The NBA topped the sports viewership charts on a busy Saturday, May 18, a day on which it was not originally set to play any games.
Saturday’s Thunder-Mavericks second round NBA playoff Game 6 averaged a series-high 2.9 rating and 5.60 million viewers on ABC, marking the largest sports audience of the day. The game was moved up from ESPN to ABC at the last minute when the network’s planned Hurricanes-Rangers NHL Game 7 did not come to fruition.
The NBA does not typically schedule Saturday games on the final weekend of the second round, but an extra off-day in the Knicks-Pacers series — necessitated by Caitlin Clark’s WNBA opener — pushed the Thunder-Mavericks game back a night. For more on weekend NBA playoff viewing, including Sunday’s two game sevens, see this page.
Placing a close second for the day, the race portion of horse racing’s Preakness Stakes averaged a 2.8 and 5.30 million on NBC — the largest audience for the second leg of the Triple Crown in three years (2021: 7.01M). Ratings were flat and viewership inched up 1% from last year (2.8, 5.02M).
The third round of PGA Championship placed third, appropriately, with a 2.0 and 3.52 million on CBS — up 4% and 9% respectively from last year (2.0, 3.22M), preceded by lead-in coverage on ESPN at a 0.7 (-6%) and 1.21 million (+2%). See this link for more on PGA Championship ratings.
Rounding out the day’s top five, ABC averaged a 1.1 and 1.71 million for Fever-Liberty and a 0.8 and 1.34 million for Sparks-Aces in a WNBA regular season doubleheader — two of the three largest WNBA audiences ever on the network. The Fever-Liberty game, the third in the career of Caitlin Clark, trailed only Clark’s professional debut last Tuesday as the most-watched WNBA game since 2002. See this article for more on the WNBA numbers.
Further down the dial, Liga MX topped the soccer charts with a 0.6 and 1.34 million for Club America-Guadalajara on Univision. The domestic leagues were much further back as FOX drew a 0.14 and 220,000 for Nashville-Atlanta in MLS and ION topped out at a 0.12 and 168,000 for Angel City-Washington in the NWSL.
Thanks to a rainout, FOX had only one Major League Baseball game Saturday night, as Angels-Rangers turned in a mere 0.6 and 1.10 million. In softball, Kentucky-Oklahoma State topped the NCAA regional slate with a 0.32 and 551,000 on ESPN, leading into Oklahoma-Oregon at a 0.30 and 522,000.
Shifting to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Canucks-Oilers Game 6 drew a 0.53 and 1.01 million on ESPN — down about half from Kraken-Stars last year (1.0, 2.04M). That led into Top Rank Boxing at a 0.33 and 565,000.
Elsewhere, NBC drew a 0.55 and 846,000 for the track and field LA Grand Prix. The UFL topped out at a 0.39 and 673,000 for Memphis-Michigan on FOX, with ESPN2 turning in a 0.16 and 254,000 for Houston-Birmingham later in the night. ESPN2 also drew a 0.33 and 589,000 for Formula 1 qualifying, preceded by a practice session at a 0.14 and 221,000.
Gymnastics’ US Classic, featuring Simone Biles and Gabby Douglas, had a 0.18 and 296,000 on CNBC — down from last year, when it took place in August and marked Biles’ return to competition (0.18, 318K).
Saturday, May 18 sports ratings
