Recent sports TV ratings news, including an increase in NBA Summer League viewership on ESPN, a season-high for Sunday Night Baseball, and a three-year low for the final round of the John Deere Classic.
NBA Summer League up on ESPN
NBA Summer League games averaged 601,000 viewers on ESPN (not including ESPN2 or ESPNU), up 35% from last year, but down 23% from 2017 (783K).
Monday’s Grizzlies-Timberwolves Summer League final had 269,000 viewers on ESPN2, down 41% from last year (456K) and down 68% from 2017 (836K), both of which were Blazers-Lakers matchups on ESPN. Compared to the previous Summer League final on ESPN2, Bulls-Timberwolves in 2016, viewership fell 27% from 366,000.
In other NBA offseason action, ESPN’s “The Jump” has averaged 432,000 viewers since the end of the season (including primetime specials), up 62% from the same period last year.
Dodgers-Red Sox finishes just shy of ESPN season-high
Dodgers-Red Sox averaged a 1.3 rating and 2.03 million viewers on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball last weekend, marking the highest rated and most-watched Sunday night game this season. The World Series rematch ranks second for the season among games on cable, behind a 10 AM ET Yankees-Red Sox game from London last month (1.4, 2.06M).
Coverage featuring the same matchup had a 1.4 and 2.23 million on FOX Saturday night, down a tick in ratings and 6% in viewership from last year (ft. Yankees-Indians: 1.5, 2.37M).
In other action, Dodgers-Phillies had 665,000 on ESPN Monday night; the comparable night last year featured the Home Run Derby. Nationals-Phillies drew a 0.22 (-39%) and 323,000 (-43%) on TBS Sunday afternoon. Figures were not available for White Sox-A’s on FS1 Saturday afternoon.
John Deere Classic hits three-year final round low
Last Sunday’s final round of the PGA Tour John Deere Classic averaged a 1.0 rating and 1.62 million viewers on CBS, down a tick in ratings and 6% in viewership from last year (1.1, 1.72M) and down a tick and 3% respectively from 2017 (1.1, 1.67M). Ratings and viewership were the lowest for final round coverage of the event since 2016, when it aired opposite the Olympic golf tournament (0.7, 1.11M).
Third round action pulled a 0.9 (flat) and 1.28 million (+3%). Lead-in coverage on Golf Channel had a 0.27 and 361,000 on Saturday and a 0.26 (-13%) and 378,000 (-17%) on Sunday.
[Numbers from ESPN PR 7.17, Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 7.16 a, b]
