemented its status as the premier college football window. The Sept. 9 game between Texas and Alabama averaged 8.8 million viewers, making it the most-watched regular season college football game on any network in nearly two years. The network followed up on Sept. 23 with Ohio State vs. Notre Dame, which topped 10.5 million viewers — the best in the “Big Noon” series history according to network-released data.
Games weren’t just games. They turned into event TV again — the kind that attracted appointment viewing, social chatter, and advertiser confidence. As other programming struggled to rebound from earlier scheduling delays, football revived momentum, especially for traditional broadcast TV platforms.
Broadcast television’s ratings surge in September didn't occur in a vacuum—professional and collegiate football directly fueled that rise. The National Football League, long the undisputed ratings behemoth, once again delivered top-tier numbers. But college football also mounted a formidable return, particularly with marquee matchups early in the season that captured widespread attention.
No regular television programming outperforms the NFL. In September, NBC’s Sunday Night Football opener between the Dallas Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers drew 24.8 million viewers, making it the most-watched telecast on any network since Super Bowl LVII. For comparison, that single game outdrew the average 2022 primetime Emmy Awards audience by nearly 500%.
Even regular afternoon slots delivered results: CBS saw a year-over-year increase of 10% across its Sunday national games, averaging 17.5 million viewers during September. Fox’s broadcasts ranked similarly high, particularly when regional rivalries or playoff implications came into play.
College football didn't lag far behind. ESPN’s broadcast of the Notre Dame vs. Ohio State clash on September 3 brought in 10.5 million viewers, making it the network’s most-watched regular-season college game since 2017. ABC also capitalized, pulling a strong 7.2 million viewers for the matchup between Florida State and LSU over Labor Day weekend.
The return of traditional rivalries, amplified by fans back in stadiums and full schedules, powered a 30% jump in average viewership for top-tier college matchups compared to the same period in 2021, according to Nielsen data.
Across all broadcast networks, NFL games achieved a rare consistency. In September, football games occupied seven of the top ten weekly broadcasts by viewership. That level of dominance extends beyond sports—it consistently outpaces scripted dramas, reality shows, and live events outside of sports.
College football added to that footprint on Saturdays, creating reliable weekend tentpoles for ABC, Fox, and ESPN. The success of both leagues ensured that nearly every major broadcast outlet either led or significantly improved its performance year-over-year in prime slots anchored by football content.
As viewership surged for both NFL and college football games in September, advertising revenue climbed in tandem. Networks converted audience momentum into financial gains, with buyers aggressively pursuing ad space tied to highly rated matchups. Live football, with its appointment-viewing appeal, once again commanded premium pricing—and advertisers didn’t blink.
The rise in television ratings directly translated to an uptick in cost per mille (CPM) for prime slots during key games. According to iSpot.tv, NFL in-game advertising brought in over $1.3 billion in national TV ad spend during the 2023 regular season, marking a 3.6% increase over 2022. Average CPMs for Sunday Night Football slots hovered near $75, while marquee games—such as season openers and divisional rivalries—pushed well past $85. Networks like NBC, FOX, and CBS capitalized quickly, implementing dynamic pricing structures adjusted week by week based on viewership patterns.
Brands across auto, tech, and quick-service restaurants (QSR) led the charge. Automotive companies like Toyota, Ford, and Hyundai returned heavily to in-game placements, launching end-of-summer campaigns with high-frequency rotations. Technology firms—Amazon Web Services, Apple, and Google among them—leveraged pre-roll slots and branded segment sponsorships, targeting dual-screen audiences tuned in on linear and digital platforms.
Fast food giants, notably McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Taco Bell, filled heavy rotation blocks during halftime and late-game commercial breaks. These advertisers favored football's live format—where ad skipping becomes non-existent—and utilized the reliable, male-heavy audience demographics for tailored messaging tied to limited-time food promotions.
Beyond linear, digital ad revenues for streaming telecasts registered sharp growth. Platforms like Paramount+, Peacock, and ESPN+ monetized concurrent streams using audience-based selling models. These services offered real-time programmatic inventory aligned with demographic segments, driving personalized ad experiences.
A Nielsen study in Q4 2023 reported that 21% of all sports streaming impressions during weekends were related to live football, highlighting how over-the-top (OTT) platforms expanded their ad inventory and appeal to mid-size buyers priced out of linear primetime. With higher completion rates and lower skip-throughs on live streams, inventory—especially during timeouts and pre/post-game coverage—delivered measurable ROI for direct-to-consumer brands.
Between 2020 and 2022, fall football staggered beneath the weight of pandemic disruption. Games were postponed or outright canceled. Entire programs operated in isolation. Stadiums, once centerpieces of community gathering and national spectacle, echoed with artificial crowd noise piped through television broadcasts. TV schedules flexed and fractured, as everything from college kickoffs to Monday Night Football adjusted to testing protocols and outbreak management. Viewer habits shifted in response, reflecting the uncertainty on the field.
Today, that fragmentation has ended. Stadiums brim with fans again — tens of thousands filling bleachers, waving banners, roaring with each snap. The rhythmic consistency of full-season schedules has returned. Homecomings, rivalry weekends, and primetime matchups unfold without the unpredictability that marked the COVID-era seasons.
Broadcasters leverage this return with precision. Producers now amplify crowd noise not as a fill-in, but as an authentic broadcast feature. When Alabama's Bryant–Denny Stadium explodes after a last-second touchdown, or Lambeau Field erupts during a frigid December fourth quarter, it's not just sound — it's energy, and producers cut straight into those moments. Camera shots linger on painted faces and packed stands. Sideline reporters lean into the vibe of a full-capacity venue. Drone footage sweeps wide to show massed attendance as a visual counterpoint to the empty scenes of seasons past.
Nationally, this renewed vibrancy communicates reliability. A packed Michigan Stadium on a Saturday afternoon signals more than a return of fans — it reinforces that the game's central place in American weekends is intact. With consistent game times and uninterrupted coverage, networks rally audiences around familiar rituals, using full stadiums not simply as a backdrop, but as a strategic asset in visual storytelling.
Every decibel from the bleachers, every crisp return to regular programming cadence — these aren't just enhancements for diehards. They're part of a recalibrated broadcast landscape where football, finally unshackled from pandemic limitations, reasserts its dominance through every widescreen and surround sound setup nationwide.
Real-time football broadcasts have reasserted their status as unmatched vehicles for audience engagement. As the 2023 season kicked off in September, digital chatter surged. Twitter/X timelines lit up with instant reactions, memes, and celebratory threads within seconds of touchdown drives or controversial referee calls. Sunday traffic spikes on Reddit’s r/NFL approached postseason levels, with top threads surpassing 20,000 comments during primetime windows.
Fantasy football platforms mirrored that energy spike. According to Sleeper, one of the major fantasy apps, user activity on Sundays jumped by 38% compared to off-season benchmarks. Lineup changes, live scoring, and group chats poured millions of micro-interactions into digital ecosystems during live games. ESPN’s Fantasy app broke its own single-day engagement record twice in the first four weeks of the season. This dynamic isn't passive—it keeps users tethered to screens, commentary threads, and highlight feeds, syncing second-screen behaviors with broadcast content.
Mobile viewing has completely reshaped game-day habits. As reported by Nielsen, more than 36% of viewers aged 18–34 tuned in to live football via smartphones or tablets during September 2023. Concurrently, short-form highlight content on platforms like YouTube and Instagram reels saw a 52% year-over-year increase in daily views on Mondays—the morning-after effect powered by morning commuters and office scrolls.
Meanwhile, sports betting integration turned passive spectators into active participants. FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM each reported double-digit increases in in-game bets placed during nationally televised games. FanDuel saw a 43% increase in live bets compared to the 2022 season kickoff, driven largely through mobile apps and ad placement during broadcasts.
All these touchpoints—social threads, mobile streams, betting dashboards, and fantasy management tools—create a sprawling feedback loop. A red-zone touchdown leads to a Twitter reaction, a spike in search activity, a bet adjustment, and a highlight replay viewed ten thousand times before the next drive starts. Network partners amplify this loop through integrated promos, real-time commentator references, and calls-to-action cross-promoting digital experiences.
Live football no longer exists solely on linear schedules. It pulses across platforms, seeding engagement in ecosystems far beyond the television set. Engagement isn't just deep—it's fast, wide, and sustained across devices and timelines.
Even as viewers continue migrating to streaming platforms and cable subscription numbers drop, live football broadcasts have reinforced the resilience of linear television. General entertainment programming has absorbed the brunt of cord-cutting, with series and films increasingly consumed via on-demand services. Yet live sports — especially football — continue to defy that shift.
Football games remain quintessential "appointment viewing." Fans don’t just watch games; they block off time, gather in groups, and tune in live. This real-time engagement drives high viewership that’s difficult to replicate through streaming or on-demand content. No pause button. No binge schedule. Just kickoff at 1:00 PM Eastern, followed by a national conversation that builds in real time.
Networks like Fox and CBS maintain dominance by anchoring their Sunday programming around NFL matchups. Despite fluctuations elsewhere in their lineups, their afternoon football blocks continue to draw tens of millions on a weekly basis. According to Nielsen data from Q3 2023, CBS's average NFL broadcast audience increased by 4%, reaching just over 18 million viewers — even as cable households declined by nearly 7% year-over-year.
Linear TV’s advantage lies in its ability to deliver dependable large-scale audiences, especially during marquee matchups. Streaming services have made gains in simulcasting live sports, but disparities remain in latency, regional access, and overall user experience. For the millions who want instant access without delay or technical glitches, the linear broadcast still delivers.
The continued success of broadcast football, despite accelerating cord-cutting, confirms what networks and advertisers already know: live games aren't just filling programming slots — they’re holding up entire programming ecosystems.
Broadcast networks don’t just schedule around football — they build full-season strategies that capitalize on its viewership gravity. Every fall, programming grids undergo precise calibration to align with football broadcasts, maximizing lead-ins and retention across time slots. This pattern intensified in September when football returned with renewed energy and audiences followed.
