CBS broadcaster Jim Nantz called last Thursday’s late-afternoon NFL game a perfect confluence of three of the biggest brands in American culture — the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs and Thanksgiving.

And the result of that confluence?

The most-watched regular season game in NFL history — and a head-spinning viewership number.

A whopping 57.2 million viewers watched Dallas’ 31-28 Thanksgiving Day victory over Kansas City on CBS and Paramount+, per a source with knowledge of the data. The late-afternoon game’s average viewership shattered the previous regular-season record set three Thanksgivings ago in 2022, when the Cowboys and Giants drew 42 million viewers on Fox. Viewership peaked during the game’s conclusion (7:45-8 p.m. ET), when 61.4 million people were tuned in.

The record was not accidental. The NFL made a strategic decision this year to pit its two most-watched teams against each other on its most-watched day of regular-season football. Viewership is the engine that drives the NFL, and setting a new regular-season viewership record, especially by this much, is news that will cross over from the “inside baseball” world of sports media and sports business writers into the broader sports-fan ecosystem.

Earlier in the day, more NFL TV records fell. The Packers’ 31-24 win over the Lions in the early Thanksgiving Day game averaged 47.7 million viewers on Fox and Tubi, becoming the most-watched “early” Thanksgiving game on record and aided by the NFL moving the kickoff back 30 minutes for a 1:00 p.m. ET start. That 47.7 million would have been the all-time NFL regular-season record-setter, if not for the game that followed on rival CBS. The Packers-Lions audience peaked at its conclusion (4-4:15 p.m. ET) with 58 million viewers watching.

In primetime on NBC, the Ravens-Bengals game also set a record for most-watched Thanksgiving night game ever, with an average of 28.4 million viewers across NBC, Peacock and Telemundo.

Fox Sports director of strategy and analytics Mike Mulvihill said that he believes Thanksgiving viewership can still grow, citing that the day is a rare communal experience for millions of Americans.

Viewership for the Bears-Eagles Black Friday game on Prime Video is expected to be available Thursday.

The Thanksgiving Day viewership numbers obviously got a heavy boost from Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel Technology, which offers better data for out-of-home viewership, a massive factor particularly on Thanksgiving. Still, the quality of the game always matters, as does momentum. The Cowboys entered the game following a massive comeback win in thrilling fashion over the Eagles. The Chiefs’ 23-20 overtime victory over the Colts before Thanksgiving essentially saved their season. Then came a very watchable Thanksgiving Day game that was still close in the final quarter.

Both the Chiefs and Cowboys have big challenges ahead to make the postseason. As of today, The Athletic’s NFL Playoff Simulator had the Chiefs with a 37 percent chance to make the playoffs, while the Cowboys were at 23 percent.