NEW YORK — The Emmy Awards can boast of an audience bigger than it’s been in three years, despite some tough competition from pro football.

The Nielsen Company estimates that 13.3 million people watched Sunday’s Emmy telecast. That’s 1 million more than last year’s show, which was the least-watched Emmys ever, and the most since the 16.1 million who watched in 2006.

This increase came despite a Giants-Cowboys game on NBC that scored the best overnight ratings of any prime time pro football game in 11 years. Nielsen doesn’t have a final estimate for the football viewership, but network analysts say it’s likely to be in the 20 million to 25 million range.

Neil Patrick Harris earned strong reviews for his turn as Emmy host.