Official NFL Release

Fans once again were ready for some football, tuning into NFL Network and visiting NFL Digital Media properties in record-breaking numbers as free agency kicked off Tuesday, March 13 at 4:00 PM ET.

NFL Network's coverage of free agency's first day posted a five percent increase in primetime viewership over free agency's first day last year (July 29, 2011) with an average of 337,000 fans tuning in (compared to 320,000 in 2011). The average viewership is the network's highest ever for the first day of free agency.

In addition, anticipation of the free agency kickoff resulted in an average of 288,000 viewers tuning in to Monday night's special two-hour NFL Total Access free agency preview - ranking with last night's special two-hour NFL Total Access (394,000 average viewers) as the two most-watched NFLTA shows in the month of March in the network's eight-year history.

The NFL's digital media platforms -- including NFL.com, NFL Mobile Only From Verizon and other NFL mobile products -- posted a 40 percent increase in page views compared to the first day of free agency last season.

In addition, Tuesday ranked as NFL Digital Media's highest single-day traffic ever in March in total page views and unique users.