Sports Ratings Tracker

ABC averaged 1.43 million viewers for its 12-game schedule of regular season WNBA games, up 13% from an eight-game average of 1.26 million last season, and its most-watched regular season yet.

The double-digit increase over last year comes despite Fever G Caitlin Clark playing only three of her team’s five scheduled ABC games — but that still exceeded the two games she played on the network last season.

For more, see this article.

Regional WNBA action featuring Mystics-Fever in most markets averaged 1.04 million viewers on ION last Friday night, marking the fourth-largest audience of the season on the network. Viewership declined 15% from coverage featuring Mercury-Fever — and a healthy Caitlin Clark on the same night last year (1.22M).

The Fever have played in each of the top four ION games this season, with Clark missing three of those four — Friday’s game and Fever-Wings on August 1 and June 27 (both 1.14M). Clark’s lone appearance on ION ranks as the network’s top game this season, as 1.46 million watched the Fever host Atlanta on July 11.

Later in the night, Aces-Mercury averaged 517,000 — up 7% from Sun-Wings a year ago (485K). ION is averaging 622,000 viewers for WNBA games so far this season, down 3% from the same point last year 640K).

Saturday’s Liberty-Lynx WNBA Finals rematch averaged 793,000 viewers on CBS, up 25% from Lynx-Mystics on the network the same weekend last year. Viewership trailed the previous matchup between the teams a week earlier on ABC (977K).

CBS is averaging 1.23 million viewers for WNBA games this season, up 8% from a year ago.

Sunday’s Bears-Bills NFL preseason game averaged 5.1 million viewers on FOX, marking the network’s most-watched preseason game since it carried the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game in 2021.

Viewership increased 11% from the lone preseason game on FOX last year, Saints-49ers (4.6M).

NBC coverage of the PGA Tour St. Jude Championship from Memphis, the first event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, averaged 3.8 million viewers last Sunday and 2.3 million last Saturday (Nielsen + Adobe Analytics) — the highest for the tournament, which traces back to old Westchester Classic rather than the Memphis-based St. Jude Classic, since 2013 and 2018 respectively.

Viewership increased 66 and 53 percent respectively from last year on CBS.

Lead-in coverage on Golf Channel averaged 843,000 on Sunday and 901,000 on Saturday, also marking multi-year highs.

The full tournament averaged 1.9 million viewers across NBC platforms, making it the most-watched since 2018. The weekend rounds on NBC and Golf Channel averaged 3.2 million, the highest since 2011. (In addition to the usual out-of-home viewing caveats, keep in mind that most of the prior year comparisons are Nielsen-only.)

Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race from Watkins Glen averaged a 1.0 rating and 1.85 million viewers on USA Network, up slightly from last year’s race, which aired in September opposite the NFL (1.81M). Compared to Richmond on the same August weekend last year, viewership fell 17%.

Shane Van Gisbergen’s win, which peaked with 2.0 million at the conclusion, ranks as the least-watched Cup Series race since rain-drenched Saturday night event from Atlanta in June (1.61M).

The corresponding Xfinity Series race averaged a 0.6 and 1.1 million on CW Saturday afternoon, up 40% from last year’s September edition on USA (778K) and the most-watched Xfinity race at the track since 2018. Connor Zilisch’s win, which was marred by his postrace fall in victory lane, peaked with 1.47 million in the 6:30 PM ET quarter-hour.

The women’s final of the U.S. Gymnastics Championships averaged a 1.0 rating and 1.87 million viewers on NBC Sunday night, down from last year’s Olympic year edition and from 2023, both of which featured Simone Biles. Viewership did outperform 2022, when Biles did not compete.

Sunday’s championship game of the Little League Softball World Series averaged 1.44 million viewers on ABC, surpassing 2002 to rank as the highest average on record for the event. The game, which peaked with nearly three million viewers, more-than-doubled last year. Unlike last year, it had a live sports lead-in from a Lynx-Liberty WNBA Finals rematch (977K).

The full Little League Softball World Series averaged 347,000 viewers, up two-thirds from last year.

In other Little League action, the baseball regionals averaged 520,000 on the ESPN networks — up 80% from last year and a three-year high.

