Past the halfway point of 2016, here is a look at the top sporting events of the year so far.
With few exceptions, this year has been marked by declines. The Super Bowl posted declines in ratings and viewership for the first time in three years. College football’s national championship sank double-digits. The NCAA Final Four delivered some of its worst numbers on record. Five of seven NBA Finals games declined. The MLB All-Star Game hit a record low. The Kentucky Derby, Masters and Daytona 500 also fell, as did smaller events like the Indy 500 and Stanley Cup final.
Bright spots have included the most-watched AFC Championship Game in 30 years (Patriots/Broncos), the most-watched NBA game in 18 years (Cavaliers/Warriors Game 7), the most-watched NBA game ever on cable (Thunder/Warriors Game 7), and the most-watched Copa America match ever (Chile/Argentina). And even in a down year, the Super Bowl still delivered the third-largest audience in U.S. television history.
Led by the Super Bowl, the NFL accounts for this year’s ten largest sports audiences in the United States. The AFC Championship Game ranks second (53.3M) and its NFC equivalent third (45.7M). The NBA Finals generated four of the five largest non-NFL audiences, with the Cavaliers’ Game 7 win taking the top spot (31.0M, #11). Outside of the NFL and NBA, the only other events in the top 20 were the championship games of college football (26.2M, #12) and college basketball (17.8M, #20).
Also making this year’s list were the Kentucky Derby (15.5M, #26), Copa America final (9.8M, #37), U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Trials (8.6M, #45) and the first round of the NFL Draft (8.3M, #47). Just missing was the NFL Pro Bowl (8.0M), with the Euro 2016 final (5.9M) and Stanley Cup Final clincher (5.4M) also on the outside looking in. The list of honorable mentions is on page two.
Of note, this year’s list does not include one of the Week 17 NFL telecasts, a regional window on FOX that netted an 8.7 overnight rating. Final numbers for that game were not available, but given the 8.7 overnight it would almost certainly have made the top 50.
| MOST-WATCHED SPORTING EVENTS OF 2016 Through July 13 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Sport | Event | Rtg. | Vwrs. | Net |
| 1 | NFL | Broncos/Panthers Super Bowl 50 |
46.6 | 111.86M | CBS |
| 2 | NFL | Patriots/Broncos AFC Championship |
29.3 | 53.30M | CBS |
| 3 | NFL | Cardinals/Panthers NFC Championship |
24.1 | 45.74M | FOX |
| 4 | NFL | Steelers/Broncos AFC Divisional |
23.6 | 42.95M | CBS |
| 5 | NFL | Packers/Washington NFC Wild Card |
21.8 | 38.85M | FOX |
| 6 | NFL | Seahawks/Panthers NFC Divisional |
21.1 | 36.70M | FOX |
| 7 | NFL | Seahawks/Vikings NFC Wild Card |
21.0 | 35.30M | NBC |
| 8 | NFL | Packers/Cardinals NFC Divisional |
18.8 | 33.73M | NBC |
| 9 | NFL | Chiefs/Patriots AFC Divisional |
18.1 | 31.50M | CBS |
| 10 | NFL | Steelers/Bengals AFC Wild Card |
17.5 | 31.23M | CBS |
