A rainy final round of the U.S. Open was no match for a year ago.
Last Sunday’s rain-affected final round of the U.S. Open averaged a 2.4 rating and 5.4 million viewers on NBC (5.05 million per Nielsen, plus Adobe Analytics), down 15% in ratings and 8% in viewership from last year (2.8, 5.9M). According to NBC, viewership was trending up six percent from last year until the rain delay.
Viewership peaked with nine million viewers in the 8 PM ET quarter-hour, down more than 20 percent from last year’s peak of 11.4 million at 6:15 PM ET.
On a Nielsen-only basis, J.J. Spaun’s win was the lowest rated and least-watched final round of the tournament since the COVID-delayed 2020 edition, which aired opposite NFL games (2.0, 3.21M).
After Rory McIlroy’s dramatic win at the Masters soared by more than a third, viewership has declined for the two subsequent major Sundays. Scottie Scheffler’s win at the PGA Championship fell four percent last month.
The full, four-day tournament averaged 2.9 million viewers (Nielsen + Adobe Analytics), trailing only last year (3.1M) as the highest for an East Coast edition of the tournament since 2013 (eight total).
Figures were not immediately available for rain delay coverage, which consisted of an encore presentation of Tiger Woods‘ 2008 victory at Torrey Pines.
