Just past the halfway point on the calendar, here is a look at the most-watched sporting events of 2018 so far. Click to jump straight to the chart.
NFL ratings were notably down during the postseason, but the league still generated the six largest sports audiences of the year — and seven of the top nine. Super Bowl 52 led the way with 103.4 million viewers, followed by the Jaguars-Patriots AFC Championship Game (44.1M). All 11 NFL playoff games placed within the top eighteen.
The Winter Olympics hit record-lows on NBC, but still generated 19 of 50 largest audiences — more than any other event. Viewership topped out at 27.8 million for the Opening Ceremony.
Despite the least-watched NBA Finals in four years — and the first sweep in 11 — the NBA still made six appearances in the top 50. All four games of the finals, plus the two conference final game sevens, cracked the list. College basketball took up four spots and the College Football Playoff and FIFA World Cup three each. The CFP national championship delivered the top non-NFL audience of the year so far, 28.4 million fo Alabama-Georgia.
A list of select sporting events that did not make the top 50, including several World Cup matches, is available on page two.
Most-Watched Sporting Events of 2018 (So Far)
Parentheses ( ) indicate TV+streaming viewership
| SportsMediaWatch.com | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | SPORT | GAME | RTG | VWRS | NET |
| 1 | NFL | Eagles-Patriots Super Bowl 52 |
43.1 | 103.39M (106M) |
NBC |
| 2 | NFL | Jaguars-Patriots AFC Championship |
24.3 | 44.08M | CBS |
| 3 | NFL | Vikings-Eagles NFC Championship |
21.7 | 42.30M (42.77M) |
FOX |
| 4 | NFL | Saints-Vikings NFC Divisional |
19.3 | 35.65M (36.02M) |
FOX |
| 5 | NFL | Jaguars-Steelers AFC Divisional |
18.3 | 31.45M | CBS |
| 6 | NFL | Panthers-Saints NFC Wild Card |
17.5 | 31.15M | FOX |
| 7 | CFB | Alabama-Georgia National Championship |
15.6 | (28.44M) | ESPN, ESPN2 ESPNU |
| 8 | OLY | Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony |
14.7 | 27.84M | NBC |
| 9 | NFL | Falcons-Eagles NFC Divisional |
15.5 | 27.07M | NBC |
| 10 | CFB | Georgia-Oklahoma Rose Bowl |
13.7 | (26.91M) | ESPN, ESPN2 |
| 11 | NFL | Titans-Patriots AFC Divisional |
14.5 | 26.69M | CBS |
| 12 | OLY | Winter Olympics Night 2 |
14.2 | (26.0M) | NBC, NBCSN |
| 13 | NFL | Bills-Jaguars AFC Wild Card |
15.2 | 25.30M | CBS |
| 14 | OLY | Winter Olympics Night 1 |
13.1 | (24.2M) | NBC, NBCSN |
| 15 | NFL | Falcons Rams NFC Wild Card |
12.8 | 22.82M | NBC |
| 16 | OLY | Winter Olympics Night 4 |
13.1 | (22.6M) | NBC, NBCSN |
| 17 | OLY | Winter Olympics Night 3 |
12.7 | (22.3M) | NBC, NBCSN |
| 18 | NFL | Titans-Chiefs AFC Wild Card |
13.0 | (22.18M) | ESPN, ABC |
| 19 | CFB | Alabama-Clemson Sugar Bowl |
11.4 | (21.47M) | ESPN, ESPN2 |
| 20 | OLY | Winter Olympics Night 11 |
12.1 | (20.5M) | NBC, NBCSN |
| 21 | OLY | Winter Olympics Night 6 |
11.4 | (19.3M) | NBC, NBCSN |
| 22 | OLY | Winter Olympics Night 5 |
11.2 | (19.2M) | NBC, NBCSN |
| 23 | OLY | Winter Olympics Night 7 |
10.9 | (19.2M) | NBC, NBCSN |
| 24 | OLY | Winter Olympics Night 10 |
10.9 | (18.6M) | NBC, NBCSN |
| 25 | NBA | Cavs-Warriors NBA Finals Game 2 |
10.3 | 18.47M | ABC |
| 26 | OLY | Winter Olympics Night 9 |
10.2 | (18.2M) | NBC, NBCSN |
| 27 | NBA | Warriors-Cavs NBA Finals Game 3 |
10.4 | 17.85M | ABC |
| 28 | FIFA | France-Croatia World Cup Final |
— | 17.83M | FOX, Telemundo |
| 29 | NBA | Cavs-Warriors NBA Finals Game 1 |
10.0 | 17.67M | ABC |
| 30 | OLY | Winter Olympics Night 13 |
10.4 | (17.6M) | NBC, NBCSN |
| 31 | OLY | Winter Olympics Preview Night |
9.7 | (17.2M) | NBC, NBCSN |
| 32 | OLY | Winter Olympics Night 12 |
9.7 | (16.4M) | NBC, NBCSN |
| 33 | NBA | Warriors-Cavs NBA Finals Game 4 |
9.3 | 16.24M | ABC |
| 34 | OLY | Winter Olympics Night 8 |
9.0 | (16.1M) | NBC, NBCSN |
| 35 | CBB | Villanova-Michigan National Championship |
9.2 | 15.97M (16.5M) |
Turner |
| 36 | CBB | Kansas-Duke Elite Eight |
9.2 | 15.44M | CBS |
| 37 | NBA | Warriors-Rockets West Finals Game 7 |
8.1 | 14.93M | TNT |
| 38 | Horse | Kentucky Derby Race segment |
8.5 | 14.88M (15.0M) |
NBC |
| 39 | OLY | Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony |
8.3 | 14.78M | NBC |
| 40 | OLY | Winter Olympics Night 14 |
8.1 | (14.0M) | NBC, NBCSN |
| 41 | NBA | Cavs-Celtics East Finals Game 7 |
7.3 | (13.59M) | ESPN |
| 42 | OLY | Winter Olympics Night 15 |
7.7 | (13.5M) | NBC, NBCSN |
| 43 | CBB | Michigan-Loyola Final Four |
7.2 | 13.15M | Turner |
| 44 | CBB | Villanova-Kansas Final Four |
6.8 | 13.09M | Turner |
| 45 | Golf | The Masters Final Round |
7.9 | 13.03M | CBS |
| 46 | Horse | Belmont Stakes Race segment |
7.5 | 12.66M | NBC |
| 47 | FIFA | Mexico-Germany World Cup Group Stage |
— | 11.62M | Telemundo, FS1 |
| 48 | FIFA | Mexico-South Korea World Cup Group Stage |
— | 11.39M | Telemundo, FOX |
| 49 | NFL | NFL Draft First Round |
7.0 | 11.21M | FOX, NFLN, ESPN, ESPN2 |
| 50 | OLY | Winter Olympics Figure skating gala |
6.3 | 10.85M | NBC |
[Numbers from various sources, including Son of the Bronx/Awful Announcing/Programming Insider, Sports Business Daily/Austin Karp, ShowBuzz Daily, ESPN, Fox Sports, Telemundo, Turner Sports, NBC Sports, CBS Sports, Nielsen]
