From Sports Media Watch, a one-stop page for sports ratings news.
The second USMNT match of the World Cup delivered another milestone audience.
Friday's United States-Australia FIFA World Cup group stage match averaged a preliminary 14.78 million viewers on FOX, per Nielsen fast-nationals, marking the fourth-largest audience for a men's World Cup match on English-language television -- trailing only the previous week's USMNT-Paraguay match on FOX (18.04M), the 2022 Argentina-France final (16.78M), and a 2022 USMNT-England match that aired on the day after Thanksgiving (15.38M). The above figures include pre-match coverage.
The FIFA World Cup continues to set or approach viewership marks as it enters its second week.
Thursday's Mexico-South Korea FIFA World Cup match averaged a preliminary audience of 13.3 million viewers on Telemundo, combining Nielsen fast-nationals with a streaming audience tracked by Adobe Analytics -- up from the preliminary figure reported for Mexico's opening match against South Africa the previous week.
Mexico's win delivered the largest streaming audience -- 5.8 million -- ever for a World Cup match on Spanish-language television, topping the previous high of 4.9 million for Mexico-South Africa.
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.
Wednesday’s Tempo-Fever WNBA regular season game averaged 1.00 million viewers on USA Network, marking the largest audience for a WNBA game on cable or streaming this season.
The latest edition of NBC’s “Sunday Night Baseball” (Rangers-Red Sox) averaged 1.7 million viewers on NBC, per a Nielsen-measured linear audience and streaming viewership tracked by Adobe Analytics — the least-watched of the five Nielsen-rated “Sunday Night Baseball” games this season. The previous low was 2.0 million for Padres-Mariners in May.
The Rangers’ win aired directly opposite World Cup matches, the clinching game of the Stanley Cup Final, and the UFC event at the White House.
Last weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race from Pocono (Pa.) averaged a 1.66 million viewers on Prime Video, per the Nielsen “Big Data + Panel” methodology that is now the official currency, and 1.63 million on using the previous ‘panel only’ methodology now being publicized by NASCAR. The 2% difference is by far the smallest for a race on Prime Video this season, after the first three races saw a “Big Data” lift of 15-21 percent.
Note that the race was moved up two hours to avoid rain.
The “Big Data + Panel” figure, which peaked with 2.30 million in the 4 PM ET quarter-hour, declined 11% from last year (1.87M). That was still a less steep decline than the panel-only figure, which declined 18% from 2.0 million a year ago.
NASCAR Cup Series races on Prime Video are now averaging 2.29 million viewers on a “Big Data + Panel” basis, up 5% from last year (2.18M).
The corresponding Xfinity Series race on CW averaged 1.11 million on a panel-only basis, down 1% from last year.
One of the more attention-grabbing sporting events in recent years attracted a larger-than-usual audience to UFC.
Sunday's live UFC fight card at the White House averaged a U.S. audience of 7.0 million viewers on Paramount+, per custom Nielsen analysis, which would mark the largest Nielsen-measured audience for a UFC event. The previous high would be 5.68 million for the debut of UFC on FOX in 2011.
Note that it is unclear whether the custom Nielsen methodology is directly comparable to the data the company usually reports.
Viewership for the third season of the UFL was on par with the second.
The recently-completed UFL season averaged 674,000 viewers across the ESPN networks and Fox Sports, up 1% from last year (665K), a figure that is within the margin that can be explained by Nielsen methodological changes of the past year.
This year's average is down from the initial season of the UFL in 2024 (850K), but tops the combined average of the USFL and XFL when they competed against each other in 2023 (635K, not including Adobe Analytics for NBC games).
The Stanley Cup Playoffs enjoyed an Olympic-sized jump in viewership.
The complete 2026 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs averaged 1.8 million viewers in the United States across ESPN/ABC and TNT Sports, up 68% from last year and the highest average on record for the playoffs on American television (dating back to 1994), surpassing the previous high set in 1996 by 17% (1.56M). Note that Nielsen did not begin including out-of-home viewing in its estimates until 2020, only began doing so in 100 percent of markets a year ago, and is months into a new methodology that combines its traditional panel with "Big Data" from smart TVs and set-top boxes.
The most-watched NBA Finals since 1998 capped the most-watched NBA Playoffs since 1998.
