With the four playoff teams a foregone conclusion, the College Football Playoff Selection Show had a big drop on ESPN. In other news, the inaugural American Athletic Championship also had a sizable decline, and the MLS Cup earned its second-smallest audience on ESPN.
CFP Selection Show Down Big on ESPN
- The complete four-hour College Football Playoff Selection Show drew 1.1 million viewers on ESPN last Sunday, down 51% from last year, when coverage aired for two and a half hours (2.2M). Viewership was not immediately available for the 12:30-1 PM ET portion, when the playoff selections were announced. (via Awful Announcing)
Inaugural AAC Championship Down Big on ABC
- The inaugural American Athletic Championship Game between Houston and Temple drew a 1.8 final rating and 2.5 million viewers on ABC last Saturday, down 36% in ratings and 40% in viewership from Iowa State/TCU last year (2.8, 4.1M) and down 62% and 66%, respectively, from Oklahoma/Oklahoma State in 2013 (4.7, 7.3M). (via Sports Business Daily)
MLS Cup Hits Near-Low on ESPN
- Last Sunday’s Crew/Timbers MLS Cup had 668,000 viewers on ESPN, down 31% from Revolution/Galaxy last year (964K) but up 32% from Real Salt Lake/Sporting Kansas City in 2013 (505K). Portland’s win scored the second-smallest MLS Cup audience ever on an English-language network, ahead of only 2013. The four smallest MLS Cup audiences have taken place in the past six seasons. UniMas and Univision Deportes Network chipped in an additional 506,000, bringing the total audience up to 1.2 million. (via SBD)
