Sunday’s NFL divisional round playoff game between the Houston Texans and New England Patriots was a disappointment for Houston fans, but for network executives, it was anything but.
On Thursday, ESPN announced its broadcast of the Texans–Patriots game set a network viewership record, becoming ESPN’s most-watched event ever outside of the Super Bowl.
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The network said the broadcast averaged nearly 38 million viewers across ESPN, ABC, and ESPN Deportes, with viewership peaking at 44.9 million late in the second half.
ESPN's Divisional Round presentation delivered a historic audience‼️
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) January 22, 2026
More on ESPN's most-watched event ever: https://t.co/9CzmwIL9qp pic.twitter.com/0O9XEmINEx
The game surpassed the previous record set by last season’s Texans–Chiefs playoff matchup, which drew 33.8 million viewers.
“Airing across ESPN, ABC, and ESPN Deportes, the game averaged 37,965,000 viewers, and across ESPN and ABC alone, 37,907,000 viewers,” ESPN said in a web article announcing the milestone.
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The broadcast also shattered Disney’s non–Super Bowl sports viewership record, surpassing the 2006 Rose Bowl on ABC. In that game, quarterback Vince Young led the Texas Longhorns to an upset BCS National Championship victory over the heavily favored USC Trojans—a matchup many fans still regard as the greatest college football game ever played.
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Beyond sports, the Texans–Patriots game also became Disney’s most-watched telecast in more than a decade, dating back to 2014.