• by Wayne Friedman , September 10, 2010

A repeat of last season's NFL Championship game got this NFL season off to a good start -- the best prime-time ratings for the sport in 13 years.

A special Thursday night season opener featuring a 14-9 win by New Orleans Saints over the Minnesota Vikings, rocketed NBC with a Nielsen preliminary 17.7 household rating/28 share. In 1997, the Denver Broncos faced the San Francisco 49ers and earned a 19.3/30.

The game bested the 2003 Thursday night season opener New York Jets-Washington Redskins 14.5/23, and was 28% higher than last year's NFL Kickoff which drew a 13.8/23 for the Tennessee Titans-Pittsburgh Steelers overtime game.

The game featured the return football favorite Brett Favre -- again as quarterback of the Vikings -- and the Saints, who went on to win last season's Super Bowl against the Indianapolis Colts. The contest's best viewership occurred in the 9:30-10 p.m. EST hour, when the rating peaked to an 18.8/29.

In New Orleans, the game registered a walloping 60.0 rating/78 share; Minneapolis, 43.8/64.

For the night, NBC easily beat other networks combined. Overall, NBC dominated prime time with 15.9/26 average household numbers. CBS was in a distant second place at a 4.5/7; ABC was next with a 3.3/5, followed by CW at a 2.6/4 and Fox at a 2.4/4.