Sports Ratings Report for Week of June 3-9

Sports Ratings Highlights for Week of June 3-9: Belmont Stakes Edition

Game 1 of the Women’s College World Series finals attracted a substantially larger audience than the MLB game airing on regular ESPN at the time (736k). Does this say more about the matchup (for either game), the fact the WCWS game went into extra innings scoreless, or will ESPN consider switching the two in future years? Or does the WCWS just skew so old that even MLB skews young by comparison?

Numbers compiled from a variety of sources, including TV by the Numbers, The Futon Critic, Sports Media Watch, and Son of the Bronx.

Vwr (mil)

HH

18-49

Net

NBA Finals: Spurs @ Heat, Game 2

14.57

5.8

ABC

NBA Finals: Spurs @ Heat, Game 1

14.24

5.7

ABC

NBA Eastern Conference Finals:
Pacers @ Heat, Game 7

11.565

5.1

TNT

Belmont Stakes
(no Triple Crown at stake)

7

4.5

NBC

NASCAR: Party in the Poconos 400

4.358

2.8

1.0

TNT

Stanley Cup Playoffs, West Finals:
Kings @ Blackhawks, Game 5

3.813

2.2

NBC

Stanley Cup Playoffs, East Finals:
Penguins @ Bruins, Game 4

2.9

1.6

1.1

NBCSN

Stanley Cup Playoffs, East Finals:
Penguins @ Bruins, Game 3

2.844

1.6

1.2

NBCSN

Stanley Cup Playoffs, East Finals:
Bruins @ Penguins, Game 2

2.601

1.5

1.1

NBCSN

Stanley Cup Playoffs, West Finals:
Blackhawks @ Kings, Game 4

2.024

1.2

0.8

NBCSN

French Open, Men’s Final:
Nadal v. Ferrer

2

1.4

NBC

French Open, Women’s Final:
S. Williams v. Sharapova

1.9

1.4

NBC

Stanley Cup Playoffs, West Finals:
Blackhawks @ Kings, Game 3

1.813

1.1

0.7

NBCSN

Women’s College World Series:
Oklahoma v. Tennessee, Game 2

1.315

0.9

ESPN

Women’s College World Series:
Tennessee v. Oklahoma, Game 1

1.238

0.8

ESPN2

NASCAR Nationwide Series
(airing against Sprint Cup)

0.417

0.3

ESPN2

MLB First-Year Player Draft

0.277

0.2

MLBN

Top 20 Most-Viewed Sports Events for Week of May 6-12: THE PLAYERS Championship Edition

Please don’t tell me subsequent ratings roundups have been as bare-bones as this one, otherwise I might have to stop this project. I’d love if anyone has viewership figures for the FA Cup final, and take the HH ratings for the two Bulls-Heat games on TNT with a grain of salt; I had to get them from Bloomberg, which doesn’t make clear which is which.

These numbers are delayed a month to wait for SportsBusiness Daily’s ratings roundup to come out of the paywall. Other numbers from the same sources as before. Numbers in gray interpolated based on the rest of the chart.

Vwr (mil)

HH

18-49

Time

Net

1

THE PLAYERS Championship:
Final Round

7.6

5.0

5/12 2:00 PM

NBC

2

NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals:
Heat @ Bulls, Game 3

6.615

4.2

2.8

5/10 8:06 PM

ESPN

3

NASCAR: Southern 500

5.925

3.8

5/11 7:00 PM

FOX

4

NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals:
Bulls @ Heat, Game 1

5.537

3.6

2.4

5/6 7:00 PM

TNT

5

NBA Western Conference Semifinals:
Warriors @ Spurs, Game 1

5.457

3.6

2.5

5/6 9:54 PM

TNT

6

NBA Western Conference Semifinals:
Spurs @ Warriors, Game 3

5.437

3.6

2.4

5/10 10:52 PM

ESPN

7

NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals:
Knicks @ Pacers, Game 3

5.332

3.5

5/11 8:15 PM

ABC

8

NBA Western Conference Semifinals:
Spurs @ Warriors, Game 4

5.324

3.4

5/12 3:30 PM

ABC

9

NBA Western Conference Semifinals:
Warriors @ Spurs, Game 2

5.314

3.6

2.4

5/8 9:44 PM

TNT

10

NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals:
Bulls @ Heat, Game 2

5.286

3.5

2.3

5/8 7:00 PM

TNT

11

NBA Western Conference Semifinals:
Grizzlies @ Thunder, Game 2

4.752

3.3

2.1

5/7 9:44 PM

TNT

12

NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals:
Pacers @ Knicks, Game 2

3.743

2.5

1.6

5/7 7:00 PM

TNT

13

THE PLAYERS Championship:
Third Round

3.7

2.6

5/11 2:00 PM

NBC

14

NBA Western Conference Semifinals:
Thunder @ Grizzlies, Game 3

3.373

2.3

5/11 5:04 PM

ESPN

15

Sunday Night Baseball:
Angels @ White Sox

1.453

1.0

0.4

5/12 8:00 PM

ESPN

16

NASCAR Nationwide Series:
VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200

1.138

0.7

0.3

5/10 7:30 PM

ESPN2

17

THE PLAYERS Championship:
Second Round

1.08

0.8

5/10 1:00 PM

GOLF

18

THE PLAYERS Championship:
First Round

1.06

0.8

5/9 1:00 PM

GOLF

19

MLB: Braves @ Reds

0.988

0.7

0.3

5/6 7:00 PM

ESPN

20

Stanley Cup Playoffs, First Round:
Bruins @ Maple Leafs, Game 6

0.912

0.5

5/12 7:30 PM

NBCSN

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