Rounding out an unprecedented run of seven majors in less than a year, the British Open returned from hiatus with a modest bump over 2019.
Sunday’s final round of the British Open averaged a 2.5 rating and 4.09 million viewers on NBC (4.17M including additional streaming data not tracked by Nielsen), flat in ratings and 10% in viewership from the last time the event was held in 2019 (2.5, 3.72M).
Collin Morikawa’s win delivered the seventh-largest golf audience of the year, behind the final rounds of the Masters (9.45M), PGA Championship (6.58M) and U.S. Open (5.67M), the third round of the Masters (5.18M), and the final rounds of non-majors the Players Championship (4.59M) and Pebble Beach National Pro-Am (4.19M).
Keep in mind that unlike other tournaments, the Open takes place in morning and early afternoon timeslots.
Notably, the Open joined Phil Mickelson’s upset win at the PGA Championship in posting an increase over 2019. While up from the historic lows set last year, neither the Masters nor the U.S. Open could return to 2019 levels.
Third round action on Saturday averaged a 1.9 and 2.91 million, down 10% and 2% respectively from ’19 (2.1, 2.98M).
The full tournament averaged 2.15 million across NBC’s TV and digital platforms, up 8% from 2019 (1.98M). That includes an average of 1.07 million for early round coverage on Golf Channel, up a smidge from ’19 (1.069M to 1.067M).
[Nielsen estimates from NBC]
