An emotionally resonant edition of New York’s “Subway Series” delivered one of the largest audiences of the baseball season. Plus: NASCAR eked out a high at Richmond; F1 remains hot; and more.
Viewers turn out for Yankees-Mets 9/11 tribute game
Last Saturday’s Yankees-Mets Major League Baseball game — a matchup of New York teams on the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks — averaged a 1.35 rating and 2.40 million viewers on FOX, up 50% in ratings and 46% in viewership from comparable regional action last year (0.9, 1.64M). The Yankees’ comeback win delivered the sixth-largest audience of the season.
The same matchup averaged a 0.8 and 1.33 million on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball the following day, up 61% and 48% respectively from Astros-Dodgers last year (0.49, 896K).
In other action, TBS chipped in just 132,000 for Red Sox-White Sox Sunday afternoon, down 43% from Cubs-Brewers last year (233K). FS1 drew a healthier 325,000 for Indians-Twins Tuesday night.
NASCAR Richmond viewership narrowly hits four-year high
Last Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff race from Richmond (Va.) averaged a 1.1 rating and 1.78 million viewers on NBCSN, narrowly marking the largest audience of the race since 2017 (2.14M). Viewership increased 3% from last year (1.74M), a fraction of a percent from 2019 (1.78M) and 1% from 2018 (1.77M).
Martin Truex Jr.’s win, which peaked with 1.9 million viewers, was the fourth-straight Cup Series race to post an increase over last year.
The corresponding Xfinity Series race chipped in a 0.46 (flat) and 806,000 (+5%).
You guessed it: F1 up yet again
The Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix averaged a 0.5 rating and 880,000 viewers on ESPN2 last Sunday morning, the largest audience for the race since it drew 1.05 million on ABC nineteen years ago (1.05M) and the most-watched edition ever on cable.
Daniel Ricciardo’s win, which peaked at 1.1 million from 10:15-10:30 AM ET, delivered the third-largest F1 audience ever on ESPN’s secondary network, surpassing the previous week’s Netherlands GP.
F1 is now averaging 938,000 viewers on the ESPN networks, up 49% from the comparable number of races last year (631K) and up 40% from the same point in 2019 (668K). Viewership is also up 54% from last year’s full-season average (608K) and up 39% from the full 2019 season (672K).
Plus: IndyCar, WNBA, 30 For 30
Last Sunday’s IndyCar Series race from Portland (Ore.) averaged a 0.48 rating and 806,000 viewers on NBC, down 35% in ratings and 27% in viewership from the last edition of the race in 2019. This year’s race faced the NFL; the 2019 race did not. … ABC drew a mere 0.21 and 283,000 for last Sunday’s Mystics-Sky WNBA game, marking the smallest WNBA audience ever on broadcast TV. Viewership sank 44% from the previous week’s Aces-Sky game, which did not face the NFL (501K). … The debut episodes of the ESPN 30 For 30 “Once Upon A Time in Queens” averaged 604,000 and 643,000 viewers Tuesday night, both topping the Maya Moore-themed “Breakaway” in July (212K) and trailing “Al Davis vs. the NFL” in February (673K).
