JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Jaguars may not have delivered a win in Sunday’s 27-24 Wild Card Round playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills, but they scored a massive television rating.
Locally, the game posted a huge 32.7 household rating and a 77 share on CBS47, according to early Nielsen data, translating to more than 275,000 households.
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The broadcast peaked late in the 4th quarter at a 35.3 rating and 80 share, underscoring just how locked-in local viewers were as the game reached its most nail-biting moments.
To put that performance in perspective, a 32.7 rating means nearly one-third of all television households in the Jacksonville “small market” were tuned in.
Jaguars Head Coach Liam Coen used “small market” as a rallying cry after Denver Broncos Head Coach Sean Payton used the term to describe the team prior to their game earlier this season.
The 77 share is even more staggering, indicating that more than three-quarters of TVs that were actually in use at the time were watching the Jaguars. In practical terms, if a TV was on, it was overwhelmingly likely to be set to the game.
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Nationally, according to CBS, the game averaged nearly 33 million viewers. That figure is up 5% from the comparable game last season and represents the most-watched early Sunday wild-card contest on record for any network.
“NFL ON CBS” follows up its record-breaking regular season with the most-watched AFC Wild Card game in the early Sunday window on record
— CBS Sports PR (@CBSSportsGang) January 13, 2026
🏈 Bills-Jaguars averaged 32.710 million viewers, up +5%
🏈 Peaked with more than 41 million viewers pic.twitter.com/whI5OFurxy
The game drew an announced crowd of 70,250 in the final full-capacity game at EverBank Stadium before renovations reduce seating next season. The Jaguars will play in Orlando during the 2027 season before returning to Jacksonville and the stadium of the future.
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