SEC Tournament ratings hit highs and lows over the weekend.
Saturday’s Tennessee-Kentucky SEC Tournament semifinal delivered a 2.1 rating and 3.29 million viewers on ESPN, up 77% in ratings and 80% in viewership from the same window last year (Tennessee-Arkansas: 1.15, 1.83M), and up 67% and 77% respectively from 2017 (Arkansas-Vanderbilt: 1.2, 1.85M).
The Volunteers’ win was the most-watched SEC Tournament game since the 2015 final, when Kentucky clinched an undefeated regular season (Kentucky-Arkansas: 3.31M). Going back further, it delivered the second-largest SEC Tournament audience since the 2010 final on ABC (Kentucky-Mississippi State: 4.10M).
For the season, it ranks as the eighth-most watched college basketball game on any network. Two Tennessee-Kentucky matchups rank in the top ten, with their February meeting on ESPN in ninth place (3.01M).
The good times did not extend to Sunday’s Auburn-Tennessee final, which had a 1.45 rating and 2.24 million viewers — down 6% in ratings and 12% in viewership from last year (Kentucky-Tennessee: 1.5, 2.55M) and down 12% and 16% respectively from 2017 (Kentucky-Arkansas: 1.6, 2.67M).
The Tigers’ win was the lowest rated and least-watched SEC Tournament final since 2013 — not coincidentally, the last time Kentucky was not in the game (Mississippi-Florida: 1.1, 1.65M).
In other SEC Tournament action, Saturday’s Auburn-Florida semifinal had a 1.0 (-23%) and 1.47 million (+37%).
[Numbers from Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 3.19]
