The final round of the Masters dominated the rest of television for Sunday, April 14, but posted one of its smallest audiences in the past three decades.
Sunday’s final round of the Masters averaged a 5.2 rating and 9.59 million viewers on CBS, down 5% in ratings and 20% in viewership from last year and the third-smallest final round audience in the past 31 years — ahead of only the COVID-era years of 2020 and 2021. For additional details on the Masters ratings, see the preceding link.
Placing a distant second for the day, NASCAR Cup Series racing from Texas averaged a 1.3 and 2.31 million on FS1 — flat in ratings and up 4% in viewership from Martinsville on the same weekend last year (1.3, 2.22M). Last year’s Texas race aired in September opposite the NFL and averaged a 1.2 and 2.00 million on NBC. NASCAR led into tape-delayed NHRA at a 0.33 and 574,000.
Over on ESPN, Padres-Dodgers averaged a 1.0 and 1.96 million on Sunday Night Baseball — the most-watched Sunday night game, excluding those involving the Yankees or Red Sox, since 2018. The game started 45 minutes late due to a weather delay. (While weather delays usually have a negative impact on the numbers, it may be the case that starting closer to the once-traditional 8 PM ET start time might have helped.)
Sunday Night Baseball is averaging 1.72 million viewers so far this season, up 20% from the first four games last year.
Earlier in the day on the same network, the Lakers-Pelicans NBA regular season finale averaged a 0.8 and 1.46 million — flat in ratings but down 12% in viewership from Jazz-Lakers last year, a closer game that benefited from Easter Sunday out-of-home viewing (0.8, 1.66M). Bulls-Knicks led in with a 0.7 and 1.18 million, up 21% and 20% respectively from last year’s Hawks-Celtics game (0.55, 988K).
While the NBA aired on ESPN, ABC carried a UFL doubleheader of St. Louis-San Antonio at a 0.6 and 1.02 million and Houston-Michigan at a 0.6 and 974,000. The full third week of the UFL season averaged 840,000 viewers across ABC, FOX and ESPN, about even with week two, and up considerably from the equivalent week of last year’s XFL season on FX and ESPN2 (571K).
Further down the dial, NBC averaged a 0.44 and 672,000 for taped coverage of the weeks-old World Figure Skating Championships. An Aston Villa-Arsenal English Premier League match drew a 0.49 and 923,000 across USA Network (0.32, 607K) and Telemundo (0.18, 316K). In a Fox Sports MLS doubleheader, St. Louis-Austin averaged a 0.17 and 340,000 across FOX (0.14, 274K) and Fox Deportes (0.02, 66K) and Atlanta-Philadelphia a 0.17 and 316,000 (FOX: 0.15, 258K; FOXD: 0.02, 58K).
An Avalanche-Golden Knights NHL regular season game combined for a 0.17 and 302,000 across TNT (0.15, 274K) and truTV (0.02, 28K), preceded by Kraken-Blues at a 0.09 and 152,000 on TNT alone. MLB Network drew a 0.14 and 260,000 for regional action featuring Yankees-Guardians, followed by a 0.14 and 251,000 for joined-in-progress regional action featuring Cubs-Mariners. A college softball game between Texas A&M and Alabama had a 0.11 and 175,000 on ESPN2, preceded by Georgia-Kentucky at a 0.07 and 99,000.
Sunday, April 14 sports ratings