Fox provides a textbook example. Sundays are anchored by NFL matchups, consistently among the week’s most-watched programs. Directly following these games, Fox slots new or returning dramas and comedies — shows like “The Simpsons”, “Family Guy”, or high-stakes premieres of scripted series, driving stronger launch numbers due to the massive NFL lead-in. Saturdays bring college football to the forefront, delivering solid primetime exposure and extending the brand’s visibility across two key weekend nights.
This strategy does more than just boost same-day ratings. It cross-pollinates audiences from sports into entertainment, creating a content ecosystem that benefits from football’s momentum. NBC mirrors this tactic with “Sunday Night Football”, where high-profile games pair with tentpole reality shows like “The Voice” during the week. ABC wraps college football into its Saturday primetime block, giving the network a live audience anchor beyond traditional drama lineups.
Streaming services have adapted the same model with a digital edge. Peacock uses exclusive NFL content and Sunday night simulcasts to attract subscribers, bundling live games with on-demand originals. Meanwhile, Paramount+ leverages SEC and Big Ten football rights to draw in regional audiences, converting sports fans into subscription accounts. These platforms don't just air games — they package them with bonus content, archived matchups, and sports-focused originals that deepen user engagement post-broadcast.
Networks no longer treat football as just another programming block. Live sports, especially in the fall, now serve as primetime scaffolding — a foundation around which schedules are constructed, premieres are timed, and audience flow is engineered. The return of football in September didn’t just restore viewership; it recalibrated the blueprint of network strategy.
Football’s return in September sparked more than a ratings surge—it reshaped how and where fans engage with the game. Today's football viewership spans an intricate mesh of platforms, reflecting evolving habits that blend traditional and digital access points.
Cable and broadcast TV still command the largest live audiences, particularly for marquee matchups aired on Sundays and primetime slots. Yet fans no longer rely on a single screen. In parallel, mobile apps, connected TV platforms, and streaming websites have become core companions during the broadcast experience.
Television hasn’t lost relevance—it’s gained new allies. A clear example: ABC’s Saturday college football games are complemented by real-time stats and alternate camera angles through the ESPN app. As a result, fans toggle between linear TV and interactive mobile experiences, deepening engagement without diminishing traditional viewership.
Connected TVs saw a 34% year-over-year growth in sports streaming hours during Q4 2023 on platforms like Roku and Amazon Fire TV (Conviva, 2024). Households increasingly use smart TVs to access live broadcasts through apps, bypassing cable but still consuming network content. Tablets also saw increased game-day usage, particularly among multitasking viewers who monitor fantasy teams while watching live action.
Want to know where your audience is watching? Ask what devices are plugged in. The modern football fan is just as likely to cast an ESPN broadcast from their phone to the living room screen as they are to watch via antenna. This hybrid model defines the new normal—cross-platform by default, not design.
September football TV ratings surged across major networks, resetting the broadcast TV calendar in 2023 with a wave of renewed momentum. After two years of pandemic-related volatility, the consistent return of NFL and college football provided a measurably strong rebound in live viewership. According to Nielsen, the NFL alone drew an average of 17.9 million viewers per game during the 2023 regular season—a 7% year-over-year increase and the highest mark since 2015. College football followed suit, particularly in primetime, where ABC’s “Saturday Night Football” averaged over 6.4 million viewers, up 12% from 2022.
Advertising revenue responded in tandem. Fox NFL ratings 2023 reflected direct gains in primetime CPMs, as brands banked once again on appointment viewing. Disney reported ESPN’s Monday Night Football ad inventory sold out before kickoff weekend, while CBS saw a double-digit revenue increase tied to AFC broadcast rights. Revenue wasn’t just about volume—it was about demand clustering around live football as a scarce, high-value commodity in an on-demand world.
For network programmers, football in September isn’t simply a ratings booster—it’s a foundational strategy. By scheduling content around football tentpoles, networks stabilize weeknight performance, funnel audiences into lead-out shows, and strengthen audience retention across time slots. NBC’s Sunday Night Football continues to anchor its weekend lineup; Fox tailors Sunday animation blocks to follow afternoon games directly. This synergy elevates viewership beyond the field by ensuring football serves as a gateway to broader programming slates.
In an ecosystem reshaped by digital-first trends, football’s pull remains undeniable. While cord-cutting accelerates and platforms fragment, live sports guarantees presence. That presence translates not only through televisions but also via authenticated apps, mobile streaming, and second-screen social commentary. NFL viewership trends 2023 illustrate this reality—total viewing minutes rose across platforms, supported by real-time engagement and cross-promotion across legacy and digital mediums.
Football’s return each September reaffirms its status as a leveraged constant for broadcasters looking to cut through fragmented audience habits. From studios in Bristol to control rooms in Hollywood, its role is not supplementary; it underpins strategy, revenue, and relevance. For those tracking how NFL boosts fall TV networks or exploring where to watch college football live next season, the answer remains the same—start with broadcast, because that’s still where the game begins.
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