The opening Thursday of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, arguably the biggest single day on the college basketball calendar, of course dominated the March 19 sports viewership charts.
Thursday’s opening round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament averaged a combined 8.5 million viewers per window across CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV, the highest average on the opening day of play since 2015. Oakland’s upset of Kentucky was the most-watched individual game with 6.21 million viewers, making it the most-watched first round game since 2019.
The men’s tournament accounted for the 14 largest sports audiences of the day, with that figure sure to rise to 16 once results are reported for the CBS afternoon games. Additional details on those ratings can be found in the preceding link.
Outside of the tournament, the day’s top sports audience was a mere 387,000 viewers for the second game of the season-opening Major League Baseball Seoul Series between the Dodgers and Padres. Compared to the last time MLB opened its season overseas, viewership increased 24% from the second game of a 2019 Mariners-A’s Tokyo series (311K).
Further down the dial, a Panama-Mexico Concacaf Nations League match averaged 294,000 on TUDN, preceded by the United States against Jamaica at 140,000. English-language coverage of the matches aired on Paramount+, which is not Nielsen-rated.
The opening night of the NCAA wrestling championships averaged 282,000 on ESPN, up 12% from last year (251K). An afternoon session drew 54,000 on ESPNU. Opening round coverage of the PGA Tour Tampa Bay tournament averaged 247,000 on Golf Channel, up 4% from last year’s 237,000.
On the ice, live coverage of the World Figure Skating Championships on USA Network averaged 189,000 in the afternoon and 238,000 in primetime, compared to 133,000 for a live, early morning window last year. ESPN drew 173,000 for a Kraken-Golden Knights NHL regular season game, down sharply from Penguins-Stars last year (312K).
Returning to the hardwood, the second night of the NCAA women’s “First Four” averaged 221,000 viewers on ESPN2, up 6% from last year (208K). In particular, Arizona-Auburn averaged 236,000 (+9%) and UT Martin-Holy Cross 196,000 (-2%).
An NBA regular season doubleheader on NBA TV averaged 167,000, actually up from the same night last year, which coincided with the Sweet 16 (164K). Hawks-Suns drew 201,000 (+22%) and Pelicans-Magic 162,000 (-20%).
Thursday, March 21 sports ratings
Updated chart:
Original chart below:
