8legs: National football league wild card round

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Wild-card round has highest average viewership of six-game format

The wild-card round in the six-game format drew an average of 31.9 million viewers across five networks.
The 2026 wild-card viewership represents a 13-percent increase from last year.
This is the best wild-card audience since the NFL expanded the playoffs to seven teams in 2020.
Historical comparison shows 2016 had a similar average (32.6 million) for four games then.
Four games went down to the wire, while two games were lopsided this year.
The report cites Sports Business Journal as the source for the six-game audience data.
Networks involved in the broadcast included Fox, CBS, Prime Video, NBC and ABC/ESPN/ESPN2.
The six-game format’s increase aligns with a broader post-season viewership trend since 2020.
The analysis notes the wild-card round’s popularity despite varying game competitiveness.
Overall, the report emphasizes strong engagement across the six-game format this postseason.

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