XFL ratings: Opening game edges AAF

Houston, TX - January 20, 2020 - TDECU Stadium: XFL Goal post (Photo by Phil Ellsworth / ESPN Images)

The new XFL got off to a good start in the ratings.

Saturday’s Seattle-DC XFL season debut averaged a 2.1 rating and 3.30 million viewers on ABC, edging last year’s primetime Alliance of American Football opener on CBS (1.9, 3.25M), if no match for the original XFL opener on NBC in 2001 (9.5, 15.7M).

In stark contrast to the AAF and the original XFL, the debut audience was not the high water mark. It was surpassed a day later by the Tampa Bay-New York game on FOX, which averaged a 2.1 and 3.39 million — the largest audience for a non-NFL pro football game since Week 6 of the original XFL (3.67M).

XFL opening weekend delivered the three largest audiences over that span, with Saturday’s Los Angeles-Houston game ranking third at a 1.9 and 3.29 million.

The XFL ranked second, third and fourth among weekend sporting events, behind only Sunday’s final round of the PGA Tour Pebble Beach National Pro-Am on CBS (2.3, 3.51M). The three games on broadcast television each outdrew Saturday’s Duke-North Carolina men’s college basketball game on ESPN (1.6, 2.67M) and Lakers-Warriors NBA game on ABC (1.8, 2.88M).

The lone game on cable, St. Louis-Dallas on ESPN Sunday, averaged a 1.4 and 2.50 million, peaking at 2.93 million from 7:30-7:45 PM ET. No AAF game on cable exceeded a 0.6 and 1.02 million.

Notably, the four XFL games were the most-watched sporting events of the weekend in adults 18-49.

Select XFL local ratings

— St. Louis: 7.4 (STL-DAL), 4.6 (TB-NY), 4.1 (LA-HOU)
— Seattle-Tacoma: 6.4 (SEA-DC)
— Houston: 5.7 (LA-HOU)
— Tampa-St. Petersburg: 5.6 (TB-NY), 3.7 (LA-HOU)
— Cleveland: 4.6 (SEA-DC), 4.0 (TB-NY)
— Columbus, Ohio: 4.5 (SEA-DC)
— Kansas City: 4.3 (SEA-DC), 3.8 (TB-NY), 3.4 (LA-HOU), 2.8 (STL-DAL)
— Dallas-Ft. Worth: 4.2 (STL-DAL), 3.9 (TB-NY), 3.5 (LA-HOU)
— Washington DC: 4.0 (SEA-DC)
— Atlanta: 3.4 (LA-HOU)
— Norfolk, Va.: 2.4 (STL-DAL)
— Charlotte: 2.3 (STL-DAL)

[Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 2.11, ESPN, Fox Sports]

Ratings predictions: XFL, Duke-UNC and more

Jon Lewis

Jon Lewis has been covering the sports media industry on a daily basis since 2006 as the founder and main writer of Sports Media Watch. You can contact him here or on the social media websites X (Twitter) or Bluesky.

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Comments 6

Roy says:

6 years ago

I would love to see a team come to Louisville Kentucky 👍👍

I do love the XFL, it was a lot of fun to watch.
- casey p says:
  
  6 years ago
  
  Same!
Jeff Tirrell says:

6 years ago

I still think it’s an uphill climb for any spring football league. I can only speak for myself, but the football had better be pretty damn good for me to bother watching and caring about this league. I watched a bit over the weekend strictly out of curiosity about the extra point rule, but honestly, I’m probably out after one week. And I think I’m exactly the kind of fan the XFL is trying to reach: the big football fan who wouldn’t mind more football at the expense of basketball and hockey. It’s tough when it’s technically a sport’s off-season. It’s the same reason why I’ll never get into the WNBA. After all those months of top-quality pro and college basketball, to invest more time on a lesser hoop product is asking too much of me. Same deal here. Sorry, not sorry.
Nate Johnson says:

6 years ago

Too early for me to disect the new XFL. Probably will have better answers sometime in early April. I’ll say this though, had the original XFL focused more on football than non-football stuff, I believe the original XFL would’ve lasted more than a year. This current XFL is focused on football. The original one was more so of a how would football look if it was ran by WWE people with WWE influence and thinking. It was a great way to market and to hype up the content, but quickly ran out of flavor. The way the players played this past weekend the product looked excellent for a new league. Back in 2001, it was simply garbage for the most part. That’s a good first step for the new XFL.
Hello Larry says:

6 years ago

This is promising for the XFL especially when you look at the local numbers there was some healthy interest in the home markets. Week 2 will tell more of the story of course but if they can not bomb out like the AAF last year this can be a good sign for the XFL. I think what is going to help the XFL is that they put an importance on having their TV rights with broadcasters to maximize the best viewership possible and the games are on in the afternoons where competition is not that stiff until the NCAA Tournament starts in March and the season will be over by the time the playoffs for the NHL and NBA get fully underway in April. What really hurt the AAF is that the games became hard to find with only the opener on CBS and the rest on cable and the brand wasn’t as recognizable as the XFL is either.

I think in order for people to really care about the XFL long-term there will need to be an emphasis on players really having a chance to go to the NFL. What makes college football so popular is that the college players are drafted into the NFL so it matters. XFL has to matter and if it does it will be around for many years to come. I know there was talk of having high school students who skip college to join the XFL that could be a unique opportunity to rival college football in the spring. If they do these things this league will be around a while.

I’m interested in seeing how the numbers last this season the TV deals are great especially the ABC one on Saturday afternoons and Sunday afternoons on FOX. The original XFL relied too much on that Saturday night deal on NBC. So we’ll see if the afternoon deals help the league out.
- Nate Johnson says:
  
  6 years ago
  
  I believe what makes this interesting about the XFL is that they really have to think short term. I understand the importance of thinking ahead, but I believe that with the AAF folding last season, it put the new XFL in position for viewers to buy into another Spring League. The in game attendance is a perfect example. AAF had more attendance in their week 1 games than the new XFL. To me that tells me the importance of having viewers to buy in to another spring league which is why I believe the XFL was thinking more internal than external on how to sell their brand.
  
  I simply wished the AAF never folded because I had a strong belief that the leagues would’ve rivaled each other and brought the best out of one another. To me I felt like it could’ve given those leagues opportunities to showcase why football season during no College Football and NFL could work.