Ratings: USWNT, NBA Draft overnights, NHL Awards

Thursday’s United States-Sweden FIFA Women’s World Cup match earned a 3.0 overnight rating on FOX, down 14% from the third USWNT match in the 2015 tournament, against Nigeria on a Tuesday night (3.5). The 2015 match had the significant benefit of airing in primetime, though it also faced competition from the NBA Finals.

The 3.0 marks a 36% increase over the previous weekday afternoon U.S. match, against Thailand the previous week (2.2). Figures include pre-match coverage; match window numbers were not immediately available.

Washington, D.C., led all markets for the game with a 4.5 rating. Portland and Kansas City tied for a close second at a 4.4. Austin, Tex. (4.2) and Atlanta (4.1) rounded out the top five.

Despite earlier start times for this year’s France-based tournament, the full Women’s World Cup group stage increased 13% over 2015 in the metered markets. The exact average was not immediately available.

The 2019 NBA Draft earned a 2.5 overnight rating on ESPN, down a tick from last year (2.6), down 7% from 2017 (2.7) and the lowest for the event in three years (2016: 2.4). Going back further, the 2.4 is the second-lowest since 2012 (2.3).

Overnights declined despite the presence of Duke F Zion Williamson, who was drafted #1 overall. As Sports Business Daily noted, this year’s draft lasted 45 minutes longer than last year, which may have played a role in the dip.

This year’s NHL Awards averaged 200,000 viewers on NBCSN, up 1% from last year (198K), but down 66% from 2017 — when the event included the Vegas Golden Knights expansion draft (595K). Outside of 2017, it was the most-watched NHL Awards since at least 2014.