The 2026 NBA Playoffs averaged 6.35 million viewers across ESPN/ABC, NBCUniversal and Amazon Prime Video, a figure that includes Adobe Analytics for NBC games -- up 34% from last year on ESPN/ABC, TNT and NBA TV (4.74M) and the most-watched postseason since 1998 (7.67M). The previous high over that span was 6.06 million in 2000. (Figures do not include the seven games that aired on Peacock and NBCSN, which were not Nielsen rated.)
After milestone audiences for Mexico last Thursday and the United States on Friday, Brazil kept the momentum going into the first weekend of the FIFA World Cup.
Saturday's Brazil-Morocco FIFA World Cup match averaged 11.2 million viewers on Telemundo (combining a Nielsen-measured linear audience and streaming viewership tracked by Adobe Analytics), plus a Nielsen-measured 10.02 million on FOX. Note that the Telemundo figure is for the match window only, while the Fox Sports audience includes pre-match coverage.
It may not have seemed particularly attractive on paper, but Hurricanes-Golden Knights ended up as one of the more memorable -- and most-watched -- Stanley Cup finals.
Sunday's Hurricanes-Golden Knights NHL Stanley Cup Final Game 6 averaged a 2.8 rating and 5.92 million viewers on ABC, trailing only Oilers-Panthers Game 7 on ABC in 2024 (7.67M) as the most-watched NHL game in seven years -- since Blues-Bruins Game 7 on NBC in 2019 (8.91M, per Nielsen and Adobe Analytics).
The New York Knicks ended a 53-year championship drought in front of the largest NBA audience in a decade, capping what is officially the most-watched NBA Finals since the days of Michael Jordan.
Saturday's Knicks-Spurs NBA Finals Game 5 averaged a 10.3 rating and 24.54 million viewers on ABC, officially surpassing Cavaliers-Warriors Game 5 in 2017 (24.53M) to rank as the most-watched NBA game of any kind in a decade -- since Game 7 of the Cavaliers-Warriors NBA Finals in 2016 (31.02M).
Stanley Cup Final viewership continued to trend up in Game 5, which officially posted the second-largest NHL audience in seven years.
Thursday's Hurricanes-Golden Knights NHL Stanley Cup Final Game 5 averaged a 2.8 rating and 5.84 million viewers on ABC, trailing only Oilers-Panthers Game 7 on ABC in 2024 (7.67M) as the most-watched NHL game since Blues-Bruins Game 7 in 2019. The previous second-place mark was 5.82 million for Avalanche-Lightning Game 6 on ABC in 2022.
Last Sunday’s Alexander Zverev-Flavio Cobolli French Open men’s final averaged 1.3 million viewers on TNT Sports, down 25% from last year’s higher-profile #1 vs. #2 pairing of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
The previous day’s women’s final between Mirra Andreeva and qualifier Maja Chwalińska averaged 826,000, down 44% from last year, when American Coco Gauff defeated Aryna Sabalenka in another #1 vs. #2 matchup.
This year’s French Open featured no shortage of upsets and injuries that resulted in most of the top draws being absent in the final rounds.
The NCAA college baseball super regionals averaged 608,000 viewers on the ESPN networks, up 31% from last year, and the highest average for the round since 2009. (Note that changes in Nielsen methodology skew comparisons to past years.)
USC-North Carolina was the top game of the round with a 0.7 rating and 1.32 million viewers in an abbreviated window last Sunday afternoon, followed by its Georgia-Mississippi State lead-in at a 0.6 and 1.22 million — the two most-watched super regional games on record.
Placing third for the weekend, Texas-Oregon averaged 1.1 million in ESPN’s old “Sunday Night Baseball” window.
Last weekend’s final round of the U.S. Women’s Open averaged 1.3 million viewers on NBC across a Nielsen-measured linear audience (0.8 rating, 1.25M viewers) and a streaming audience tracked by Adobe Analytics — trailing only 2023 (1.6M) as the highest for the event since Michelle Wie’s win in 2014 (2.0M).
Nelly Korda’s win, which peaked with 2.2 million in the 7:45 PM ET quarter-hour, increased 78% from last year.
For the third time in as many weeks, NASCAR's ratings story depended primarily on the methodology used to measure the numbers.
Last weekend's NASCAR Cup Series race from Michigan averaged a 1.0 rating and 2.07 million viewers on Prime Video, per the Nielsen "Big Data + Panel" metric that is the official currency, and a 0.9 and 1.81 million per the previous 'panel-only' methodology that NASCAR is now reporting for its races.
