Viewership for the ESPY Awards was on the lower side.
Wednesday’s ESPY Awards averaged a 1.3 rating and 2.18 million viewers on ABC, topping only the COVID-affected years of 2020 and 2021 as the least-watched edition of the show since 2011 (1.98M). In the past 30 years, only one other edition of the show has had a smaller audience, Norm Macdonald’s much-remembered turn hosting in 1998 (2.10M).
Ratings fell 22% and viewership 17% from last year (1.6, 2.64M), when the event took place a week earlier than usual, aired on a Thursday night, and was delayed due to an ABC News special report. Compared to two years ago, when it aired in its usual spot on the night after the MLB All-Star Game, ratings fell a tick and viewership 7% from 2.3 million.
The ESPY Awards has settled in the two million range since returning to its usual schedule in 2022. In the five years prior to COVID, it averaged well over three million each year — including nearly eight million in its ABC debut a decade ago and just shy of 3.9 million in 2019.
Among sports awards shows, the ESPYs ranks behind the NFL Honors on FOX and NFL Network in February (2.30M) and the Heisman Trophy Presentation on ESPN last December (2.52M).
