The final scheduled event in the NASCAR iRacing series hit a viewership low; the NFL schedule release more-than-doubled last year’s audience. Plus, figures for live cornhole and yet more old games.
NASCAR iRacing quiet at North Wilkesboro
Saturday’s NASCAR iRacing simulation of North Wilkesboro, the final scheduled event in the series, averaged 688,000 viewers across FOX and FS1 — easily the least-watched of the eight iRacing events. None of the previous seven averaged fewer than 900,000.
NFL schedule release doubles last year’s audience
Last Thursday’s NFL schedule release averaged a combined 699,000 viewers across ESPN and NFL Network, up 123% from last year (313K), up 60% from 2018 (437K) and at least a six-year high.
In particular, ESPN averaged 495,000 — up 267% from last year on ESPN2 (135K) and up 85% from 2018 (268K). NFL Network averaged 204,000 (+15%).
Cornhole down from previous live airings
ESPN averaged 232,000 for live coverage of the American Cornhole League on Saturday, down from the network’s previous live ACL telecasts last December (360K) and August (359K). Additional coverage Saturday night averaged 106,000 on ESPN2.
Cavs-Warriors Game 7 leads weekend encores
Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals (Cavaliers-Warriors) led the weekend’s sports encores with a 0.55 rating and 823,000 viewers on ABC Saturday night. It was topped head-to-head by a lineup of WWE encores on FOX (0.62, 968K).
Earlier in the day, Game 6 of the 2015 NBA Finals (Warriors-Cavaliers) averaged a 0.39 and 527,000. Game 5 of the 2017 NBA Finals (Cavaliers-Warriors) averaged a 0.38 and 537,000 on Sunday.
Elsewhere, FOX averaged a 0.33 and 510,000 for a re-air of Super Bowl 36 (Patriots-Rams) Sunday afternoon. NBC pulled a 0.26 and 406,000 for the 2018 Olympic women’s hockey final (U.S.-Canada).
[Nielsen estimates from Sports Business Journal’s Adam Stern/Twitter 5.12; ShowBuzz Daily 5.8 5.12, Sports Business Daily 5.11]