Sans Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, Saturday’s primetime Sky-Fever WNBA regular season game averaged a 0.8 rating and 1.31 million viewers on CBS — down from the network’s previous primetime meeting between the teams, which featured Reese but not Clark (1.92M).

Indiana’s win was the least-watched meeting of the Sky and Fever in the two years since Clark and Reese have been in the league.

In other WNBA action, Saturday’s Lynx-Liberty WNBA Finals rematch averaged 977,000 on ABC, and Tuesday’s Fever-Wings game on ESPN averaged 1.3 million on ESPN — the latter ranking as the third-most watched WNBA game on ESPN this season.

Sunday’s Dolphins-Bears NFL preseason game averaged 2.34 million viewers on NFL Network, followed by Saints-Chargers at 2.18 million — up 60 and 6 percent respectively from last year (Broncos-Colts: 1.5M; Cowboys-Rams: 2.07M).

On Saturday, NFL Network averaged 2.1 million for Texans-Vikings, 1.81 million for Giants-Bills and 1.73 million for Jets-Packers — each up sharply from last year’s Saturday slate, which had to compete with the Olympic men’s basketball gold medal game.

Friday’s Browns-Panthers game, marking the preseason debut of Browns QB Shedeur Sanders, averaged a 1.1 rating and 2.24 million — nearly doubling Texans-Steelers last year, which again faced the Olympics.

Finally, Colts-Ravens drew a 0.9 and 1.89 million last Thursday night, which again nearly doubled last year’s equivalent game opposite the Olympics.

The latest edition of ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball (Cubs-Cardinals) averaged 1.98 million viewers last weekend, peaking at 2.1 million in the 9:15 PM ET quarter-hour — more than double Mets-Mariners opposite the Olympics last year (937K).

ESPN is now averaging 1.69 million viewers for MLB games this season, including 1.73 million for Sunday Night Baseball — both up ten percent from the same point last year. The Sunday night average is the highest at this point of a season since 2017.

On FOX last weekend, regional action featuring the same Cubs-Cardinals matchup averaged a 0.9 rating and 1.8 million viewers — up sharply from last year opposite the Olympics (0.6, 1.07M).

Last Sunday’s final of The Basketball Tournament — between Aftershocks and Eberlein Drive — averaged 444,000 viewers on FOX, marking the largest audience for the event. The previous high was 385,000 on ESPN in 2019.

Last Sunday’s final round of the PGA Tour Wyndham Championship averaged 1.95 million viewers on CBS, up 36% from last year and a five-year high. CBS finished its golf season averaging 2.97 million viewers, up 17% from last year and the highest average since 2018, with 14 of the network’s 19 final round telecasts posting an increase.

NASCAR Cup Series racing from Iowa averaged a 1.2 rating and 2.17 million viewers on USA, peaking at 2.5 million — down 13% and 19% respectively from last year’s inaugural race at the track, which aired in primetime on Father’s Day (1.4, 2.7M), but still the most-watched sporting event of last weekend.

The previous day, Xfinity Series action averaged a 0.54 and 1.01 million on CW — up 10% and 16% respectively from last year on USA (0.49, 871K) and the most-watched Xfinity race at the venue since 2018, with the caveat that it was not run from 2020-2023.

The latest edition of ESPN Sunday Night Baseball (Tigers-Phillies) averaged 2.03 million viewers, peaking at 2.42 million — up 72% from last year’s Cardinals-Cubs game, which aired opposite the Olympics (1.18M). Sunday night games are now averaging 1.68 million, up 7% from last year and the highest average since 2017.

In other weekend action, the Braves-Reds MLB Speedway Classic — which began Saturday night but was largely played Saturday afternoon — averaged 1.6 million. The rain delay portion Saturday night averaged 1.8 million.

For more, see this article.

Sunday’s Fever-Storm WNBA regular season game averaged 1.60 million viewers on ABC, marking the eighth-most watched game of the season (ninth including the All-Star Game). Excluding games involving Caitlin Clark — who was again absent due to injury — it ranks second for the season.

