TV ratings for sports other than hockey

[Kirk Van Houten]

Here's some non-NHL Canadian numbers that were in my inbox from the past two weeks:

It always seems like people think of sports viewership the same in Canada as the U.S. with big #'s for multiple sports. Where if a regular season NHL game gets 2.0M in Canada that must mean other sports get over a million and it's just not like that, at all. Plus all the "basketball is passing hockey in popularity in Canada" posts on this site that don't make any sense, etc..

-CANADA avg viewership-

NBA Finals
Game 1: 300k
Game 2: 276k

F1 Canadian GP: 632k

CFL Week 1
MTL-WPG: 691k
HAM-CGY: 496k
SSK-EDM: 453k
BCL-TOR: 438k

WNBA
May 28 Caitlin Clark v. LA: "under 40k" was the note for it.

Blue Jays (this past Thurs-Sun)
THU: 347k
FRI: 542k
SAT: 551k
SUN: 604k

So with those really good number the Jays would be the MLB team with the best local ratings right? Naturally a country over any city would get you bigger numbers but still a fun fact.

 

[Reaser]

So with those really good number the Jays would be the MLB team with the best local ratings right? Naturally a country over any city would get you bigger numbers but still a fun fact.

Can't recall if it was last season or the season before but MLB put out the U.S. RSN average viewership for the U.S. based teams and it was 96k.

Blue Jays get 1.0M+ for a lot of regular season games. But yes, national broadcasts v. U.S. RSN's.

Wow, NBA and WNBA does really bad in Canada.

WNBA, we'll see when Toronto has their team, but to-date the league is essentially a non-factor viewership wise in Canada. I remember seeing 36k for WNBA Finals a few years ago.

NBA, I've tried telling people in the past, there's the Raptors when they're in the playoffs -- which of course are the only #'s anyone ever points to, like their NBA Finals #'s which obviously were going to be huge -- and then there's the "NBA" or even Raptors in the regular season.

Seen non-Raptors regular season NBA games get 30k.

NBA Finals (non-Raptors appearance) it's even rare to see games break 500k and really only ever go over 1.0M for a Game 7.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

Tuesday (6/11) sports viewership: MLB tops whisper quiet day

Only 434k for a Phillies v Red Sox game on an empty sports night that's rough

 

[gattaca]

Here's some non-NHL Canadian numbers that were in my inbox from the past two weeks:

It always seems like people think of sports viewership the same in Canada as the U.S. with big #'s for multiple sports. Where if a regular season NHL game gets 2.0M in Canada that must mean other sports get over a million and it's just not like that, at all. Plus all the "basketball is passing hockey in popularity in Canada" posts on this site that don't make any sense, etc..

-CANADA avg viewership-

NBA Finals
Game 1: 300k
Game 2: 276k

F1 Canadian GP: 632k

CFL Week 1
MTL-WPG: 691k
HAM-CGY: 496k
SSK-EDM: 453k
BCL-TOR: 438k

WNBA
May 28 Caitlin Clark v. LA: "under 40k" was the note for it.

Blue Jays (this past Thurs-Sun)
THU: 347k
FRI: 542k
SAT: 551k
SUN: 604k

Any CEBL numbers in your inbox?

 

[Reaser]

Any CEBL numbers in your inbox?

Nope. It's hard enough to get or find *any* NHL numbers from Canada, including SCF numbers which seems like it should be easy.

They stopped any public releases, e.g. the old Top 30 weekly average about a year and a half ago. Some media did an occasional Top-5, which is how we saw that NBA opening night Lakers-Warriors (LeBron v. Curry) last season, which did 3.6M in the U.S., did 158k nationally up north and was beat by a couple regional NHL broadcasts in Canada that night.

But those didn't last long. Was only really one guy I know of who consistently put out Canada numbers on twitter/X, and he rarely posts viewership numbers anymore.

Only people in the Canadian broadcast industry see the Canada numbers now and not a whole lot gets out.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Any CEBL numbers in your inbox?

Basketball has bad numbers in Canada, so CEBL must be really bad.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1801740816999756088

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

NBC SPORTS DELIVERS MOST-WATCHED U.S. OPEN SECOND ROUND SINCE 2012

Viewership Peaked with Nearly 3 Million Viewers From 6-6:15 p.m. ET

www.nbcsports.com

• Second Round on NBC/Peacock (1-7 p.m. ET) Produces Total Audience Delivery of 2.38 Million Viewers, Up 18% vs. 2023 and Up 54% vs. 2022
• Viewership Peaked with Nearly 3 Million Viewers From 6-6:15 p.m. ET
• NBC Sports’ Most-Watched East Coast U.S. Open Early Rounds Since 2014
• Peacock Exclusive Second Round Viewership Up 40% vs. Last Year’s Comparable Window; Most-Streamed U.S. Open Early Rounds On Record

