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College Baseball

MCWS

Jun 12–14, 2026 · ESPN

Airing in the window that used to belong to “Sunday Night Baseball,” last weekend’s West Virginia-North Carolina Men’s College World Series game averaged 2.0 million viewers on ESPN — the third-largest audience on record for a non-final Men’s College World Series game.

The Tar Heels’ win, which peaked with 2.3 million, increased from last year’s Giants-Dodgers “Sunday Night Baseball” game on ESPN (1.9M) — and also outdrew this year’s competing “Sunday Night Baseball” game on NBC, Rangers-Red Sox (1.7M).

The full opening weekend of the Men’s College World Series averaged 1.4 million viewers on the ESPN networks, up 44% from last year.

By Jon Lewis on Jun 19, 2026 at 8:55 PM

Tags: Men's College World Series

Comments 134

ds says:

1 week ago

Thank you for continuing to track and publish. Lots of interesting data across both mainstream and niche sports

A non-final MCWS game on ESPN outdrawing both 2025 SNB on ESPN and 2026 SNB on NBC further validates ESPN’s decision to opt out of SNB. I am sure SNB draws more viewers, averaged over the season, than the mix of content ESPN puts in its place. But, not by enough to justify anything in the ballpark of several hundred million dollars per year

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4th&long says:

3 weeks ago

Jon,

Thanks for posting the UFL numbers. While viewership was up on Fox and all ESPN nets were up, the 10 ABC games averaged 941k up 14% from 2025 and not too far off NHL (which had its best reg season ever I believe).

Also when you compare apples to apples 2026 ( taking out 6 m NFLN, FS1, ESPN2 vs not in prior year) vs 2025, and only count the 34 vs 39 comparable games… the UFL game average was 725k up ~80k or 12% above 2025 (only Fox, 1 FS1, ESPN and ABC)
A solid year and solid increase to build on in 2027.

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4th&long says:

4 weeks ago

The UFL had a good year on all ESPN nets (ABC/ESPN/ESPN2/NFLN) with 686k up 8% over 2025. This despite two NFLN and two ESPN2 games dragging down this year’s average.
But ABC was exceptionally good with 941k avg over 10 games (reg season). Up 14%.

All above was reported on ESPNPRESS article. Fox was slightly up this year about 4% at 670k average, per FOXSPORTPRESS X post.

We’ll see how the playoffs go.

This

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4th&long says:

4 weeks ago

Good post on UFL… Only one game in last 3 seasons topped that latest 1.593 mm viewers and that was the 2024 championship by just 30k (1.596mm). ABC had an exceptional year so far thru week 9 at 959k avg over 9 games and ESPN is up ~25% over last year too. Fun season and with Mike Repole expect more in 2027.

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4th&long says:

2 months ago

Per SB Journal UFL averaging 631k thru week 5 across games on ABC/FOX/ESPN/FS1 & NFLN, up 3% from 2025. Per my numbers ABC averaging around 965k. Two ABC games this year exceeded 1 million per ESPNPressroom. That includes Dallas at DC on May 2nd.
Not bad considering more games on smaller cable nets in 2026 (4 vs 1 in 2025) thru week 6.

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Davina says:

2 months ago

Do you have anymore ratings for the PBA airing Sunday’s on the CW? I wonder how its been doing since week one. Thanks.

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4th&long says:

3 months ago

UFL had a strong week 3 (4/10-12) with ABC double header avg ~1mm each – its on ESPN PR. Think that’s worth an article or part of one. I have them averaging about 610k a game – including some law raters on FS1/NFLN.

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- Jon Lewis says:
  
  3 months ago
  
  Thanks for the heads-up, I’ll see if I can get to that on the tracker. I have a lot of ratings to update from the weekend.
  
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Davina says:

3 months ago

Hi John, do you have the numbers for the PWHL game that aired on Ion this past Saturday afternoon? Thanks.

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Lee Roggenburg says:

3 months ago

John, do you have anything on college lacrosse viewership? I run a Substack for the sport and am frustrated by not finding anything.

Lee Roggeenburg
Florida Lacrosse News

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- Jon Lewis says:
  
  3 months ago
  
  Haven’t seen anything, not sure if any games have been on Nielsen-rated TV to be honest.
  
