An average of 28.9 million viewers tuned in to see Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs defeat Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night, making the NBC and Peacock broadcast the most-watched NFL Kickoff Game in league history, according to NBC Sports.

Viewership of the 2023 AFC Championship Game rematch peaked in the second quarter, with 33 million viewers watching around 9:30 p.m. ET, the network reported.

That marked a five percent increase in viewership over the NFL's previous most-watched season opener, which took place last September when the Detroit Lions kicked off the 2023 campaign with a 21-20 win over the Chiefs.

The season opener set the record despite a storm delay that pushed back kickoff 20 minutes to an 8:40 p.m. ET start.

In addition to setting a new standard for Kickoff Game viewership, the contest compared favorably to other NBC NFL broadcasts throughout the entire season, according to the network.

The game drew an average-minute audience, a calculation that analyzes viewership by dividing it by minute during a certain span of the broadcast, of 4.6 million viewers.

That represents the second-most watched game ever simulcast on NBC and Peacock, second only to Super Bowl LVI between the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals, according to NBC Sports.

The contest had a higher per-minute viewership average than three previous Super Bowls aired on NBC, according to the network.

The top markets for the game were from the two teams' home cities, while Denver, St. Louis, Norfolk, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Austin, Minneapolis, Detroit and Cleveland also ranked among markets tied for the top 10, per NBC Sports.

The game was highlighted by a Ravens comeback attempt in the final minutes, when Baltimore got within seven on a fourth-quarter field goal before getting the ball back on their 13-yard line in the final two minutes.

It looked for a moment like the game would go to overtime thanks to a last-second Ravens touchdown by Isaiah Likely, but the score was overturned after a video review determined he had stepped out of bounds while catching the pass from Jackson, allowing the Chiefs to claim the win.

NBC will look to set more viewership records on Friday night when Peacock streams the season-opening contest between Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers and Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles in São Paulo, Brazil. Kickoff is set for 8:15 p.m. ET.