In a year of ratings milestones for various sports, the NFL still dominated the competition. As usual, there are three lists provided — 1) the 50 most-watched sporting events overall, 2) the 50 most-watched non-NFL sporting events, and a list of the top events by sport.
The NFL generated 43 of the 50 largest U.S. sports audiences in 2015, including 14 of the top 15. The Super Bowl took the top spot as usual, setting a U.S. television record with 114.4 million viewers, followed by the Packers/Seahawks NFC Championship (49.8M) and Cowboys/Packers in the Divisional Round (44.4M).
Outside of the NFL, the top sporting event was Ohio State/Oregon in college football’s national championship. A cable-record 34.1 million viewers watched ESPN’s “Megacast” coverage, good for seventh place on the list. All three games of the inaugural College Football Playoff made the top 20, with January’s playoff semifinals ranking 16th (Ohio State/Alabama in the Sugar Bowl) and 18th (Oregon/Florida State in the Rose Bowl).
Sandwiched between the semifinals was Duke/Wisconsin in college basketball’s national championship (#17), the most-watched basketball game since the 1998 NBA Finals. It was only non-football event to crack the top 25 and one of two NCAA Tournament games to make the top 50.
Ranking just outside of the top 25 was the USA/Japan FIFA Women’s World Cup final (#26), the most-watched soccer match in U.S. TV history. The NBA Finals topped out at just 40th place, despite averaging its largest audience since the aforementioned 1998 series.
Several notable events ranked outside of the top 50. American Pharoah‘s Triple Crown run at the Belmont Stakes was not among the top 60, nor was Alabama’s blowout of Michigan State in December’s College Football Playoff. Further down the list, the World Series failed to crack the top 70, The Masters the top 100, the Daytona 500 the top 110, and the Stanley Cup Final the top 150. Except for the Stanley Cup Final, all of those events made the top 50 with the NFL excluded.
50 Most-Watched Sporting Events of 2015
Ratings and viewership obtained through various sources, including Nielsen, ESPN PR, Sports Business Daily, NBC Sports, Fox Sports, and CBS/Turner Sports.
| # | Sport | Event | Rtg. | Vwrs. | Net |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NFL | Patriots/Seahawks Super Bowl 49 |
47.5 | 114.44M | NBC |
| 2 | NFL | Packers/Seahawks NFC Championship |
27.4 | 49.84M | FOX |
| 3 | NFL | Cowboys/Packers NFC Divisional Round |
24.9 | 44.38M | FOX |
| 4 | NFL | Lions/Cowboys NFC Wild Card |
23.6 | 42.32M | FOX |
| 5 | NFL | Colts/Patriots AFC Championship |
22.5 | 42.14M | CBS |
| 6 | NFL | Colts/Broncos AFC Divisional Round |
23.3 | 41.82M | CBS |
| 7 | CFB | Ohio State/Oregon National Championship |
18.6 | 34.15M | ESPN Megacast |
| 8 | NFL | Ravens/Patriots AFC Divisional Round |
19.6 | 34.05M | NBC |
| 9 | NFL | Panthers/Cowboys Thanksgiving special |
14.3 | 32.49M | CBS |
| 10 | NFL | Panthers/Seahawks NFC Divisional Round |
