National Dog Show Beats Cats On Monday Night Football In Week 12 Ratings
Making matters even more embarrassing for the NFL was that the dog show was tape-delayed from the event in mid-November
The NFL has been on a viewership heater lately, and there’s no denying the league is a ratings juggernaut, but even the king gets knocked off the throne every once in a while. That’s exactly what happened during the Week 12 Monday Night Football game between the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers.
That Thanksgiving-week matchup was a ratings disaster for ESPN, attracting only 12.368 million viewers, per Nielsen numbers released on Friday for Nov. 24–30.
And yes, that’s a disastrous number for the NFL — because the game pulled fewer viewers than, say, Ohio State vs. Michigan on Nov. 29. The Buckeyes-Wolverines showdown drew 18.424 million.
Most NFL games average 19–24 million viewers. But Panthers-49ers vastly underperformed and did something even more embarrassing:
THE NATIONAL DOG SHOW PRESENTED BY PURINA -- Pictured: Puli -- (Photo by: Bill McCay/NBC via Getty Images)
Panthers At 49ers Loses To Dog Show
The Monday night NFL game drew fewer viewers than the National Dog Show, which brought in 12.798 million on Thanksgiving Day.
Yes, the dog show got a nice lead-in from the Macy’s parade. But the broadcast was tape-delayed. The event happened nearly two weeks earlier at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center.
So, tape-delayed dogs beat live Cats.
By the way, congratulations to Soleil, the Belgian Sheepdog that won Best in Show.
2025 National Dog Show Best In Show Winner, Belgian Sheepdog named "Soleil". (Photo by: Bill McCay/NBC via Getty Images)
Panthers Don't Attract Big Audience
The Panthers are almost certainly the reason for the poor showing.
It’s not simply that they’re a regional team — it’s that they’re a regional team with no recent success. The Panthers haven’t had a winning season or made the playoffs since 2017.
From 2018 to 2024, Carolina went 36–80 while cycling through head coaches and quarterbacks like a revolving door.
To their credit, the Panthers appear to be coming out of the wilderness now. Coach Dave Canales and GM Dan Morgan have them sitting at 7–6, playing their best football in nearly a decade.
But that still isn’t compelling enough for a national audience. And a 20–9 loss to the 49ers certainly wasn’t compelling enough to drive bigger ratings.
NFL Ratings Are Still Booming
The NFL will live. It’ll be fine.
CBS, FOX, and NBC all posted huge Thanksgiving week numbers even as Panthers-49ers stumbled.
The league dominated Thanksgiving Day, setting records in the early, mid-afternoon, and night games.
A staggering 57.2 million watched the Cowboys and Chiefs games combined on Thanksgiving.
Chew on that, Belgian Sheepdog.