| 11 | NBA | Cavaliers/Warriors NBA Finals Game 7 |
15.8 | 31.02M | ABC |
| 12 | CFB | Alabama/Clemson Nat’l Championship |
15.0 | 26.18M | ESPN Megacast |
| 13 | NFL | Chiefs/Texans AFC Wild Card |
14.8 | 25.42M | ABC, ESPN |
| 14 | NFL | Vikings/Packers Week 17 SNF |
13.8 | 24.29M | NBC |
| 15 | NFL | Regional action Week 17 Nat’l Window |
12.0 | 20.88M | FOX |
| 16 | NBA | Warriors/Cavaliers NBA Finals Game 6 |
11.8 | 20.70M | ABC |
| 17 | NBA | Cavaliers/Warriors NBA Finals Game 5 |
11.8 | 20.53M | ABC |
| 18 | NBA | Cavaliers/Warriors NBA Finals Game 1 |
11.1 | 19.20M | ABC |
| 19 | NFL | Regional action Week 17 Nat’l Window |
11.2 | 18.96M | CBS |
| 20 | CBB | Villanova/UNC Nat’l Championship |
10.6 | 17.75M | TBS, TNT, TruTV |
| 21 | NFL | Regional action Week 17 Rgn’l Window |
10.3 | 17.55M | CBS |
| 22 | NBA | Cavaliers/Warriors NBA Finals Game 2 |
9.8 | 17.49M | ABC |
| 23 | NBA | Warriors/Cavaliers NBA Finals Game 4 |
9.8 | 16.57M | ABC |
| 24 | NBA | Warriors/Cavaliers NBA Finals Game 3 |
9.7 | 16.47M | ABC |
| 25 | NBA | Thunder/Warriors WCF Game 7 |
8.9 | 16.00M | TNT |
| 26 | Horse | Kentucky Derby Race segment |
9.0 | 15.53M | NBC |
| 27 | CFB | Stanford/Iowa Rose Bowl |
7.4 | 13.55M | ESPN |
| 28 | CBB | UNC/Syracuse Final Four |
7.3 | 12.94M | TBS, TNT, TruTV |
| 29 | Golf | The Masters Final round |
7.7 | 12.40M | CBS |
| 30 | CBB | Villanova/Kansas Elite Eight |
6.7 | 11.56M | CBS |
| 31 | Auto | Daytona 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup |
6.6 | 11.36M | FOX |
| 32 | NBA | Warriors/Thunder WCF Game 6 |
6.2 | 10.81M | TNT |
| 33 | CBB | Kentucky/Indiana NCAA Second round |
N/A | 10.49M | CBS |
| 34 | CBB | Villanova/Oklahoma Final Four |
N/A | 10.45M | TBS, TNT, TruTV |
| 35 | CBB | UNC/Notre Dame Elite Eight |
5.8 | 10.11M | TBS |
| 36 | NBA | Thunder/Warriors WCF Game 5 |
6.1 | 10.00M | TNT |
| 37 | Soccer | Chile/Argentina Copa America final |
N/A | 9.80M | UNI, FS1 |
| 38 | CFB | Ohio St./Notre Dame Fiesta Bowl |
5.6 | 9.76M | ESPN |
| 39 | Horse | Preakness Stakes Race segment |
5.8 | 9.41M | NBC |
| 40 | CFB | Mississippi/Okla. St. Sugar Bowl |
5.1 | 8.94M | ESPN |
| 41 | CFB | Michigan/Florida Citrus Bowl |
5.1 | 8.76M | ABC |
| 42 | MLB | All-Star Game | 5.4 | 8.71M | FOX |
| 43 | NBA | Thunder/Warriors WCF Game 1 |
5.3 | 8.71M | TNT |
| 44 | NBA | Warriors/Thunder WCF Game 4 |
5.4 | 8.63M | TNT |
| 45 | Olym. | Women’s Gymnastics U.S. Olympic Trials |
5.0 | 8.58M | NBC |
| 46 | CBB | Notre Dame/S.F.A. NCAA Second round |
N/A | 8.39M | CBS |
| 47 | NFL | NFL Draft First round |
5.2 | 8.33M | ESPN, NFLN |
| 48 | CBB | Oklahoma/VCU Second round |
5.1 | 8.26M | CBS |
| 49 | CBB | Duke/Yale NCAA Second round |
N/A | 8.12M | CBS |
| 50 | Soccer | Argentina/USA Copa America semi |
N/A | 8.09M | UNI, FS1 |
| NR | NFL | Regional action | 8.7 overnight | FOX | |
(Numbers from various sources, including Son of the Bronx/Awful Announcing/Programming Insider, Sports Business Daily/Austin Karp, ESPN, Nielsen)
