NEW YORK — The Pro Bowl's new, earlier date resulted in more viewers tuning in to the NFL's all-star game.

Sunday's AFC-NFC matchup on ESPN was watched by an average of 12.3 million viewers, the most since 2000. That's up 40 percent from last year's Pro Bowl on NBC, which drew 8.8 million viewers when the event was held after the Super Bowl.

This season's game was in a later time slot, when more people watch TV. But it also had to compete against the Grammys on CBS, which attracted 25.8 million viewers, the most since 2004.