An NBA doubleheader topped the sports viewership charts for Wednesday, April 10.
Wednesday’s Timberwolves-Nuggets NBA regular season game, in which the #1 seed in the Western Conference was at stake, averaged 1.57 million viewers on ESPN — the largest sports audience of the day. Mavericks-Heat led in with 1.32 million across ESPN (1.23M) and a Kevin Hart-fronted alternate presentation on ESPN2 (86K).
The same night last season coincided with the Play-in Tournament. Compared to the final regular season Wednesday last year (April 5), Mavericks-Heat increased 20% from Bucks-Bulls (1.10M) but Timberwolves-Nuggets declined 5% from Lakers-Clippers (1.66M).
Placing third for the day, the Paris St. Germain-Barcelona UEFA Champions League match drew a combined 0.7 and 1.26 million across CBS (0.49, 830K) and UniMas (0.21, 425K). In other soccer action, a Concacaf Champions League match between Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami and Monterrey of Liga MX averaged 485,000 across TUDN (350K) and FS1 (135K).
Shifting to the Masters, ESPN drew 650,000 for the annual Par-3 Contest — down from 675,000 last year.
Further down the dial, MLB Network averaged an unusually-strong 626,000 for a regional window featuring Orioles-Red Sox or Marlins-Yankees — several times higher than the same night last year (172K). Afternoon matinees clocked in far lower at 172,000 and 170,000.
In the NHL, TNT averaged just 211,000 for Golden Knights-Oilers — down 29% from Stars-Blues in a similar window last year (299K).
Not listed on the below chart, a Rutgers-Maryland college softball game had just 10,000 on BTN, as did a Siena-Marist men’s lacrosse match and Maryland-Johns Hopkins women’s lacrosse match on ESPNU.
Wednesday, April 10 sports ratings
Updated chart (now includes CBS UEFA numbers):
Original chart below:
