Ravens-Chiefs Season Opener Sets NFL Ratings Record

Thursday night's Baltimore Ravens - Kansas City Chiefs thriller of a game brought in over 29.8 million viewers, setting a ratings record for an NFL kickoff game.

Despite the game's start being delayed nearly a half hour due to a nearby lightning storm, football fans flocked to NBC to watch what would be the largest audience of a kickoff game since its inception in 2002, surpassing the 27.6 million that watched the Patriots defeat the Steelers in 2015's opener.

Yes, that's right, football is alive and well and remains dominant across the American landscape.

Fireworks were had both before and during Thursday night's Ravens vs Chiefs game as a record number of viewers tuned in.  (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

MOST WATCHED SEASON OPENER SINCE ITS INCEPTION IN 2002

Most importantly, however - Chiefs fans were able to watch the game in-person and perhaps give them a well-needed homefield crowd boost, something that didn't occur at Friday night's Eagles 34-29 victory over the Packers in Sau Paolo, Brazil. Instead, the NFL jipped two of the most storied and historic fanbases from seeing what turned out to be a heck of a game live, and decided to choose that game to be shown in front of the international audience.

As soon as last night's game started, which was only available on Peacock's streaming service, viewers had all sorts of complaints. From the gamecast picture appearing a bit blurry, to the crowd being lifeless to even sports bettors being angered that the stream is delayed by the time it airs in your house, fans definitely still have issues with watching games in a streaming fashion.

However, Thursday Night's kickoff also brought in 4.6 million on Peacock and NFL's digital streaming platforms, according to Adobe Analytics, proving that no matter how angry fans may be, they are still going to watch the game.