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  - Lee Roggenburg says:
    
    3 months ago
    
    ESPNU and ESPN2 have had games, as has Big 10 and ACC Networks. And today, ESPNU has a doubleheader starting at noon.
    
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ds says:

4 months ago

Thank you for continuing to update this periodically. Several interesting data points in your March 12 items

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Davina says:

4 months ago

Do you have the ratings for the PBA on the CW this past Sunday afternoon?

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- Jon Lewis says:
  
  4 months ago
  
  I’ll ask.
  
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  - Chase says:
    
    4 months ago
    
    Any updates on this
    
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    - Jon Lewis says:
      
      4 months ago
      
      Yes — 451K for the Feb. 22 telecast on CW.
Kat G says:

5 months ago

How can I find NCAA college basketball total game viewership on games broadcasted by ESPN? I am currently working on a research paper for my AP Research class, and this data would be very helpful for my findings. Thanks!

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NaBUru38 says:

6 months ago

Will you do a top 100 article fir 2025!

Happy new 2026 from your biggest and only fan from Uruguay

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- Jon Lewis says:
  
  6 months ago
  
  Probably not — with the Nielsen methodology changing halfway through the year, just doesn’t make a ton of sense. But Happy New Year to you as well, and thanks for supporting the site all these years.
  
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ds says:

6 months ago

Thank you for the NCAA volleyball data. The championship game numbers are very good considering no Nebraska or Texas and a complete rout on the floor. Seems encouraging for a smaller sport that has been seeing quite a few green shoots lately

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ds says:

8 months ago

Thank you for data on World Series Games 1-2 viewership in Canada. Incredible numbers – as a proportion of population, roughly equivalent to 50-60 million in the US. If I remember NHL data correctly, World Series 2025 is trending ahead of Stanley Cup 2025 in Canadian viewership

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Manny Soloway says:

8 months ago

Any idea of TUDN viewership for the NL postseason? Univision is also scheduled to air Game 1 of the World Series again.

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- Jon Lewis says:
  
  8 months ago
  
  Good question. I could ask, but doubt I would find anything.
  
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  - Manny Soloway says:
    
    8 months ago
    
    They put out a release yesterday
    https://corporate.televisaunivision.com/press/2025/10/29/televisaunivision-hits-a-home-run-with-the-major-league-baseball-postseason-coverage/
    
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    - Jon Lewis says:
      
      8 months ago
      
      Thanks for the heads-up.
    - ds says:
      
      8 months ago
      
      Thank you for the link to TU’s release. Seem like good numbers, all things considered. A18-49 proportion is usually solid on TUDN, and MLB playoffs were no exception
Davina says:

9 months ago

Thanks for looking into it. Wonder why they are still just putting out panel only.

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Davina says:

9 months ago

Do you have any ratings for recent nascar races over the last few weeks? Love reading the site everyday.

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- Jon Lewis says:
  
  9 months ago
  
  I’m not sure NASCAR has been putting out “Big Data + Panel” figures. Looks like panel only to me. I’ve reached out to see if that is the case. Hopefully I’ll have something to update early next week.
  
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Alessandro says:

9 months ago

Any news on recent MLB viewership numbers? How are ESPN, Fox and TBS faring compared to last year? Thank you so much and keep up the good job!

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- Jon Lewis says:
  
  9 months ago
  
  I’ve fallen off track a bit with that, but I’ll try to get something updated this week.
  
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4th&long says:

9 months ago

Thing about TNF that’s good for Amazon is that alot of people have Prime anyway for delivery. Big leverage there. Good numbers for a good game.

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4th&long says:

9 months ago

That Ga vs Tenn.game number is insane good. As were the Florida-LSU. NBC ND and TxAM was another big number. In fact the ESBN/ABC #’s were all strong. Week 3 had less big names playing so we’ll see what that brings.

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4th&long says:

9 months ago

Jon,
Any CFP ratings news from 9/12-13? Thx

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- Jon Lewis says:
  
  9 months ago
  
  Yes — let me get a note up on that. Also you can check the CFB ratings page charts, those are updated for ’25.
  
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  - 4th&long says:
    
    9 months ago
    
    Thanks Jon!
    
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Lee Roggenburg says:

10 months ago

PLL Finals ratings on ABC on Sunday, the 14th?

