The Green Bay Packers helped CBS and Amazon Prime Video set new viewership records to start the 2025 season. Of course, the records come with an asterisk.

During both Week 1 and Week 2, millions from across the country tuned in to watch Matt LaFleur’s team produce an impressive unbeaten start against top NFC teams.

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According to CBS, the Packers’ win over the Detroit Lions drew almost 24 million viewers and was the network’s most watched Week 1 game since the NFL returned to CBS in 1998. It was also the most streamed Week 1 game of all-time on Paramount+.

According to Amazon Prime Video, the Packers’ win over the Commanders in Week 2 was the most watched Thursday night game since the Amazon took over the “TNF” package in 2022. Per Sports Media Watch, the game averaged just under 18 million viewers and topped out over 20 million. The Packers’ win actually broke the record set during a game they lost to the Lions on “TNF” last year.

There is an important piece of context to understand, however. And it helps show why ratings are up to start the season.

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From Awful Announcing:

Of course, all of these records must be viewed in the context of Nielsen’s new Big Data + Panel methodology, which includes data gathered from 75 million connected devices across the country, in addition to the more than 40,000 television households that comprise Nielsen’s standard panel. Those changes, along with an expansion to its out-of-home viewing measurements made in February, have served to supersize live sports ratings the first few weeks of football season, and muddy comparisons to previous years.

Lots of people watched the Packers beat the Lions and Commanders. These were high profile games in high profile time slots with national audiences. The Packers are a big brand, and the addition of Micah Parsons before the start of the season likely added real national hype to both games. But the new records might be juiced by nothing more than a new gathering methodology.

This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Packers set viewership records in back-to-back weeks to start 2025