KC Chiefs vs. Buffalo Bills Sets Record for Most-Watched Divisional Playoff Game Ever

Patrick Mahomes vs. Josh Allen lived up to the hype both on the field and in the television ratings.

On the NFL's Super Wild Card Weekend, the Kansas City Chiefs' matchup against the Miami Dolphins on Peacock captured many eyes and set a new streaming record in the process. Just over a week later, their recent outing against the Buffalo Bills continues that trend of putting up insane numbers.

According to a Tuesday release from Paramount, Chiefs vs. Bills on CBS set an all-time record for viewership of a Divisional Round playoff broadcast. Drawing in an average of over 50 million viewers, this is a sizable increase over 2023's similar window and the first time a second-round postseason outing reached that specific mark. The broadcast peaked at more than 56 million viewers and was the most-streamed live event on Paramount+ in his history. Here's more from Paramount: 

CBS Sports’ presentation of Chiefs-Bills is the most-watched NFL Divisional Playoff Game ever and the first to surpass 50 million viewers, averaging 50.393 million viewers and up +10% vs. last year’s comparable window (Cowboys-49ers, 45.659 million viewers). The previous record was 48.522 million viewers for Cowboys-Packers on Jan. 15, 2017.

Per Paramount's data, Kansas City's game in Orchard Park was also the most-watched program on any network since Andy Reid's team took down the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII last year. That's nearly a 12-month window in which the stage was eventually set for yet another classic playoff thriller to draw in a huge audience.

Sunday's Chiefs vs. Bills Divisional Round tilt certainly lived up to the hype. Featuring five lead changes and some late drama, it was one of the better contests of the 2023-24 NFL postseason thus far. Mahomes was terrific, completing 17 of his 23 pass attempts for 215 yards and a pair of touchdowns. On the other side, Allen played a clean game when dropping back and had three total touchdowns on the evening. 

Although the end result was similar to those of past Kansas City-Buffalo playoff meetings, football fans were clearly excited about it. This Sunday's AFC Championship Game between the Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens is bound to be another good one — once again on CBS — so don't expect last weekend to be the final time there's a significantly high number of folks tuning in.

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