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ds says:

10 months ago

Do you have an opinion about ~1.0 million viewers for SMU-Baylor on CW? IIRC, that was a barn burner that went to 2OT. On the one hand, 1 million seems great for CW. On the other, 1 million seems poor for a fun, close OTA game facing weak competition (i.e., El Assico on Big Noon)

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- Jon Lewis says:
  
  10 months ago
  
  I think it’s a solid number given it’s the CW.
  
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TEB says:

10 months ago

The local market NBA Finals ratings info is interesting. In all the media coverage the last 2 seasons about WNBA TV ratings, and before that College WBB TV ratings, there is virtually no reporting about local market WNBA TV ratings. Seems like there would be wide variability, and perhaps not always tied to local teams. Perhaps could measure market variability of Clark popularity. Anyway, would be great to see a Jon Lewis article about local market WNBA TV ratings across the country. Would probably get a lot of attention.

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ds says:

10 months ago

Thank you for the WNBA ION viewership data. It is holding up quite well given Clark’s lengthy and repeated absences. Any time you come across NWSL ION data, I am interested in that also. ION seem to be carving out a niche and I find it intriguing

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DAvina says:

10 months ago

Do you have the ratings for the PBR on CW for August 9th and 10th? Thanks.

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- Jon Lewis says:
  
  10 months ago
  
  Yes — slipped my mind to add them. 354K on CW on August 10.
  
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Patrick T says:

11 months ago

Any numbers for the recent WNBA games on ION (July 25 & Aug. 1) or are those becoming impossible to find? Love the site and your work!

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- Jon Lewis says:
  
  11 months ago
  
  I’ll see what I can find — and thanks for the kind words.
  
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Patrick T says:

11 months ago

Interesting that MLB Network (708,000) far outdrew TBS (387,000) who broadcast the same matchup on Tuesday night (Yankees v. Rays.) And I don’t think this is the first time that MLBN has drawn more viewers than TBS and/or FS1 for a same match up in the same week. Is the MLB Network available in more homes than TBS or FS1?

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- Jon Lewis says:
  
  11 months ago
  
  MLB Network is in fewer than 30M homes last I heard. It’s in even fewer homes than NBA TV.
  
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  - Patrick T says:
    
    11 months ago
    
    Then that is even more impressive that they outdrew TBS by that much for the same Match though I supposed in most cases MLBN has to be chosen in addition to whatever basic TV subscription a viewer has. So, most folks with MLBN have it for a reason (they like MLB), which cannot be said for TBS since it is included in most basic packages.
    
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Davina says:

11 months ago

I love reading this site everyday. Do you know how the Banana ball game did in the ratings on the CW this past Sunday afternoon?

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- Jon Lewis says:
  
  11 months ago
  
  Good question. I’ll reach out and see what I can find.
  
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Rick James Bible Owner says:

11 months ago

For the ‘recent MLB’ ratings July 19-20, July 20 was Tigers-Rangers on ESPN, not Twins-Tigers. Keep up the yeoman’s work on these numbers.

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- Jon Lewis says:
  
  11 months ago
  
  Thanks for catching that.
  
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ds says:

11 months ago

Thank you for the fascinating data about ESPN’s average minute viewership for H1 2025. Back-calculating from other items in the press release, H1 2025 had consumption of ~3.1 billion hours for ESPN, ~1.1 billion hours for ESPN on ABC, and ~0.7 billion hours across ESPN2/U/D. During the ~4,400 hours in H1 2025, on average just over 1 million people were watching ESPN linear content (ESPN, ESPN on ABC, ESPN2/U/D)

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Preston S says:

12 months ago

Have you seen any numbers on the AUSL (Athletes Unlimited Softball league)? I know games air on ESPN Networks and MLB Network and would be curious to hear how the new league is doing

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ds says:

12 months ago

FYI, Univision has a press release about Club World Cup viewership. US Spanish linear coverage averaged ~0.6 million viewers per match during the full tournament, with ~1.4 million total (~0.6 million A18-49) for the final. Similar to Gold Cup, ~50% of US linear viewers watched in Spanish

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Preston Swinehart says:

12 months ago

Hello, any chance you can post the viewership numbers for the Prefontaine Classic that aired on NBC on 7/5 along with that if their is numbers on the Motocross RedBud national that also aired on NBC and was the lead-in for the Prefontaine. Thanks

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- Jon Lewis says:
  
  12 months ago
  
  I’ll check and hopefully have something to post on that front.
  
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