On Saturday, ABC averaged 822,000 for the Lynx’ historically lopsided rout of the Aces — a 53-point margin that was the second-largest in WNBA history.

Thursday’s Chargers-Lions Pro Football Hall of Fame Game averaged a 3.3 rating and 6.21 million viewers on NBC — not including the Adobe Analytics-measured streaming figures NBC typically adds to its Nielsen-reported data — marking the largest audience in four years for the annual NFL preseason opener.

For more, see this article.

The latest edition of ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball (Mets-Giants) averaged 1.66 million viewers across ESPN and ESPN2, peaking at 2.10 million — down 3% from last year, when the series featured Yankees-Red Sox but also aired opposite the Olympics (1.71M).

Sunday Night Baseball is still averaging 1.7 million viewers for the season, up 5% from last year and the highest since 2017.

On FOX the previous night, regional action featuring Dodgers-Red Sox averaged 2.02 million — down 2% from last year, which like the Sunday night window featured Yankees-Red Sox opposite the Olympics (2.07M).

Wednesday’s Yankees-Rays Major League Baseball game averaged 708,000 viewers on MLB Network, marking the second-most watched regular season game ever on the network (dates back to 2010). Only Derek Jeter’s final home game in 2014 (837K) averaged a larger audience.

Keep in mind MLB Network coverage was blacked out in the local markets.

Entering Thursday, MLB Network was averaging 235,000 viewers for its out-of-market games in July — which would rank as its highest such average in any month since July 2019.

The Savannah Bananas’ broadcast television debut last Sunday averaged 594,000 viewers on CW, marking the third-largest “BananaBall” audience of the year — behind only ESPN’s games on July 5 and 26.

Sunday’s Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, in which Ichiro and C.C. Sabathia were among those enshrined, averaged 247,000 viewers on MLB Network — the highest since 2019 (382K).

Sunday’s IndyCar Series race from Laguna Seca averaged 734,000 viewers on FOX, up 36% from the last time it was broadcast as scheduled in 2023 (538K). Alex Palou’s win, which peaked with 884,000 in the 5:15 PM ET quarter-hour, was the most-watched edition of the race in four years.

Fox says its IndyCar coverage is averaging 1.49 million for the season, up 31 percent from a year ago (1.13M).

Sunday’s England-Spain UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 final averaged 1.4 million viewers on FOX, up 53% from the 2022 final on ESPN, the only other final to have aired on Nielsen-rated television (England-Germany: 885K*).

Outside of the final, the most-watched match of the tournament was the Germany-France quarterfinal on July 19 with 925,000 viewers, followed by the England-Italy semifinal on July 22 (793K) and the Spain-Germany semifinal the following day (782K).

The quarterfinals and semifinals averaged 776,000 and 788,000 respectively, both up nearly threefold from 2022 (283K and 285K).

The full tournament averaged 458,000, nearly double 2022 (233K), when most matches aired on ESPN2 or ESPNU (if they were Nielsen rated at all).

* ESPN reported 971,000 for the 2022 final.

ESPN averaged 788,000 viewers for a Liberty-Lynx WNBA Finals rematch on Wednesday and 702,000 for a Liberty-Wings game two nights earlier, marking the network’s two largest WNBA audiences outside of Fever games in more than 25 years. The previous high was 701,000 for Aces-Liberty three weeks earlier.

Viewership was still no match for the network’s previous Fever game, a matchup against the Liberty last week that averaged 1.2 million despite the absence of Caitlin Clark.

Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Brickyard 400 from Indianapolis Motor Speedway averaged a 1.2 rating and 2.45 million viewers across TNT (2.3M) and truTV (169K), marking the smallest Cup Series audience at the venue (excluding rainouts), but the largest NASCAR audience since the Coca-Cola 600 on Prime Video in May.

Bubba Wallace’s win, which peaked with 3.1 million in the 5:30 PM ET quarter-hour, declined sharply from last year’s Brickyard 400 — which despite breaking news preemptions and competition still averaged a 2.1 and 3.63 million on NBC.

Saturday’s corresponding Xfinity Series race averaged a 0.6 and 1.11 million on CW, down slightly from last year on USA Network (1.16M).