With 2019 more than halfway over, here is a look at the highest rated and most-watched sports telecasts of the year so far.
The NFL has generated the ten largest sports audiences this year, led by Super Bowl 53. The Super Bowl tied its lowest rating since 2003 and averaged its smallest TV audience since 2008, but still generated 98 million viewers on linear TV alone (100 million including streaming, and 112 million including Nielsen’s out-of-home estimates).
The AFC Championship ranks second for the year (27.5, 53.9M) and the NFC Championship third (24.5, 44.1M).
Outside of the NFL, the Clemson-Alabama college football national championship holds the top spot among 2019 sporting events (13.8, 25.3M). The Virginia-Texas Tech college basketball championship ranks second (11.6, 19.6M), followed by Games 5 and 6 of the NBA Finals.
The Women’s World Cup Final ranks fifth among non-NFL events, with a combined 16.9 million for the match portion on FOX and Telemundo.
(For a list of select events that did not crack the top 50, go to page two. All viewership figures for ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU include streaming viewership. For all other networks — including ABC — viewership only includes streaming if enclosed within parentheses.)
50 most-watched sports telecasts of 2019, so far
| SportsMediaWatch.com | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | SPORT | GAME | RTG | VWRS | NET |
| 1 | NFL | Patriots-Rams Super Bowl 53 |
41.1 | 98.19M (100.7M) |
CBS |
| 2 | NFL | Patriots-Chiefs AFC Championship |
27.5 | 53.90M | CBS |
| 3 | NFL | Rams-Saints NFC Championship |
24.5 | 44.07M (45.0M) |
FOX |
| 4 | NFL | Eagles-Saints NFC Divisional |
20.8 | 38.19M (38.9M) |
FOX |
| 5 | NFL | Eagles-Bears NFC Wild Card |
19.7 | 35.89M (36.4M) |
NBC |
| 6 | NFL | Cowboys-Rams NFC Divisional |
17.9 | 33.35M (34.0M) |
FOX |
| 7 | NFL | Seahawks-Cowboys NFC Wild Card |
15.9 | 29.38M (30.1M) |
FOX |
| 8 | NFL | Chargers-Patriots AFC Divisional |
17.1 | 29.22M | CBS |
| 9 | NFL | Colts-Chiefs AFC Divisional |
16.8 | 29.14M | NBC |
| 10 | NFL | Chargers-Ravens AFC Wild Card |
15.4 | 25.38M | CBS |
| 11 | CFB | Clemson-Alabama National Championship |
13.8 | 25.28M | ESPN, ESPN2 ESPNU |
| 12 | NFL | Colts-Texans AFC Wild Card |
13.5 | 22.77M | ABC, ESPN |
| 13 | CBB | Virginia-Texas Tech National Championship |
11.6 | 19.63M | CBS |
| 14 | NBA | Raptors-Warriors NBA Finals Game 6 |
10.7 | 18.76M | ABC |
| 15 | NBA | Warriors-Raptors NBA Finals Game 5 |
10.6 | 18.60M | ABC |
| 16 | FIFA | U.S.-Netherlands Women’s World Cup Final |
— | 16.87M | FOX, Telemundo |
| 17 | CFB | Ohio State-Washington Rose Bowl |
8.9 | 16.78M | ESPN |
| 18 | Horse | Kentucky Derby Race segment |
9.4 | 16.34M (16.5M) |
NBC |
| 19 | CBB | Michigan State-Duke Elite Eight |
9.4 | 16.20M | CBS |
| 20 | CBB | Texas Tech-Michigan State Final Four |
9.1 | 15.84M | CBS |
| 21 | NBA | Warriors-Raptors NBA Finals Game 2 |
8.0 | 13.89M | ABC |
| 22 | NBA | Warriors-Raptors NBA Finals Game 1 |
7.9 | 13.38M | ABC |
| 23 | NBA | Raptors-Warriors NBA Finals Game 3 |
7.8 | 13.35M | ABC |
| 24 | CFB | Texas-Georgia Sugar Bowl |
7.3 | 13.30M | ESPN |
| 25 | CBB | Virginia-Auburn Final Four |
7.6 | 12.97M | CBS |
| 26 | CBB | Duke-UCF Second round |
7.8 | 12.88M | CBS |
| 27 | NBA | Raptors-Warriors NBA Finals Game 4 |
7.6 | 12.79M | ABC |
| 28 | NFL | NFL Draft First round |
7.0 | 11.10M | ABC, ESPN, NFLN |
| 29 | Golf | Masters Final round (9 AM) |
6.9 | 10.81M | CBS |
| 30 | CBB | Auburn-Kentucky Elite Eight |
6.4 | 10.49M | CBS |
| 31 | CBB | Virginia-Purdue Elite Eight |
5.9 | 10.49M | TBS |
| 32 | CBB | Duke-Virginia Tech Sweet Sixteen |
6.1 | 10.07M | CBS |
| 33 | NASCAR | Daytona 500 | 5.3 | 9.17M (9.22M) |
FOX |
| 34 | CBB | Kentucky-Wofford Second round |
5.6 | 8.96M | CBS |
| 35 | CBB | UNC-Washington Second round |
5.6 | 8.92M | CBS |
| 36 | CBB | Michigan-Florida Second round |
5.4 | 8.88M | CBS |
| 37 | FIFA | U.S.-England Women’s World Cup semi |
— | 8.79M | FOX, Telemundo |
| 38 | NHL | Blues-Bruins Stanley Cup Final Game 7 |
4.9 | 8.72M (8.91M) |
NBC |
| 39 | Golf | Masters Third round |
5.5 | 8.63M | CBS |
| 40 | Soccer | Mexico-U.S. Gold Cup Final |
— | 8.54M | FS1, Univision |
| 41 | CFB | LSU-UCF Fiesta Bowl |
4.7 | 8.47M | ESPN |
| 42 | NFL | Pro Bowl | 5.1 | 8.23M | ABC, ESPN, DisneyXD |
| 43 | MLB | MLB All-Star Game | 5.0 | 8.14M | FOX |
| 44 | NBA | Blazers-Warriors West Finals Game 2 |
4.7 | 7.88M | ESPN |
| 45 | NBA | Warriors-Blazers West Finals Game 4 |
4.7 | 7.79M | ESPN |
| 46 | CBB | Texas Tech-Gonzaga Elite Eight |
4.5 | 7.72M | TBS |
| 47 | CFB | Kentucky-Penn State Citrus Bowl |
4.4 | 7.71M | ABC |
| 48 | NBA | Warriors-Rockets Semifinal Game 6 |
4.4 | 7.33M | ESPN |
| 49 | NBA | Blazers-Warriors West Finals Game 1 |
4.5 | 7.32M | ESPN |
| 50 | Golf | US Open Final round |
4.4 | 7.31M | FOX |
