The final round of the U.S. Open was up 37% from last year. The final game of the NBA Finals was down 17% from last year.
Guess which event drew the higher rating.
The final round of the U.S. Open drew a 6.4/16 on Sunday, with 9.5 million viewers. Game 4 of the NBA Finals — a series that set an all-time record low for the NBA — drew a 6.5 rating with 9.8 million viewers.
There are mitigating factors, of course. The NBA Finals usually draws ratings much higher than the ratings for every golf major outside of The Masters. While NBC’s four-day coverage of the U.S. Open will average a rating far below ABC’s four-night coverage of the NBA Finals, that has more to do with NBC airing coverage on Thursday and Friday afternoons than to do with the relative popularity of golf versus basketball. And, it should be pointed out that golf is played in the afternoon and the NBA is played in prime-time. In fact, the final half-hour of U.S. Open coverage drew an 11.1/23 rating on NBC — though isolating half-hours of coverage is somewhat disingenuous when making sport-to-sport comparisons.
Still, with all the negative press surrounding the NBA’s audience on television, it should be pointed out that more people watched Tim Duncan and the Spurs win their fourth NBA title than watched Tiger Woods‘ run for another major championship.
Is this a reflection on Tim Duncan or Tiger Woods? On the NBA? Or the PGA Tour?
