The Phillies debut of Bryce Harper hit a ratings high on NBC Sports Philadelphia. Also: weekend overnights for NASCAR, IndyCar and the Premier League.
Harper debut hits Spring Training high on RSN
Saturday’s Phillies-Rays MLB Spring Training game, which marked the Phillies debut of RF Bryce Harper, earned a 2.9 rating on NBC Sports Philadelphia — the highest for a Spring Training game on the network in seven years (2012 Pirates-Phillies). Ratings peaked at a 4.0 when Harper had his first at-bat.
NASCAR overnights up for third time in four weeks
Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race from Phoenix delivered a 2.8 overnight rating, up a tick from last year (2.7), but down 7% from 2017 (3.0). Phoenix was the third of four races this season to post an increase in the metered markets, the lone exception being Atlanta.
The Daytona 500 posted an eight percent bump in the metered markets but ended up flat in the final nationals. Last week’s Las Vegas race posted an uptick in the overnights and in the finals.
NBCSN scores its best overnight for IndyCar opener
The IndyCar season opener from St. Petersburg scored a 0.38 overnight rating on NBCSN, down 60% from the same race on ABC last year (1.0), but up 90% from last year’s NBCSN opener at Phoenix (0.20). The last time NBCSN aired the St. Petersburg race, 2013, it had a 0.36 overnight.
The 0.38 is the highest yet for the season’s first race on NBCSN (previously VERSUS).
Premier League nears record overnight
NBC earned a 1.0 overnight rating for Sunday’s Arsenal-Manchester United English Premier League match, the second-highest overnight on record for a live EPL match in the United States. It ranks narrowly behind the record set by the Manchester Derby last April (1.05 to 1.04).
Keep in mind that some tape-delayed EPL telecasts have earned higher overnights.
[Numbers from NBC Sports Philadelphia, Sports Business Daily 3.11, NBC Sports PR/Twitter 3.11 a, b]
