Football returned on Thursday night, with a game between the Panthers and Cardinals in Canton, Ohio.
Viewers returned, too. Via Sports Media Watch, 6.99 million watched the game on NBC.
It was the biggest audience for the Hall of Fame game since the Cowboys and the Steelers played in 2021. That year, 7.33 million watched on Fox.
It was also the largest number for an NBC HOF game since 2017, when 8.3 million watched the Cowboys and the Cardinals.
The game used to do better when it was played on Sunday night, the day after the enshrinement ceremony. In 2016, a paint-drying snafu during the transition resulted in the Hall of Fame game between the Packers and Colts being canceled.
