A successful US Open for Fox Sports finished with six-year highs in ratings and viewership.
Sunday’s final round of the US Open earned a 4.4 rating and 7.31 million viewers on FOX, per Nielsen fast-nationals — up 38% in ratings and 44% in viewership from last year (3.2, 5.083M) and up 42% and 44% respectively from 2017 (3.1, 5.075M).
Compared to the previous West Coast US Open in 2015, ratings increased 6% (from 4.2) and viewership 9% (from 6.69M). Versus the previous US Open at Pebble Beach in 2010, ratings fell 24% (from 5.8) and viewership 21% (from 9.27M).
Gary Woodland‘s win, which peaked with 10.17 million viewers from 9:15-9:30 PM ET, ranks as the highest rated and most-watched US Open telecast since the final round in 2013 (5.4, 8.39M). This year marked the first time since 2013 that Tiger Woods made the cut at the event.
Even with the six-year highs, it should be noted that the numbers remain on the low side historically. This year’s final round ranks 27th in ratings and 18th in viewership out of the last 31 (dating back to 1989).
Still, the numbers were strong by recent standards. Outside of the Masters, it was the second-most watched golf telecast in the past five years. Last year’s final round of the PGA Championship holds the top spot (8.47M).
West Palm Beach, Fla., led all markets Sunday with an 8.4 rating. Fellow Florida markets Tampa-St. Petersburg (8.3) and Ft. Myers (8.1) were close behind in second and third. Pittsburgh and Kansas City rounded out the top five at a 7.8 each.
The complete US Open averaged 3.67 million viewers across FOX and FS1, up 28% from last year (2.86M) and up 37% from 2017 (2.69M). Viewership ranks as the highest for the tournament since 2013 (3.93M). Viewership increased 5% from the last West Coast edition in 2015 (3.50M), but declined 14% from the last Pebble Beach edition in 2010 (4.27M).
All four rounds increased double-digits to multi-year highs.
[Numbers from Fox Sports]
