ESPN achieved a historic milestone in NFL viewership with Lamar Jackson's incredible performance in the Baltimore Ravens' 34-10 victory over the Houston Texans on Saturday night. According to a company news release, the game became the most-watched NFL game in ESPN history, drawing a staggering audience of nearly 32 million viewers.

The highly anticipated matchup, which was aired on ESPN, ABC, ESPN+, and ESPN Deportes, captivated football fans nationwide. The viewership numbers reached their peak during the third quarter, surging to an impressive 36.2 million viewers. This surpassed ESPN's previous record of 31.2 million viewers set in January 2023 when the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2023 wild-card round.

ESPN has been broadcasting NFL games since 1987, and this latest achievement marks the sixth time in the past two seasons that the network has seen its most-viewed game broadcasts. Alongside this record-breaking game, ESPN's "Monday Night Football" broadcasts also saw a successful 2023 season, with its three most-viewed MNF games occurring in November and December 2023.

The Texans-Ravens game's exceptional viewership not only solidified ESPN's record but also surpassed the NFL game marks from all Disney-owned channel broadcasts, except for Super Bowls. This includes games aired on ABC, with the company having previously aired Super Bowl XXXIV, Super Bowl XXXVI, and Super Bowl XL.

While ESPN celebrated their remarkable achievement, NBC also made history with their exclusive Peacock broadcast of the Miami Dolphins versus the Kansas City Chiefs in the wild-card round, attracting 23 million viewers. This made it the most-streamed game in NFL history. Furthermore, the AFC Championship Game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs on CBS garnered an average of 53.1 million viewers.

This extraordinary NFL viewership record for ESPN can be traced back to 2021 when the league announced its new set of national television deals with its media rights partners through the 2033 season. As part of this deal, ESPN was awarded a divisional-round playoff game in addition to its existing wild-card playoff game, ensuring a guaranteed significant viewership regardless of the teams involved. This mirrors Fox's success with their broadcast of the Green Bay Packers versus the Dallas Cowboys, which drew a massive 40 million viewers.

With the expansion of out-home-viewing metrics, the viewership numbers for last Saturday's game are expected to be eclipsed in the coming years, especially with ESPN's future Super Bowl coverage. However, it is worth noting that the Texans-Ravens game, while securing ESPN's highest NFL viewership to date, falls short of ESPN/Disney's most-watched ever game telecast. That crown belongs to the January 4, 2006 Rose Bowl game between Texas and USC, which garnered an astounding 35.6 million viewers on ABC.

This record-breaking viewership for Lamar Jackson's exceptional performance highlights the enduring popularity of the NFL and the significant role of ESPN in delivering thrilling football moments to a vast audience. The network's commitment to broadcasting high-quality sports content continues to captivate fans and set new benchmarks in televised sports.