The NFL's season opener, in which the Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots, attracted over 25 million viewers, according to Nielsen data shared by NBC Sports. This marked the fourth straight year that the Kickoff Game reached such high viewership, and it was the largest audience among adults aged 18 to 49 since 2021. The game was viewed across NBC, Peacock, and digital platforms, with an average of 10 million viewers. This event took place on the same night as the opening of the first Republican midterm convention in Dallas, Texas, where former President Donald Trump delivered a live speech broadcast by Fox News. Trump claimed the convention's "overall numbers beat the NFL," but he did not provide specific figures or a methodology to back up his statement. Nielsen data showed the event drew approximately 2.5 million viewers, which is significantly lower than the NFL game's audience. Meanwhile, the NFL's first regular-season game held in Australia, featuring the San Francisco 49ers against the Los Angeles Rams, was viewed by 18.5 million U.S. viewers on Netflix, with a peak of 21.3 million. This highlights a stark contrast in viewership between the two events. Preliminary reports from The New York Times and Mediate, citing Nielsen data, indicated that Trump’s 105-minute speech on the opening night of the two-day Texas convention was viewed by fewer people than typical audiences for Fox News shows like Hannity and Gutfeld!. Between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET on Wednesday, an average of 2.5 million viewers watched Fox News, which is below the usual numbers for those shows. While Fox News broadcast the entire speech, other major networks like CNN, CBS, ABC, and MSNOW chose not to air Trump’s remarks in full. Conservative networks NewsMax and C-SPAN also carried the full address. Trump’s speech, in which he promised to distribute $5,000 to each American adult if Republicans maintain their congressional majority through the 2026 midterms, directly contrasted with the NFL season opener. Trump claimed his opening night speech outperformed the NFL's ratings before final numbers were available. However, the final ratings for the game were not immediately available, though NBC noted that over 20 million people watched the previous season's first game. On Thursday night, Trump’s closing speech coincided with the 49ers-Rams game. Trump also claimed the Dallas arena was packed, despite visible empty sections in the venue. He concluded the event by leading his audience in a mock Pledge of Allegiance, urging them to vote for his allies in upcoming elections. Political insiders had warned the event might face challenges, with some GOP operatives calling the gathering a disaster. A Republican National Committee spokesperson countered that Trump's ability to mobilize voters would provide the momentum needed to expand Republican majorities in November.