The "Big Data + Panel" figure, which peaked with 2.6 million in the 6:30 PM ET quarter-hour, increased a tick in ratings and a season-high 17% in viewership from last year's 0.9 and 1.77 million.
The first United States World Cup match on home soil in more than three decades delivered on both English and Spanish-language television.
Friday's United States-Paraguay FIFA World Cup group stage match averaged 15.99 million viewers on FOX, per a combination of Nielsen fast-nationals, Adobe Analytics, and first-party data from the Fox-owned streaming service Tubi (1.13M) -- marking the largest audience on record for a USMNT World Cup match on English-language television.
As the FOX audience includes pre-match coverage, any apples-to-apples comparisons to prior years must also include pre-match coverage.
After a second-straight night over 20 million, the Knicks-Spurs NBA Finals is now the most-watched since the end of the Michael Jordan era.
Wednesday's Spurs-Knicks NBA Finals Game 4 averaged 20.9 million viewers on ABC, officially marking the largest audience for a Game 4 in the NBA Finals since Jazz-Bulls on NBC in 1998 (28.70M). The previous high over that span was 20.3 million for Lakers-Pistons on ABC in 2004.
The Knicks' stirring comeback win, which peaked with 23.2 million in 11:15 PM ET quarter-hour, was the second-straight game to rank as the most-watched since 1998, with Game 3 on Monday night averaging 23.8 million.
If the opening match is any indication, any number of viewership records will be falling during the FIFA World Cup.
Thursday's Mexico-South Africa FIFA World Cup group stage match averaged 6.31 million viewers on FOX, per a combination of Nielsen preliminary fast-nationals, Adobe Analytics, and first-party data from the Fox-owned streaming service Tubi, marking the largest audience on record for a World Cup opening match on English-language television.
Figures for Spanish-language coverage on Telemundo were not immediately available.
A Stanley Cup Final that started with low expectations now ranks among the most-watched on record through four games.
Tuesday's Hurricanes-Golden Knights NHL Stanley Cup Final Game 4 averaged a 2.6 rating and 5.345 million viewers on ABC, marking the most-watched Game 4 of a Cup Final since Penguins-Predators on NBC in 2017 (5.65M) and the fourth-most watched Game 4 on record (31 telecasts dating back to 1994). Viewership trails only the 2017 game, Blackhawks-Bruins on NBC in 2013 (6.46M) and Flyers-Red Wings on ESPN in 1997 (5.36M).
As "Sunday Night Baseball" starts to settle into a routine on NBC, the viewers may be following suit.
The latest edition of NBC's "Sunday Night Baseball" (Giants-Cubs) averaged a combined 2.57 million viewers across a Nielsen-estimated linear audience (1.3 rating, 2.34M viewers) and streaming viewership measured by Adobe Analytics -- marking the largest MLB audience on any network since the Opening Week of the season.
Overall, the Giants' extra-inning win delivered the fourth-largest audience of the MLB season, trailing three Opening Week windows -- NBC's primetime Diamondbacks-Dodgers game on Opening Day (3.2M), the Yankees-Giants Opening Night game on Netflix (2.97M), and the season premiere of MLB on FOX (2.59M).
The anticipation for the first Knicks home Finals game in 27 years extended well beyond the city of New York.
Monday's Spurs-Knicks NBA Finals Game 3 averaged 23.79 million viewers across the traditional broadcast on ABC and an alternate presentation on ESPN, marking the largest NBA audience of any kind since the clinching Game 5 of the 2017 Warriors-Cavaliers NBA Finals (24.53M).
The Spurs' win, which peaked with 26.3 million in the 11:15 PM ET quarter-hour, delivered the seventh-largest NBA audience since the end of the Michael Jordan-led Bulls era of the 1990s, and the sixth-largest since ABC resumed carrying games in the 2002-03 season.
Last Thursday’s Dream-Fever WNBA regular season game, the season’s first meeting between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, averaged 686,000 viewers on Prime Video — the most-watched game of the season on the streamer, but also the least-watched matchup of Clark and Reese (6 total games).
The collegiate rivals only played each other once last season, and four times the previous year. All of those games averaged at least one million.
The full Prime doubleheader averaged 545,000, and the streamer is averaging 446,000 for the season — up slightly from the average for games on linear cable this season (+1%).
As is typical for sports on streaming services, Prime is averaging a younger audience, with a median age of 55.6 — compared to 62.6 for the linear networks. (Note that NBC’s presumably younger-skewing streaming audience is not tracked by Nielsen.)
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