When it comes to interpreting press releases regarding the audiences for sporting events, there’s a rule of thumb.

The higher the number appears in the release, the better the company thinks the audience is. The lower the number appears in the release, the less impactful the figure is.

And if the number is really bad, there’s no release at all.

For the Week 9 Thursday night game between the Jaguars and Ravens— which was destined to have a non-stellar audience thanks to the Ravens being down to their third-string quarterback — Prime Video led with the fact that the eight-game season-to-date average has outperformed last year’s numbers.

The 33-10 win by the Jaguars, which Prime Video accurately called “lopsided” in the release, generated an average of 13.96 million viewers.

It nevertheless was, as Prime Video notes, a 13-percent bump over last year’s Week 9 Thursday night game. And for good reason. The Week 9 Thursday night game in 2025 featured the Ravens at the Dolphins, a 28-6 Baltimore win.

Even with an audience of less than 14 million in the eighth TNF game of the season, the package is offering 17.15 million per week for 2026.

This week’s game — Commanders at Giants — should do well, given that the Giants are both doing well and occupy the nation’s top market. In Week 11, it’s Colts at Texans. Which won’t be great.

The following week, Prime Video has a potentially massive game on Black Friday between the currently 7-2 Broncos and 6-2 Steelers.

After that, it’s Chiefs-Rams, Vikings-Patriots, 49ers-Chargers, Texans-Eagles (on Christmas Eve), and Ravens-Bengals.