Both French Open singles finals increased double-digits from last year’s months-delayed editions. Plus: figures for NASCAR, IndyCar and the new SRX; plus, slight declines for a weekend of Cardinals-Cubs games on national TV.
French Open singles finals up from last year’s delayed tournament
Sunday’s Novak Djokovic-Stefanos Tsitsipas French Open men’s final averaged 1.9 million viewers on NBC, up 19% from last year’s months-delayed October final (Rafael Nadal-Djokovic: 1.58M) and up 6% from the last time the final aired as scheduled in 2019 (Nadal-Dominic Thiem: 1.79M).
Djokovic’s five-set win ranks as the most-watched French Open men’s final since 2016 (2.00M).
The Djokovic-Nadal semifinal on Friday averaged 1.1 million across NBC and NBCSN, the largest audience for a men’s semifinal since 2013.
In other action, the Barbora Krejcikova-Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova women’s final averaged just 954,000 on NBC Saturday morning — up 25% from an all-time low of 763,000 for Iga Świątek-Sofia Kenin last October, but down 8% from Ashleigh Barty-Markéta Vondroušová in ’19.
NASCAR All-Star Race hits four-year high; plus SRX, IndyCar numbers
Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race from Texas averaged a 1.6 rating and 2.74 million viewers on FS1, the largest audience for the event since 2017 (2.87M). The race, which peaked at 2.9 million viewers, increased 29% in ratings and 32% in viewership from last year’s rescheduled, midweek edition from Bristol (1.3, 2.08M). Compared to 2019, the last time the All-Star Race took place in May from Charlotte, ratings and viewership increased 17% and 12% respectively (from 1.4, 2.44M).
In other NASCAR action, the Xfinity Series from Texas averaged a 0.61 and 957,000 — down slightly from last year on NBCSN (0.63, 973K) — and the Truck Series event there drew a 0.40 (+38%) and 625,000 (+40%).
Shifting to other series, the debut of the SRX averaged 1.30 million on CBS Saturday night. Outside of the NASCAR Cup Series, that ranks as the fifth-largest motorsports audience this year — behind the Indy 500, NASCAR Xfinity Series at Daytona (1.61M) and Talladega (1.60M) and Sunday’s IndyCar Detroit Grand Prix on NBC, which aired in a shortened window due to the French Open (1.38M).
Speaking of that IndyCar race, the audience of 1.38 million ranks as the largest of the season outside of the Indy 500, with the caveat that much of NBC’s window was preempted by the French Open. Race one on Saturday averaged 845,000, bringing the weekend average up to 954,000 — up 3% from the last time the doubleheader was held in 2019 (931K).
Slight declines for Cards-Cubs on national TV
Regional Major League Baseball action on FOX (featuring Cardinals-Cubs) averaged 2.38 million viewers last Saturday night, down 7% from the comparable 2019 window, which featured the same matchup (2.56M).
The following night, another Cardinals-Cubs game averaged 1.56 million on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball — down a fraction of a percent from the same matchup in ’19 (1.57M).
Going back to last week, ESPN pulled 568,000 for Cubs-Pirates on June 7 (+10%) and 490,000 for Royals-Angels last Wednesday.
[Nielsen estimates from NBC, NASCAR, Spoiler TV 6.15 a, b, c, d]