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

Under ten million for Mavs' Game 4 rout of Celtics

NBA Finals ratings sank to COVID-era levels for the Mavericks' Game 4 rout of the Celtics.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

Friday’s Celtics-Mavericks NBA Finals Game 4 averaged 9.62 million viewers on ABC, according to Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal — marking the least-watched Finals game since Suns-Bucks Game 3 in July 2021 (9.25M) and the least-watched Game 4 since Lakers-Heat in the 2020 “bubble,” a game that took place in October (7.70M). Outside of those two COVID-affected years, no Finals game has had a smaller audience since Game 3 of the 2007 series (9.49M). The Mavericks’ historic blowout, in which they led by as many as 48 points, declined 8% from Nuggets-Heat last year (10.41M) and 20% from Warriors-Celtics in 2022 (12.06M).

It's just wild that with the same scenario SCF ratings held up while NBA Finals ratings just collapsed.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1803075493618405881

https://x.com/i/web/status/1803068942828597733

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1803087353566621759

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1803103628481134624

 

[Reaser]

Random but to give people an idea. Some French Canadian broadcasts average viewership numbers from yesterday:

Euros France-Austria: 67k (TVAS)
Blue Jays-Red Sox: 64k (TVAS)
NBA Finals: 46k (RDS)

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

Celtics-Mavericks tops only COVID-era Finals as least-watched since '07

The Celtics-Mavericks NBA Finals was one of the least-watched in years, with viewership topping only the COVID era as the lowest since 2007.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

The five-game Celtics-Mavericks NBA Finals averaged a 5.8 rating and 11.31 million viewers on ABC (including an ESPN simulcast of Game 3), down 5% in ratings and 3% in viewership from a five-game Nuggets-Heat series last year (6.1, 11.64M) and the lowest rated and least-watched Finals since the COVID-delayed Bucks-Suns series in July 2021 (5.2, 10.15M). Excluding the two COVID-altered series — Bucks-Suns in ’21 and Lakers-Heat in the 2020 “bubble” (4.0, 7.66M) — this year’s Finals ranks as the lowest rated on record and least-watched since 2007 (Spurs-Cavaliers: 9.29M).

The Celtics’ coronation, which peaked with 13.28 million viewers, delivered the highest rating of the NBA season and second-largest audience. Game 2 holds the top spot in viewership with 12.31 million. This year marks only the second time since 2007 that no game of the Finals managed to 12.5 million, joining Lakers-Heat in the 2020 “bubble.” The Finals has now gone five years without a single game hitting the 14 million mark — a figure that even the World Series has reached more recently (Game 6 in 2021).

The full NBA Playoffs averaged a 2.4 and 4.53 million, down 11% and 12% respectively from last year (2.7, 5.12M) and down 7% and 5% respectively from 2022 (2.6, 4.77M). Including the Play-in Tournament, the postseason averaged 4.44 million viewers — down 10% from last year (4.95M) and down 4% from ’22 (4.62M).

 

[torontoblood]

I wonder about the local ratings in Boston and in Dallas, the two media markets involved in the NBA Finals?

 

[CokenoPepsi]

Wow, NBA and WNBA does really bad in Canada.

It not surprising.

The Raptors have their diehards but have always been seen as the little brother to the Leafs. They have never really had any sustained success either, they won a title and immediately their star left for the big city LA validating many people's views about the stereotypical selfish NBA player... And now they back in a rebuild

Then you have the whole mess in Vancouver which would sour that market on the league. Kids who were fans of the Grizzlies when they left are now having their own kids who would be unlikely to get into the game

It is a bit funny how the Blue Jays have truly become a national team though

 

[joelef]

wnba does bad everywhere and yet beats out nhl playoff games.

 

[Reaser]

-CANADA weekend numbers-

Fri NBA Finals Game 4: 243k

-Blue Jays v. Cleveland-
Friday: 600k
Saturday: 527k
Sunday: 617k

-Euros-
Saturday Italy-Albania: 565k
Sunday England-Serbia: 711k

-CFL-
Thurs WPG-OTT: 256k
Fri MTL-EDM: 681k (399k TSN / 282k RDS)
Sat CGY-B.C.: 345k
Sun SSK-HAM: 539k

https://3downnation.com/2024/06/19/edmonton-oilers-deliver-body-check-to-cfl-tv-ratings-in-week-2/

 

[Golden_Jet]

wnba does bad everywhere and yet beats out nhl playoff games.

Didn’t realize they are getting 7-8 million a game in North America.
I’ve seen one or 2 one offs, then back to their normal, below NHL.

