Cardinals-Panthers HOF game embarrasses MLB, NHL in TV viewership

The 2026 NFL Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio, was one for the ages. It turned out to be a classic between the Carolina Panthers and Arizona Cardinals. Carolina QB Haynes King rose to the occasion for the Panthers, scoring the winning touchdown in a 33-30 win.

Not only that, but the NFL Hall of Fame Game crushed it in the ratings. It drew a high of 7 million viewers across NBC and Peacock. It marked the highest viewership since the 2017 Game between the Arizona Cardinals and Dallas Cowboys.

Additionally, the game also destroyed the MLB and NHL in television viewership, per Joe Schad of The Palm Beach Post. It surpassed the most-viewed MLB game this year and all NHL games last season, including the Stanley Cup Finals.

NFL is and it’s not even close https://t.co/P2aQsaBzuW

— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) August 11, 2026

The most-watched MLB game this year was between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox on June 28. In total, that game got over 4 million viewers on NBC Sports.

Meanwhile, the NHL season averaged a total of 564,000 TV viewers across ESPN, TNT, and ABC. Altogether, the Stanley Cup Finals between the Carolina Panthers and the Vegas Golden Knights achieved 5.2 million viewers on ESPN/ABC. The Game 6 clincher averaged 5.9 million viewers.

Once again, the NFL reigns supreme over everyone else. Even during upswings in viewership for something like the Stanley Cup Finals, the NFL maintains its tremendous power across professional sports.

It certainly helps when a preseason game has a dramatic finish and carries the significance and pomp and circumstance of the Hall of Fame with it.

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