First, the results of last week’s predictions.
Source: Sports Business Daily
| Sport | Game/Event | Net |
Prediction
|
Final rating
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NFL | Bears/Broncos | NBC |
4.6
|
6.5
|
| The 6.5/11 final rating for last Sunday night’s Bears/Broncos tilt marks the highest rated NFL preseason game since ’06. | ||||
| LLWS | California/Taiwan | ABC |
2.8
|
2.4
|
| Last Sunday’s Championship Game of the Little League World Series was up 14% over last year’s game, but down 27% from ’07. | ||||
| Golf | The Barclays, Final Round | CBS |
3.6
|
3.2
|
| Aided by the presence of Tiger Woods, final round coverage The Barclays drew a 3.2 rating last Sunday — up 88% from last year, and up 52% from ’07. | ||||
| Tennis | Pilot Penn Tennis, Wozniacki/Vesnina | CBS |
0.4
|
0.6
|
| Rainout coverage of the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament last Saturday was still up 100% over last year’s 0.3. | ||||
This week’s predictions:
| Sport | Game/Event | Date/Time | Net |
Prediction
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| College football | Alabama/Virginia Tech | 8 PM Saturday | ABC |
3.8
|
| The fourth season of Saturday Night Football kicks off with a top 10 battle between Alabama and Virginia Tech. Look for ratings to improve upon the 3.6 for last year’s Clemson/Alabama tilt. | ||||
| College football | BYU/Oklahoma | 7 PM Saturday | ESPN |
2.5
|
| This top 25 matchup features two well known college football programs playing in a high-profile venue — the Dallas Cowboys’ new stadium. Expect this game to do far better in the ratings than last year’s comparable Illinois/Missouri tilt (1.6 rating). | ||||
| College football | Georgia/Ok. St. or Western Michigan/Michigan | 3:30 PM Saturday | ABC |
3.0
|
| Look for this slate of regional matchups to put up a slighly better performance than last year’s comparable games (2.8). | ||||
| College football | Nevada/Notre Dame | 3:30 PM Saturday | NBC |
2.6
|
| NBC begins another season of Notre Dame coverage. Expect Saturday’s tilt against Nevada to draw better numbers than last year’s NBC opener against San Diego State (2.3). | ||||
| College football | Miami/Florida State | 8 PM Monday | ESPN |
3.9
|
| The last time Miami and Florida State played each other on Labor Day, the game drew a massive 5.7 U.S. rating on ESPN. Do not expect ratings anywhere close to that level for this Monday’s game. Last year, Tennessee/UCLA drew a 4.1 U.S. rating. | ||||
| Golf | Deutsche Bank Championship, Final Round | 2 PM Monday | NBC |
3.3
|
| Tiger Woods‘ presence figures to give the Deutsche Bank Championship a massive boost in the ratings. Last year, with Woods absent, final round coverage drew a measly 1.5 final rating. By contrast, final round coverage drew a 3.4 in ’07 (when Woods finished 2nd behind Phil Mickelson) and a 3.9 in ’06 (when Woods won). | ||||
| Tennis | U.S. Open | 11 AM Saturday | CBS |
1.3
|
| 11 AM Sunday |
1.5
|
|||
| 11 AM Monday |
1.6
|
|||
| With ratings up on ESPN2, expect a slight bump for the 2009 U.S. Open on CBS. Last year on Labor Day Weekend, CBS drew a 1.2 on Saturday, a 1.3 on Sunday and a 1.6 on Monday. | ||||
| NASCAR | Pep Boys Auto 500 | 7:30 PM Sunday | ESPN |
3.3
|
| NASCAR ends its run on ESPN with Sunday night’s Pep Boys Auto 500. Though the last two races have both had increases in ratings and viewership, look for this week’s race to be either flat or slighly down versus last year’s comparable Pepsi 500 (3.3 rating). | ||||
| MLB | Red Sox/White Sox or other regional action | 4 PM Saturday | FOX |
1.4
|
| FOX drew a 1.2 rating for MLB coverage on the comparable date both last year and in ’07. Look for Saturday’s rating to be more respectable, though not by much. | ||||
