The Premier League returned with its third-largest weekday audience since NBC acquired rights. Also: weak numbers for the UFC and boxing; last weekend’s results for the NASCAR Xfinity Series and PBA and PBR tours.
Premier League returns strong on NBCSN
Wednesday’s Arsenal-Manchester City English Premier League match averaged 518,000 viewers on NBCSN, marking the third-largest weekday EPL audience since the NBC networks began airing coverage in 2014. Keep in mind that excludes holidays, including a New Year’s Day match between Manchester City and Arsenal this year (742K).
Man City’s win trails only a 2018 Chelsea-West Brom match that benefited from an Olympic lead-in (605K) and Manchester City-Liverpool early last year (542K).
Head-to-head, the match trounced the competing Coppa Italia final on ESPN (Napoli-Juventus: 122K).
Earlier Wednesday, Sheffield-Aston Villa averaged 240K. It was the first Premier League match since the season was halted in March.
UFC on ESPN continues to slide
The tenth UFC on ESPN main event averaged a 0.56 rating and 908,000 viewers last Saturday night, down 13% in ratings and 11% in viewership from the network’s previous main event two weeks earlier (0.64, 1.02M). Not counting a March card that was moved to ESPN at the last minute, it was the least-watched main event on linear TV since last October on ESPN2 (805K).
Prelims averaged a 0.35 and 551,000, down 24% in ratings and 29% in viewership from the previous week’s PPV prelims (0.46, 775K) and down 10% in both measures from two weeks ago (0.39, 615K).
Top Rank under 400K again
The latest edition of Top Rank Boxing averaged 350,000 viewers on ESPN Tuesday night, up 13% from the previous telecast five nights earlier (311K), but down 12% from its return the previous week (397K). Top Rank has averaged 354,000 viewers since returning from hiatus, less than half the audience of its last pre-pandemic card in February (862K). Keep in mind the February card had a college basketball lead-in.
Plus: NASCAR Xfinity, Bowling, Bull Riding and SC
Race one of last weekend’s NASCAR Xfinity Series doubleheader at Homestead averaged a 0.9 rating and 1.46 million viewers on FOX, while race two earned a 0.49 and 715,000 on FS1. Last year’s lone Xfinity race at Homestead — the season finale — averaged a 0.7 and 1.20 million on NBCSN. … Last Saturday’s Professional Bowlers Association Tour “Summer Clash” averaged a 0.57 rating and 890,000 viewers on FOX, up 16% in ratings and 15% in viewership from the previous week’s “Strike Derby” (0.49, 776K). … Coverage of the Pro Bull Riders Tour averaged a 0.43 and 630,000 on CBS last Sunday, down 17% and 19% respectively from the previous week (0.52, 775K). … Monday’s SportsCenter special “The Return of Sports” averaged 219,000 viewers on ESPN, slightly behind the 6 PM ET SportsCenter that preceded it (224K) and the 11 PM ET edition that followed (222K).
[Nielsen estimates from NBC Sports; ShowBuzz Daily 6.16 a, b; 6.17; 6.18]