Look at NBA finals in Canada 243k for game 4 lol. Less than half a regular season CFL game

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1803389227180175382

-CANADA weekend numbers-

Fri NBA Finals Game 4: 243k

-Blue Jays v. Cleveland-
Friday: 600k
Saturday: 527k
Sunday: 617k

-Euros-
Saturday Italy-Albania: 565k
Sunday England-Serbia: 711k

-CFL-
Thurs WPG-OTT: 256k
Fri MTL-EDM: 681k (399k TSN / 282k RDS)
Sat CGY-B.C.: 345k
Sun SSK-HAM: 539k

https://3downnation.com/2024/06/19/edmonton-oilers-deliver-body-check-to-cfl-tv-ratings-in-week-2/

So overall the NBA got close to 13/14M at most

 

[rkhum]

I wonder about the local ratings in Boston and in Dallas, the two media markets involved in the NBA Finals?

Yes, so would I.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

Yes, so would I.

Haven't seen any probably since ESPN has them and well Finals numbers were not good so they kept that part for themselvs

 

[Anisimovs AK]

wnba does bad everywhere and yet beats out nhl playoff games.

You mean game. It beat out 1 playoff game.
You've been crowing about it for weeks since it happened too.

We get it, you no nothing about sports ratings and are only here for reactionary absurdist bullshit. Its refreshing to see less and less people engage with it though, as its clear you only do it for the reaction.


Keep up the good work

Didn’t realize they are getting 7-8 million a game in North America.
I’ve seen one or 2 one offs, then back to their normal, below NHL.

Look at NBA finals in Canada 243k for game 4 lol. Less than half a regular season CFL game

This is what Im talking about. He doesnt even know what he is arguing, or what he is responding to. Its just typing out "NHL Bad" then hammering the post reply button.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

Clark's Fever set yet another viewership record

Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever are setting viewership records almost every time they take the floor, the latest coming Wednesday night.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

Wednesday’s Mystics-Fever WNBA regular season game averaged 460,000 viewers on NBA TV, marking the largest WNBA audience ever on the network, which became Nielsen-rated in 2010. Indiana’s win, which peaked with 566,000 viewers in the 8:30 PM ET quarter-hour, surpassed the previous high of 430,000 set by Fever-Liberty earlier this month.

Every network that carries the WNBA has set at least one viewership record this season, with a total of 11 games hitting network highs. All-but-one of those records was set by a Clark game, the exception being Liberty-Lynx at CBS record 704,000 on May 25 — a mark that has since been broken by the Fever against the Sky last weekend (2.25M). To put it another way, ten of the 16 Fever games this season has set a network viewership record. Of the six exceptions, four were not carried on a Nielsen-measured platform. Thus ten of 12 Fever games on Nielsen rated TV have set a viewership record, the exceptions being a June 10 matchup with the Sun on NBA TV and Indiana’s first meeting with Chicago on ESPN June 1.

Solid audience for MLB at Rickwood Field

Major League Baseball's trip to historic Rickwood Field delivered one of the top audiences of the current season.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

Thursday’s Giants-Cardinals Major League Baseball game from Rickwood Field in Birmingham (Ala.), which served as a tribute to the Negro Leagues and to the recently passed Willie Mays, averaged 2.35 million viewers on FOX, per Nielsen fast-nationals — ranking fourth among MLB telecasts this season. FOX has aired the top four, with all-but-one coming in the past three weeks.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1804247083488084007

Ratings: Copa America, Euro 2024, MCWS, Olympic Trials

Copa America got off to a much stronger start on the Fox Sports networks than three years ago. Plus: numbers for Euro 2024 and more.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

The UEFA Euro 2024 tournament, group stage action was averaging 1.04 million as of Wednesday morning (11 matches), up 26% from the same point in 2021 (825K). That figure excludes Wednesday’s Scotland-Switzerland match on FOX, for which figures were not immediately available. Tuesday’s Portugal-Czechia match averaged 1.23 million viewers on FOX, down from France-Germany on ESPN in 2021. France-Austria the previous day drew 1.18 million, up 24% from Spain-Sweden in ’21. As previously noted, Denmark-England drew 1.15 million on FS1 Thursday, up 30% from ’21 (Denmark-Belgium: 884K).

Thursday’s Argentina-Canada Copa America opener averaged 1.06 million viewers on FS1, up 98% from the first Copa America match in 2021, a Sunday afternoon Brazil-Venezuela match on “big FOX” (534K). (Compared to the 2016 opener, which pit the USMNT against Colombia, viewership was unsurprisingly down 19% from 1.30 million.) Argentina’s win, which peaked with 1.54 million in the 9:45 PM ET quarter-hour, delivered the fourth largest non-U.S. soccer audience ever on FS1 (excluding the World Cup). The third-largest audience came just hours earlier as FS1 drew 1.15 million for Denmark-England in the UEFA Euro 2024.