A trio of bowl games hit multi-year highs this week; TNT scored a slight bump for an NBA doubleheader; the Liga MX final got off to a slower start; miscellaneous numbers for a handful of events.
Multi-year highs for latest bowl games
Thursday’s Pittsburgh-Eastern Michigan Quick Lane Bowl averaged 3.05 million viewers on ESPN, the largest audience in the short history of the game (dates back to 2014). Including the game’s predecessor, the Little Caesars Bowl, it was the most-watched Detroit-based bowl game since 2013 (Pittsburgh-Bowling Green: 3.35M).
Viewership increased 13% from last year (Minnesota-Georgia Tech: 2.69M) and 21% from 2017 (Duke-Northern Illinois: 2.53M).
Earlier in the day, the Louisiana Tech-Miami Independence Bowl averaged 2.37 million — the largest audience for that game since 2015 (Virginia Tech-Tulsa: 3.42M). Viewership increased 31% from last year (Duke-Temple: 1.80M) and 7% from 2017 (Florida State-Southern Miss: 2.21M).
Rounding out the recent slate, Tuesday’s Hawaii-BYU Hawaii Bowl averaged 2.43 million (+110%), the largest audience for that game since 2013 (Oregon State-Boise State: 2.73M).
Slight bump for TNT NBA doubleheader
Spurs-Mavericks averaged 1.18 million viewers on the NBA on TNT Thursday night, up 6% from last year (Rockets-Heat: 1.11M), but down a third from 2017 (Celtics-Knicks: 1.75M). The Blazers-Jazz nightcap averaged 1.06 million (+4%).
Five of the past six NBA windows on TNT have increased over last year, including the last four. That is a marked turnaround after ten of the network’s first 12 windows declined.
Steep drop for first leg of Liga MX final
Thursday’s first leg of the Monterrey-Club America Liga MX final averaged 1.34 million viewers on Fox Deportes, down 40% from the first leg of last year’s final on Univision and Univision Deportes Network (2.26M), but the network’s top telecast since 2015.
Including FS1 and Fox Sports’ digital platforms, the match averaged 1.50 million.
Miscellaneous: NHL, EPL, College hoops
Monday’s Rangers-Flyers NHL regular season game averaged 133,000 viewers on NBCSN, marking the smallest audience for a primetime game this season. … NBCSN averaged 570,000 for Thursday’s Liverpool-Leicester City English Premier League match, up 39% from the same Boxing Day window last year (Chelsea-Watford: 409K). … The final of college basketball’s Diamond Head Classic (Washington-Houston) averaged 279,000 on ESPN2 Christmas Day, up 101% from last year (TCU-Indiana State: 139K).
[Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 12.26 a, b, 12.27 a, b, Fox Sports PR 12.27]