17.2 | 31.02M | FOX |
| 11 | NFL | Seahawks/Cowboys Week 8 nat’l window |
17.0 | 29.39M | FOX |
| 12 | NFL | Cowboys/Packers Week 14 nat’l window |
16.5 | 28.88M | FOX |
| 13 | NFL | Panthers/Saints (61%) Week 13 nat’l window |
16.3 | 28.58M | FOX |
| 14 | NFL | Patriots/Giants Week 10 nat’l window |
16.3 | 28.32M | CBS |
| 15 | NFL | Bengals/Colts AFC Wild Card |
17.0 | 28.30M | CBS |
| 16 | CFB | Ohio State/Alabama Sugar Bowl (playoff) |
15.2 | 28.27M | ESPN |
| 17 | CBB | Duke/Wisconsin National Championship |
16.0 | 28.26M | CBS |
| 18 | CFB | Oregon/Florida State Rose Bowl (playoff) |
14.8 | 28.16M | ESPN |
| 19 | NFL | Ravens/Steelers AFC Wild Card |
15.8 | 27.94M | NBC |
| 20 | NFL | Packers/Cardinals (92%) Week 16 nat’l window |
15.5 | 27.81M | FOX |
| 21 | NFL | Bears/Packers Thanksgiving special |
13.8 | 27.75M | NBC |
| 22 | NFL | Packers/Vikings (89%) Week 11 nat’l window |
15.5 | 27.49M | FOX |
| 23 | NFL | Steelers/Patriots Kickoff Game |
16.2 | 27.40M | NBC |
| 24 | NFL | Cowboys/Eagles Week 2 nat’l window |
15.5 | 27.18M | FOX |
| 25 | NFL | Giants/Cowboys Week 1 SNF |
15.4 | 26.77M | NBC |
| 26 | FIFA | USA/Japan Women’s World Cup final |
— | 26.70M | FOX, Telemundo |
| 27 | NFL | Steelers/Seahawks Week 12 nat’l window |
15.4 | 26.64M | CBS |
| 28 | NFL | Seahawks/Packers Week 2 SNF |
15.1 | 26.40M | NBC |
| 29 | NFL | Patriots/Cowboys (81%) Week 5 nat’l window |
15.2 | 26.13M | CBS |
| 30 | NFL | Packers/49ers (57%) Week 4 nat’l window |
15.0 | 25.86M | FOX |
| 31 | NFL | Eagles/Lions Thanksgiving special |
12.3 | 25.43M | FOX |
| 32 | NFL | Patriots/Broncos Week 12 SNF |
14.6 | 25.19M | NBC |
| 33 | NFL | Chargers/Packers (81%) Week 6 nat’l window |
14.5 | 25.03M | CBS |
| 34 | NFL | Panthers/Giants (52%) Week 15 singleheader |
14.5 | 25.00M | FOX |
| 35 | NFL | Broncos/Steelers (86%) Week 15 nat’l window |
14.5 | 24.99M | CBS |
| 36 | NFL | Cowboys/Giants Week 7 nat’l window |
14.4 | 24.47M | FOX |
| 37 | NFL | Cowboys/Saints Week 4 SNF |
14.1 | 24.20M | NBC |
| 38 | NFL | Broncos/Colts Week 9 nat’l window |
14.3 | 23.96M | CBS |
| 39 | NFL | Ravens/Broncos Week 1 nat’l window |
13.5 | 23.29M | CBS |
| 40 | NBA | Warriors/Cavaliers NBA Finals Game 6 |
13.4 | 23.25M | ABC |
| 41 | NFL | Eagles/Cowboys Week 9 SNF |
13.6 | 23.05M | NBC |
| 42 | NFL | Packers/Broncos Week 8 SNF |
13.0 | 23.01M | NBC |
| 43 | NFL | Patriots/Colts Week 6 SNF |
13.1 | 22.82M | NBC |
| 44 | CBB | Wisconsin/Kentucky Final Four |
12.4 | 22.63M | TBS, TNT, TruTV |
| 45 | NFL | Bears/Seahawks Week 3 nat’l window |
12.9 | 22.13M | CBS |
| 46 | NFL | Broncos/Lions Week 3 SNF |
13.1 | 22.07M | NBC |
| 47 | NFL | Cardinals/Panthers NFC Wild Card |
12.5 | 21.68M | ESPN |
| 48 | NFL | Broncos/Chiefs Week 2 TNF |
12.9 | 21.12M | CBS, NFLN |
| 49 | NFL | Patriots/Texans Week 14 SNF |
12.3 | 20.99M | NBC |
| 50 | NFL | Packers/Panthers (56%) Week 9 singleheader |
12.5 | 20.91M | FOX |
List of top non-NFL sporting events available on page 2, ranking of top events by sport available on page 3.
