Ratings roundup — men’s College World Series viewership was up double-digits entering the final; Major League Baseball scored a pair of increases last weekend; pro lacrosse hit a 17-year high; and more.
Men’s College World Series viewership up 17 percent entering final
Entering Saturday’s Game 1 of the College World Series Final, the men’s College World Series was averaging 1.04 million viewers across the ESPN family of networks — up 17% from last year. That includes an audience of 1.35 million for Mississippi-Arkansas on Wednesday, the largest for the men’s CWS prior to the Final since 2018 (Oregon State-Mississippi State: 1.57M).
Notably, last Sunday’s Notre Dame-Oklahoma game on ESPN2 averaged a higher rating (0.7) and more viewers (1.33M) than the competing White Sox-Astros Sunday Night Baseball game on ESPN (0.6, 1.08M).
MLB scores bump on FOX, ESPN, with less competition
Last weekend’s aforementioned White Sox-Astros Sunday Night Baseball game averaged a 0.6 rating and 1.08 million viewers on ESPN, up from Cardinals-Braves last year (0.51, 931K*). The previous night, regional Major League Baseball action on FOX averaged a 0.9 and 1.68 million — also up from last year (0.8, 1.41M*).
Both of last year’s games aired opposite NBA semifinal Game 7s.
In other MLB action, Tuesday’s Giants-Braves game on TBS pulled 381,000 viewers, matching the previous week’s Rays-Yankees game as the network’s most-watched of the season.
PLL scores top pro lacrosse audience since 2005
Last Saturday’s Premier Lacrosse League match on ABC averaged a 0.26 rating and 452,000 viewers, marking the largest audience for professional lacrosse since 2005. The previous high was 409,000 for NBC’s first PLL window in 2019. The telecast outdrew last weekend’s BIG3 Basketball (441K), WNBA (375K) and NWSL (349K) games on CBS, but was no match for its MLS lead-out (541K), the USFL (649K) and NHRA (897K) on FOX or the primetime SRX on CBS (951K).
Plus: SRX, USFL, Royal Ascot
The return of the SRX racing series averaged a 0.6 rating and 951,000 viewers on CBS last Saturday night, the least-watched event in its short history (seven telecasts). … With no playoff positioning at stake, last weekend’s USFL season finale averaged a season-low 181,000 viewers on FS1. … Horse racing’s Royal Ascot drew a 0.55 and 862,000 on NBC last Saturday morning, up from last year (0.51, 745K*).
(* Asterisk indicates figure is subject to revision due to Nielsen undercount of out-of-home viewing).
[Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 6.21]
