• Join Puck

    Directly Supporting Authors

    A new economic model in which writers are also partners in the business.

    Personalized Subscriptions

    Customize your settings to receive the newsletters you want from the authors you follow.

    Stay in the Know

    Connect directly with Puck talent through email and exclusive events.

  • What is puck? Newsletters Authors Podcasts Events Gift Puck Careers

The YouTube-NFL Postgame Show

It’s time to argue over the numbers for YouTube’s first NFL game. Was that 17 million figure soft, or should the real conversation be about the 69 million creators whose individualized viewing experience could be key to the league’s future?

Inner Circle Exclusive
nfl chargers chiefs
YouTube’s audience would have ranked among the top 30 broadcasts of 2024, as measured by Nielsen, but still fell far short of expectations for a free game available on an easy-to-access platform. Photo: Buda Mendes/Getty Images
Julia Alexander
September 9, 2025

Join Puck to listen to this article

Around 17.3 million global viewers watched YouTube’s first-ever NFL game last Friday, which pitted Patrick Mahomes’s Chiefs against Justin Herbert’s Chargers in São Paulo—including thousands of broadcasters, media analysts, and media buyers all desperate for a tangible omen about the future of sports media. And yet, despite loads of audience data, none of the game’s viewership numbers brought us any closer to answering the existential questions about the trajectory of sports viewership—and YouTube’s role in that ecosystem, in particular. 

Inner Circle Exclusive

Join us in the Inner Circle

Becoming an Inner Circle member now takes you even more inside to exclusive coverage you won't get anywhere else
Join Inner Circle
  • Exclusive bonus days of select newsletters
  • Exclusive access to Puck merch
  • Early bird access to new Editorial and Product features
  • Invitations to private conference calls with Puck authors