Cardinals-49ers Thursday Night matchup drew 14.6 million viewers

The Arizona Cardinals lost a close one to the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday Night Football, 28-25. A lot of people saw it.

The Cardinals’ Week 9 game, which came down to the wire as Arizona failed to get defensive stops at the end that led to San Francisco remaining undefeated, had a total viewership of 14.6 million across television and digital platforms, the NFL announced Friday.

That viewership includes digital streams and is up 27% compared to last year’s Week 9 Thursday Night Football matchup, which also featured the 49ers along with the Oakland Raiders.

Part of the draw on Thursday this week was seeing rookie quarterback and 2019 No. 1 overall pick Kyler Murray play on national television. Murray went 17-for-24 on passing for 241 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. It likely also helped that people were home for Halloween.

The NFL said in a statement that the Thursday Night Football broadcasts are averaging 15.7 million viewers each week this year, which is up 21% from the same point last year and up 6% from last year’s full season average.

The league also said 808,000 people on average were tuned in to the game at any given moment on digital streaming platforms only. That number was up 53% from the Week 9 Thursday Night Football matchup from the previous year.

The Cardinals’ game on Thursday was their first and, as the schedule is designed now, their only primetime game on the schedule this season.

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