For many, the NCAA Tournament is placed rather high on the list of appointment sports events, right behind the Super Bowl and ahead of the World Series, NBA Finals and even the BCS. In a list of the most valuable sporting events, Forbes placed the Final Four ahead of the Winter Olympics, the Kentucky Derby and the aforementioned World Series and NBA Finals.
Despite the coverage March Madness gets, despite the office pools and the mainstream interest, the television ratings indicate that the tournament isn’t much bigger than early season NASCAR and the NBA Finals — and that it is actually below the World Series.
Last year’s Final Four drew ratings of 9.1/19, 8.2/15 and 11.2/18 for George Mason/Florida, UCLA/LSU and Florida/UCLA respectively, an average of 9.5 — directly between the 8.5 rating of the 2006 NBA Finals and the 10.1 rating of the 2006 World Series. That was down 20% from the 12.0 Final Four average in 2005.
While that rating is far from poor, it does place the Final Four in the middle of the road, along with other ‘mid-major’ sports events like The Masters, the World Series, the NBA Finals and the Daytona 500.
March Madness is often referred to as an event that attracts a mammoth audience — and the event does deliver strong ratings on a consistent basis. However, those strong ratings for early round NCAA Tournament games still don’t place much higher than the average for NASCAR on FOX. Last year’s first and second round games drew an average rating of 5.9. That early round average is 55% higher than the average for early round NBA playoff games on ABC, but only 5% higher than last year’s average for NASCAR on FOX, and actually even with last year’s Division Series and LCS coverage on FOX.
Adding in the Final Four, the 2006 NCAA Tournament drew a 6.3 rating for 26 telecasts on CBS — still only 12% higher than the average for NASCAR on FOX and all 16 NBA Playoff games on ABC, but 9% lower than the 6.9 average for all 21 baseball playoff games on FOX.
Putting the numbers in perspective:
(all games, including Championship rounds)
6.9: 2006 MLB Playoffs, FOX (21 telecasts, 5 in Division Series, 11 in LCS and 5 in World Series)
6.3: 2006 NCAA Tournament, CBS (23 telecasts in early rounds, 3 in Final Four)
5.6: 2006 NASCAR on FOX (first half of NASCAR season)
5.5: 2006 NBA Playoffs, ABC (9 telecasts in early rounds, 1 in Conference Finals, 6 in NBA Finals)
March Madness is a marquee event on the sports calendar. However, it is still behind the World Series, and only slightly above NASCAR and the NBA when it comes to television ratings.
