After all the sound and fury, the NFL still dominated the list of most-watched sporting events in 2017. [Click here to jump straight to the main list, here for the list with the NFL excluded, and here for a list of the most-watched events by sport and network.]

The NFL generated 40 of the 50 top sports audiences in the U.S. in 2017, compared to 33 last year and 43 in the last non-Olympic year in 2015. Super Bowl 51 led the way with 111.3 million viewers (113.0M with streaming included), followed by the Packers-Cowboys NFC Divisional Round game (48.5M on TV, 48.9M including streaming). The 2017 regular season alone accounted for 27 of the top 50, more than half the list.

For the second straight year, Game 7 of the World Series was the top non-NFL event. Astros-Dodgers had 28.3 million viewers (28.6 million with streaming included), ranking tenth overall.

College football clocked in at #15, with last year’s Clemson-Alabama national championship scoring 25.3 million (26.0M including streaming). Keep in mind Monday’s New Year’s Day playoff games do not count toward the 2017 list.

A short NBA Finals topped out at 24.5 million viewers (25.1M including streaming) for the clinching Game 5, ranking 18th on the list. The NBA had four appearances in the top 50, more than any other non-NFL event.

College basketball’s top audience placed 24th, 23.0 million for North Carolina-Gonzaga in last year’s title game. The UNC-Oregon national semifinal was the least-watched sporting event to crack the top 50 since this site began doing these lists in 2010, with ranking 50th with 18.8 million viewers.

Top Sports Audiences of 2017

TV+streaming viewership in parentheses

SportsMediaWatch.com # Sport Game Rtg. Vwrs. Net 1 NFL Patriots-Falcons

Super Bowl 51 45.3 111.32M

(113.04M) FOX 2 NFL Packers-Cowboys

NFC Divisional 26.1 48.52M

(48.89M) FOX 3 NFL Steelers-Patriots

AFC Championship 24.4 47.95M CBS 4 NFL Packers-Falcons

NFC Championship 25.0 46.28M

(46.61M) FOX 5 NFL Giants-Packers

NFC Wild Card 21.3 39.35M FOX 6 NFL Steelers-Chiefs

AFC Divisional 19.8 37.11M

(37.37M) NBC 7 NFL Dolphins-Steelers

AFC Wild Card 17.5 29.87M CBS 8 NFL Texans-Patriots

AFC Divisional 16.0 29.82M CBS 9 NFL Seahawks-Falcons

NFC Divisional 16.2 28.70M FOX 10 MLB Astros-Dodgers

World Series Game 7 15.8 28.29M

(28.58M) FOX 11 NFL Lions-Seahawks

NFC Wild Card 14.8 26.89M NBC 12 NFL Patriots-Steelers (91%)

Week 15 Late DH 15.2 26.88M CBS 13 NFL Chargers-Cowboys

Thanksgiving Special 11.1 26.28M CBS 14 NFL Cowboys-Broncos (81%)

Week 2 Nat’l Window 14.3 25.97M FOX 15 CFB Clemson-Alabama

National Championship 14.2 25.27M

(26.03M) ESPN

Megacast 16 NFL Raiders-Texans

AFC Wild Card 14.4 25.06M ESPN &

ABC 17 NFL Vikings-Lions

Thanksgiving Special 11.4 24.74M FOX 18 NBA Cavaliers-Warriors

NBA Finals Game 5 13.5 24.53M

(25.07M) ABC 19 NFL Giants-Cowboys

Week 1 SNF 13.4 24.37M NBC 20 NFL Packers-Cowboys

Week 5 Late DH 13.6 23.86M FOX 21 NFL Packers-Lions

Week 17 SNF (2016-17) 13.0 23.82M NBC 22 NFL Eagles-Rams (90%)

Week 14 Late DH 13.7 23.78M FOX 23 NFL Seahawks-Cowboys (87%)

Week 16 Late DH 12.2 23.03M FOX 24 CBB UNC-Gonzaga

National Championship 13.2 23.00M CBS 25 NFL Seahawks-Packers (89%)

Week 1 Nat’l Window 12.7 22.80M FOX 26 NFL Giants-Washington (76%)

Week 17 Late DH (2016-17) 12.3 22.44M FOX 27 MLB Astros-Dodgers

World Series Game 6 12.6 22.33M

(22.57M) FOX 28 NFL Cowboys-Washington

Week 8 Late DH 12.7 22.02M

(22.15M) FOX 29 NFL Cowboys-Falcons (86%)

Week 10 Late DH 12.8 21.96M FOX 30 NFL Chiefs-Patriots

Kickoff Game 12.6 21.80M

(22.2M) NBC 31 NFL Chiefs-Cowboys

Week 9 Late DH 12.5 21.68M CBS 32 NFL Bengals-Packers (80%)

Week 3 Late DH 12.2 21.27M CBS 33 NFL Cowboys-Eagles

Week 11 SNF 11.9 21.06M

(21.25M) NBC 34 NFL Panthers-Falcons (72%)

Week 17 Late DH (2017-18) 11.45 20.78M FOX 35 NFL Steelers-Chiefs (86%)

Week 6 Late DH 12.0 20.59M CBS 36 NFL Packers-Falcons

Week 2 SNF 11.3 20.24M NBC 37 NFL Panthers-Saints (72%)

Week 13 Late DH 12.0 20.22M FOX 38 NBA Warriors-Cavaliers

NBA Finals Game 3 11.3 20.10M

(20.54M) ABC 39 NFL Rams-Cowboys (32%)

Week 4 Singleheader 11.5 20.06M FOX 40 NFL Saints-Rams (82%)

Week 13 Late DH 11.6 19.90M CBS 41 NFL Bengals-Steelers (63%)

Week 7 Late DH 11.3 19.85M CBS 42 NBA Cavaliers-Warriors

NBA Finals Game 2 10.7 19.73M

(20.16M) ABC 43 NFL Eagles-Seahawks

Week 13 SNF 11.3 19.69M

(19.9M) NBC 44 NFL Falcons-Patriots

Week 7 SNF 11.0 19.24M

(19.4M) NBC 45 NFL Cowboys-Raiders

Week 15 SNF 11.1 19.19M NBC 46 NBA Warriors-Cavaliers

NBA Finals Game 4 10.7 19.06M

(19.44M) ABC 47 NFL Patriots-Raiders (86%)

Week 11 Late DH 10.9 19.03M CBS 48 NFL Packers-Steelers

Week 12 SNF 11.0 18.95M

(19.0M) NBC 49 MLB Dodgers-Astros

World Series Game 5 10.5 18.94M

(19.11M) FOX 50 CBB UNC-Oregon

Final Four 10.4 18.83M CBS

Top Sports Audiences of 2017, Excluding NFL

TV+streaming viewership in parentheses