On the first Sunday since Labor Day weekend with no NFL or NBA games, NASCAR topped the sports ratings charts for June 2.
NASCAR Cup Series racing from St. Louis averaged a 1.4 rating and 2.46 million viewers on FS1 Sunday afternoon, up a tick in ratings and 14% in viewership from last year (1.3, 2.16M) and the most-watched sportscast of the day — marking the first time since March that NASCAR has topped the charts. Taped NHRA eliminations led out with a 0.31 and 547,000.
Placing a close second, Simone Biles’ victory in the women’s final of the US Gymnastics Championships drew a 1.3 and 2.29 million on NBC — down from last year, when the event marked her return to competition after a two-year layoff (1.6, 2.66M). Taped coverage of the prior night’s men’s competition drew a 0.46 and 724,000 earlier in the day.
Final round coverage of the PGA Tour Canadian Open placed third at a 1.2 and 2.02 million on CBS, down 37% and 39% respectively from last year (2.0, 3.30M) and the lowest rated and least-watched final round of the tournament in at least a decade. In the competing window on NBC, the final round of the US Women’s Open had a 0.6 and 943,000 — down 39% in ratings and viewership from last year (1.0, 1.55M).
Shifting to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, TNT and truTV combined to average a 1.0 and 1.98 million for the clinching Stars-Oilers Western Conference Final Game 6 — up 19% and 25% respectively from Golden Knights-Stars on ESPN last year (0.83, 1.58M). For more on the Stanley Cup numbers, see this article.
Rounding out the day’s top five, ESPN drew a 0.8 and 1.65 million for Cardinals-Phillies on MLB Sunday Night Baseball — down a tick in ratings but actually up in viewership compared to last year’s higher-profile Yankees-Dodgers matchup (0.9, 1.61M).
In the Women’s College World Series, ESPN2 drew a 0.6 and 1.19 million for UCLA-Stanford and a 0.6 and 1.16 million for Florida-Alabama, both up slightly from last year’s lone Sunday night window (Oklahoma State-Tennessee: 0.63, 1.14M). Both games were pushed back due to inclement weather.
With ABC’s Florida-Alabama WCWS game pushed back, the network instead carried NCAA baseball “Squeeze Play” whiparound coverage, which drew a 0.36 and 597,000. The full day of baseball regionals averaged a 0.17 and 310,000 across the ESPN networks,* with LSU-Wofford topping the day’s slate at a 0.40 and 678,000 on ESPN. (* An original version of this post misstated the average.)
On the final day of the UFL regular season, Arlington-DC drew a 0.6 and 893,000 on ABC and Houston-Memphis a 0.38 and 649,000 on FOX.
Further down the dial, French Open coverage drew a 0.51 and 778,000 on NBC. With tennis on NBC, IndyCar from Detroit aired on USA Network and drew a 0.35 and 608,000 — down from last year’s 0.65 and 1.05 million on NBC. PBR bull riding drew a 0.34 and 534,000 on CBS, the lowest for the series on broadcast television since last October.
Caitlin Clark set yet another viewership record as NBA TV averaged a 0.23 and 430,000 for a Fever-Liberty WNBA game, the network’s largest WNBA audience since becoming Nielsen rated in 2010. For more on the weekend in WNBA viewership, see this article.
Finally, an Atlanta-Charlotte Major League Soccer match drew a combined 0.19 and 341,000 across FOX (0.16, 294K) and Fox Deportes (0.03, 47K). On FOX, professional pickleball led-in with a 0.16 and 285,000 — up from a 0.11 and 178,000 on ESPN last year.
Sunday, June 2 sports ratings
