2023 NFL Combine vs XFL Week 3 viewership: Did Anthony Richardson and co. beat Dwayne Johnson’s league?

The 2023 XFL season has successfully made its way through three weeks and viewership and attendance have been positive. Last week, fans were able to get a taste of the upcoming NFL season as the combine took place at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

With the two competing for football fans' attention, how did they stack up?

While the games are broadcast on both FX as well as ESPN+, the latter's streaming service viewership numbers haven't been released. But it clearly doesn't matter.

The XFL matchup between the two undefeated teams in the DC Defenders and the St. Louis Battlehawks averaged 665,000 views. To put that into context, the NFL Combine averaged just 208,000 viewers, NHL games broadcast throughout the weekend averaged 377,000 views and MLS games averaged 317,000 views.

NFL fans were eager to see how Florida Gators quarterback Anthony Richardson and Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud fared at the NFL Combine. However, they didn't necessarily tune in to the broadcast. This leads to the assumption that many NFL fans mostly paid attention to social media updates and posts to get a glimpse at the NFL combine, instead of the continuous broadcast.

XFL viewership 2023: Week 3 ratings explained

The XFL has different rules and concepts than that of the National Football League. But through the first three weeks of the revitalized league, it appears to be winning fans over.

While the game between the Defenders and Battlehawks had better viewership than other games in the league, there was still significant viewership for those games as well.

The Sunday afternoon game between the Orlando Guardians and the Arlington Renegades had 550,000 viewers. The Sunday night game between the Houston Roughnecks and the San Antonio Brahmas brought in 543,000.

The Saturday night game between the Las Vegas Vipers and the Seattle Sea Dragons brought in the lowest number of viewers at 528,000. But this was still higher than other sports broadcasts throughout the weekend.

When Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and his fellow investors bought the league in 2020, they vowed to make it a success and not short-lived (as it has been in the past).

This time there are recognizable players who fans remember from the NFL, as well as from their days playing college football. The league gives them another chance to pursue their football dreams which fans always want to see.