At the unofficial halfway point of the sports calendar, here is a look at the most-watched sporting events of the year so far. Click here to jump straight to the list.
The first half of 2014 was a bit atypical thanks to the Winter Olympics and World Cup. Those two events accounted for exactly half of the 50 most-watched sports telecasts this year — eighteen for the Olympics and seven for the World Cup — and 11 of the top 12 non-NFL events. The Opening Ceremony of the Olympics (31.7M) and the Germany/Argentina World Cup final (26.5M) rank as the two most-watched non-NFL sporting events of the year.
There have been other oddities. Horse racing placed higher on this year’s list than the NBA Finals, as The Belmont Stakes drew 20.4 million viewers (#26) and Spurs/Heat topped out at 18.0 million (#33). NASCAR and golf both plummeted out of the top 50 as the Daytona 500 (9.3M) and The Masters (11.0M) suffered sizable declines. The NFL Draft — not even an actual sporting event — managed to crack the list with 12.4 million viewers on ESPN and NFL Network.
Even in an atypical year, the NFL was still dominant. NFL games took up the top eight spots on the list, led by the Seahawks/Broncos Super Bowl — the most-watched program in U.S. television history. Every NFL game played in 2014 had more viewers than the most-watched World Cup match.
This year’s list also includes several events outside of the top 50.
50 Most-Watched Sporting Events of 2014 So Far
| # | Sport | Event | Net | Rtg. | Vwrs. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NFL | Seahawks/Broncos Super Bowl 48 |
FOX | 46.7 | 112.19M |
| 2 | NFL | Seahawks/49ers NFC Championship |
FOX | 28.5 | 55.91M |
| 3 | NFL | Patriots/Broncos AFC Championship |
CBS | 28.1 | 51.30M |
| 4 | NFL | 49ers/Packers NFC Wild Card |
FOX | 25.8 | 47.10M |
| 5 | NFL | Chargers/Broncos AFC Divisional |
CBS | 23.1 | 41.21M |
| 6 | NFL | Saints/Eagles NFC Wild Card |
NBC | 19.1 | 34.36M |
| 7 | NFL | 49ers/Panthers NFC Divisional |
FOX | 19.9 | 33.30M |
| 8 | NFL | Colts/Patriots AFC Divisional |
CBS | 17.8 | 31.69M |
| 9 | Oly. | Opening Ceremony | NBC | 17.0 | 31.69M |
| 10 | NFL | Saints/Seahawks NFC Divisional |
FOX | 18.1 | 31.10M |
| 11 | NFL | Chargers/Bengals AFC Wild Card |
CBS | 18.9 | 30.90M |
| 12 | NFL | Chiefs/Colts AFC Wild Card |
NBC | 16.0 | 27.58M |
| 13 | World Cup | Germany/Argentina Final |
ABC, UNI | N/A | 26.50M |
| 14 | Oly. | Primetime (2/9) | NBC | 14.4 | 26.32M |
| 15 | CFB | FSU/Auburn BCS Championship |
ESPN, ESPN2, ESNWS | 14.8 | 26.06M |
| 16 | Oly. | Primetime (2/8) | NBC | 13.9 | 25.12M |
| 17 | World Cup | USA/Portugal Group stage |
ESPN, UNI | N/A | 24.76M |
| 18 | Oly. | Primetime (2/11) | NBC | 13.7 | 23.72M |
| 19 | Oly. | Primetime (2/17) | NBC | 13.8 | 23.55M |
| 20 | Oly. | Primetime (2/13) | NBC | 13.4 | 22.94M |
| 21 | Oly. | Primetime (2/10) | NBC | 12.8 | 22.40M |
| 22 | World Cup | Belgium/USA Round of 16 |
ESPN, UNI | N/A | 21.57M |
| 23 | Oly. | Primetime (2/16) | NBC | 12.1 | 21.27M |
| 24 | CBB | UConn/Kentucky Final Four |
CBS | 12.4 | 21.20M |
| 25 | Oly. | Primetime (2/12) | NBC | 12.1 | 20.81M |
| 26 | Horse | Belmont Stakes | NBC | 11.9 | 20.40M |
| 27 | Oly. | Primetime (2/20) | NBC | 12.2 | 20.29M |
| 28 | Oly. | Primetime (2/19) | NBC | 12.2 | 20.19M |
| 29 | Oly. | Primetime (2/6) | NBC | 11.3 | 20.02M |
| 30 | Oly. | Primetime (2/14) | NBC | 10.9 | 19.11M |
| 31 | Oly. | Primetime (2/18) | NBC | 11.2 | 18.93M |
| 32 | CFB | Mich. St./Stanford Rose Bowl |
ESPN | 10.2 | 18.64M |
| 33 | NBA | Heat/Spurs NBA Finals Game 5 |
ABC | 10.3 | 18.00M |
| 34 | Oly. | Primetime (2/15) | NBC | 9.6 | 17.10M |
| 35 | World Cup | Netherlands/Mexico Round of 16 |
ESPN, UNI | N/A | 16.96M |
| 36 | CFB | Oklahoma/Alabama Sugar Bowl |
ESPN | 9.3 | 16.34M |
| 37 | CBB | Kentucky/Wisconsin Final Four |
TBS, TNT, TruTV | 9.2 | 16.25M |
| 38 | World Cup | USA/Ghana Group stage |
ESPN, UNI | N/A | 15.94M |
| 39 | Horse | Kentucky Derby | NBC | 9.4 | 15.30M |
| 40 | NBA | Heat/Spurs NBA Finals Game 2 |
ABC | 9.0 | 15.13M |
| 41 | Oly. | Closing Ceremony | NBC | 8.7 | 15.12M |
| 42 | NBA | Spurs/Heat NBA Finals Game 4 |
ABC | 9.3 | 14.96M |
| 43 | Oly. | Primetime (2/21) | NBC | 8.8 | 14.93M |
| 44 | NBA | Heat/Spurs NBA Finals Game 1 |
ABC | 9.0 | 14.85M |
| 45 | NBA | Spurs/Heat NBA Finals Game 3 |
ABC | 9.0 | 14.78M |
| 46 | CBB | Kentucky/Michigan Elite Eight |
CBS | 8.9 | 14.64M |
| 47 | World Cup | Germany/USA Group stage |
ESPN, UNI | N/A | 14.16M |
| 48 | Oly. | Primetime (2/22) | NBC | 7.8 | 13.28M |
| 49 | World Cup | Germany/Brazil Semifinal |
ESPN, UNI | N/A | 12.40M |
| 50 | NFL | NFL Draft Round 1 |
ESPN, NFLN | N/A | 12.37M |
(Ratings/viewership from various sources, including ESPN, Univision, NBC Sports, Sports Business Daily, Awful Announcing)
