Ratings roundups are back, this time featuring increases for NASCAR’s Iowa debut and the U.S. Olympic Trials, plus a near season-high for the NWSL.
NASCAR’s Iowa debut up from first USA race last season
Sunday’s inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race from Iowa, the first of the season on the NBC Sports networks, averaged a 1.4 rating and 2.7 million viewers on USA Network — down a tick in ratings but up 5% in viewership from the first race on USA last season, Atlanta in July (1.5, 2.56M). (NBC’s first race last season, Nashville, aired on its broadcast network and drew a 1.8 and 3.21 million.)
The race delivered the largest Cup Series audience of the season on cable, topping the previous high set by Darlington on FS1.
Olympic Trials off to better start than in ’21
The first three nights of the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials averaged 3.13 million viewers on NBC (including additional streaming viewership not tracked by Nielsen), up 17% from 2021. As one would expect, that figure is still well below the pre-COVID level of 2016 — when the first two nights (the event began on Sunday that year) averaged 5.2 and 4.5 million respectively. The first night of the diving trials averaged 2.74 million, up 42%.
NWSL nears season-high
Sunday’s Seattle-Portland NWSL match averaged 553,000 viewers on CBS, trailing only the Portland-Kansas City season-opener on ABC (614K) as the most-watched match of the season. The match was the final event of a women’s sports tripleheader on CBS that began with a Sky-Fever WNBA game that drew 2.25 million. (CBS)
