Continuing a trend for this year’s Olympic Trials, viewership for Sunday’s women’s gymnastics final was no match for 2016. Plus: a 19-year high for the PGA Tour at Hartford, and declines for both NASCAR races at Pocono.
Steep drop for Olympic gymnastics trials, but edges NBA competition
The women’s finals of the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials averaged 5.75 million viewers on NBC Sunday night, down a third from 2016 (8.58M), down 43% from 2012 (10.02M) and the smallest audience for the event dating back to 2000. Despite the decline, it was the most-watched sporting event of a week that included rare NBA conference final competition. Per John Ourand of Sports Business Journal, the telecast edged the competing Bucks-Hawks Game 3 on TNT (5.60M).
Sunday’s telecast peaked at 6.6 million from 9:45-10 PM ET, during Simone Biles’ floor routine. The first night of the women’s competition on Friday averaged 4.6 million viewers, down 16% from ’16 (5.48M) and down 41% from ’12 (7.79M), but the top sporting event of the day.
Figures were also down substantially for the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials and for the recent U.S. Gymnastics Championships. Even with the lower numbers, the gymnastics and track & field trials generated five of last week’s 12 largest sports audiences.
PGA Tour Hartford tournament hits 19-year high
Final round coverage of the PGA Tour Hartford tournament, which stretched more than an hour into primetime, averaged 3.97 million viewers on CBS Sunday — up 30% from last year (3.07M), up 83% from 2019 (2.17M) and the largest audience for the event since 2002. The telecast, which peaked with 6.66 million viewers from 8 PM ET to the conclusion, delivered the sixth-largest golf audience of the year and the third-largest with majors excluded. Only the final rounds of the Players (4.59M) and at Pebble Beach (4.19M) rank higher outside of the majors.
Double down for NASCAR at Pocono
Race two of the NASCAR Cup Series doubleheader at Pocono averaged a 1.5 rating and 2.45 million viewers on NBCSN Sunday afternoon, down a tick in ratings and 8% in viewership from last year on FS1 (1.6, 2.66M). Race one on Saturday had just a 0.9 and 1.45 million, down 45% and 44% respectively from last year on FOX (1.6, 2.57M) and the least-watched Cup Series race on any network since at least 2000 (excludes rainouts and makeup races).
The Saturday race peaked at 1.7 million viewers and the Sunday race at 2.8 million.
In other NASCAR action, Sunday’s Xfinity Series race at Pocono pulled a 0.67 (-12%) and 1.09 million (-7%) on NBCSN, while Saturday’s Truck Series race there drew a 0.33 (+32%) and 497,000 (+30%) on FS1.
[Nielsen estimates from NBC, Ourand/Twitter 6.29, CBS Sports, NASCAR]
