The MLS is Back Tournament opened on a solid note in the ratings for ESPN. Also: the PGA Tour scored a big jump at Detroit last weekend; horse racing hit a viewership high; and more.
Solid audience for game one of MLS is Back Tournament
Wednesday’s opener of the MLS is Back Tournament (Inter Miami-Orlando City) averaged 464,000 viewers on ESPN, marking the network’s fifth-largest MLS regular season audience in the past five seasons.
The match, which peaked with 521,000 from 9:45-10 PM ET, ranks as the most-watched weeknight event on ESPN since a May re-air of Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals (608K), surpassing a showing of the movie “Angels in the Outfield” last month (444K).
Including viewership on ESPN Deportes, the match averaged 492,000 — trailing only LAFC-Inter Miami on March 1 (663K) as the most-watched MLS telecast on the ESPN networks in two years. ESPN and ESPN Deportes are now averaging a combined 489,000 viewers for MLS coverage this season (four windows), up 27% from the first four windows last year (384K).
Orlando led all markets Wednesday with a 1.4 rating, followed by Kansas City (1.1), Atlanta (1.0), Miami (0.9) and Columbus, Ohio (0.7).
Big ratings jump for PGA Tour at Detroit
Last Sunday’s final round of the PGA Tour at Detroit averaged a 1.9 rating and 2.89 million viewers on CBS, up 46% in ratings and 56% in viewership from last year (1.3, 1.85M). Third round coverage July 4 averaged a 1.1 (+10%) and 1.66 million (+20%).
Six of the eight PGA Tour windows on CBS since the season resumed last month have posted double-digit increases in ratings and viewership. The lone exception was the rain-drenched Heritage.
Lead-in coverage on Golf Channel averaged a 0.49 (+53%) and 755,000 (+57%) on Saturday and a 0.65 (+76%) and 998,000 (+91%) on Sunday.
Auto racing lifts horse racing to viewership high
Last Saturday’s Breeders Cup Challenge Metropolitan Mile averaged a 0.7 rating and 1.16 million viewers on NBC, marking the largest horse racing audience outside of the Triple Crown or Breeders Cup since the 2018 Pegasus World Cup (1.50M). The telecast had the benefit of following Saturday’s first-ever IndyCar-NASCAR doubleheader at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and airing on the Fourth of July holiday.
Ratings jumped 68% and viewership 82% from the previous week’s Breeders Cup Challenge telecast (0.44, 634K) and 42% and 58% respectively from coverage on the comparable July weekend last year (0.47, 716K).
Plus: Encore, EPL, Eagles
A re-air of this year’s Titans-Chiefs NFL AFC Championship Game averaged a 0.6 rating and 924,000 viewers on CBS last Sunday, the most-watched rebroadcast since NBC averaged 981,000 for a May 2 encore of the 2015 Kentucky Derby. … Last Sunday’s Manchester City-Southampton English Premier League match averaged a 0.54 and 876,000 on NBC, marking the second-largest EPL audience since the season resumed last month. … A repeat airing of the “Eagles: Live from the Forum MMXVIII” concert film averaged 360,000 viewers on ESPN2 Tuesday night, topping ESPN’s competing live Top Rank Boxing card (318K). It was the most-watched ESPN2 program since the final episode of “The Last Dance” more than two months ago (886K).
[Nielsen estimates from ESPN PR 7.9, ShowBuzz Daily 7.8, 7.9]
