Total Wild Card audience for 2024 down 9.3 percent from 2023

It was only fitting that the NFL turned out “Awesome” from “Wild Card Weekend.” The final number of the audience was less than great.

Via Associated Press, six games played Saturday through Monday night an average of 28.3 million per game. That’s a 9.3 percent drop from last year’s average of 31.2 million.

It didn’t help that the five games weren’t close either. The absence of significant draw cards like the Cowboys, Chiefs/Taylor Swift and Lions also hurt the final numbers.

A regular season game averaged 17.5 million, down 2.2 percent from 2023.

The next test comes on Saturday and Sunday. Last year’s divisional round averaged 40 million viewers over four games, an all-time record. Having the Chiefs and Lions back in the mix will help, and Sunday night’s Ravens-Bills game features a showdown between two of the top 2024 MVP candidates, quarterbacks Lamar Jackson (the likely winner) and Josh Allen.