Facing football for the first time all year, the PGA Tour did poorly on NBC over the weekend.
Final round coverage of the BMW Championship, the third event in the PGA Tour FedEx Cup, earned a 1.3 overnight rating on NBC Sunday afternoon — down 13% from last year (1.5) and the event’s lowest final round overnight since 2011 (1.0). That does not include rainout coverage in 2013, which drew a 0.9.
Jason Day‘s dominating win scored the lowest final round PGA Tour overnight this season, falling below the previous mark of 1.5 for the Texas Open. It was also just the 10th of 33 final round telecasts to have a year-over-year decline.
Keep in mind Sunday’s telecast was the first of the season to face NFL competition.
Third round action on Saturday drew a 1.1 overnight — down 21% from last year (1.4) and down 35% from 2013 (1.7). The 1.1 is tied as the lowest for any PGA Tour telecast on a broadcast network this year (excluding rainouts), matching the third rounds of the St. Jude Classic in June and New Orleans Classic in April.
The third round aired in an unusually early timeslot to accommodate NBC’s Notre Dame football coverage.
(Wknd. numbers via Sports Business Daily)
