Start of NFL season a huge television draw for NBC

Football roars back in TV ratings

NEW YORK — Football season has come roaring back to TV.

Seven months after the New Orleans Saints’ Super Bowl win became the most-watched TV program ever in the United States, the National Football League scored impressive ratings for the first week of its season.

The Nielsen Co. said that the 28 million people who watched Fox’s game between the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles represented the biggest audience ever for a Sunday afternoon game during the opening weekend of the season. NBC’s prime-time games on Thursday and Sunday also did very well.

The NFL, its sponsors and TV networks spent some $50 million promoting the “back to football” weekend.

NFL marketing chief Mark Waller says high-def TVs, social networks, fantasy football and compelling opening weekend games played a part in driving viewership.