Ratings: Track and field, Summer League and more

Coverage of the World Track & Field Championships — which are taking place in the United States for the first time — averaged 1.98 million viewers on NBC last weekend, the network’s highest average for the event since 2007 (2.08M). Last Sunday’s afternoon window led the way with a 1.35 rating and 2.24 million viewers, the most-watched track & field event on NBC (excluding the Olympics and Olympic Trials) since 2004.

NBC also averaged a 1.19 and 2.13 million for coverage last Saturday afternoon. Primetime windows averaged a 0.9 and 1.58 million last Saturday and a 1.15 and 1.93 million last Sunday. Including cable windows on CNBC and USA Network, the opening weekend of the event averaged 939,000 viewers.

NBA Summer League games averaged 150,000 viewers across the ESPN networks and NBA TV, up 34% from last year, when the games took place in August. Last Sunday’s Summer League Championship (Blazers-Knicks) averaged a 0.17 and 297,000 on ESPN, down from more than 400,000 last year (Kings-Celtics) but up from 2019 on ESPN2 (Grizzlies-Timberwolves: 269K). The most-watched game of the Summer League was Magic-Kings on ESPN July 9 (433K).

Last weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race from New Hampshire averaged a 1.45 rating and 2.40 million viewers on USA Network, up 7% in ratings and 4% in viewership over last year’s race on NBCSN (1.36, 2.3M). … Last weekend’s edition of the SRX racing series averaged a season-high 0.66 and 1.06 million on CBS, the first race of the season to top the million viewer mark. … ESPN’s exclusive Giants-Dodgers Major League Baseball game averaged 992,000 viewers Thursday night, down from the network’s previous exclusive weeknight game two weeks earlier (7/6 Cardinals-Braves: 1.10M). It was preceded by episode two of the ESPN documentary series “The Captain” at 611,000. … Last Saturday’s matinee UFC main event on ABC averaged a 0.58 rating and 951,000 viewers, up from the previous weekend’s primetime main event on ESPN (762K).