The WNBA scored its most-watched opening round of the playoffs in 15 years. Plus: FOX and TBS neared season-highs for Major League Baseball over the past week, FOX hit an NFL preseason low last weekend, and more.
WNBA posts most-watched opening round in 15 years
The best-of-three first round of the WNBA Playoffs averaged 392,000 viewers across the ESPN family of networks, up 50% from last year’s equivalent single-elimination first and second rounds and the most-watched first round of the postseason since 2007. Six of the ten opening round games aired on the ESPN flagship or on ABC, compared to one out of four early round games last year.
The most-watched game of round one was Wings-Sun Game 2 on ABC last Sunday, which drew a 0.49 rating and 795,000 viewers — the most-watched WNBA playoff game outside of the WNBA Finals since 2014 (Mercury-Lynx Game 2: 828K ). Ranking second and third were the two winner-take-all Game 3s, with Tuesday’s Sky-Liberty at a 0.31 and 533,000 and Wednesday’s Sun-Wings at a 0.33 and 497,000.
The least-watched game of the first round was the only one not to air on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 — Wings-Sun Game 1 with just 83,000 across ESPNU (52K) and NBA TV (31K).
In other basketball action, last weekend’s BIG3 Championship Game drew a 0.38 and 638,000 on CBS, up considerably from last year over Labor Day weekend (0.26, 409K).
MLB nears season-highs on FOX, TBS
Last weekend’s edition of MLB on FOX (Mets-Phillies, Astros-Braves or Mariners-A’s) averaged a 1.5 and 2.63 million viewers, the third-largest audience of the MLB season on any network. Outside of the “Field of Dreams” game earlier this month, it ranks as the only game in the top ten not to feature the Yankees.
The following night’s Red Sox-Orioles MLB Little League Classic drew a 0.7 and 1.18 million on ESPN, a modest uptick from last year (Angels-Indians: 0.6, ~1.1M).
Shifting to the workweek, Mets-Yankees scored a 0.45 and 680,000 on TBS Tuesday night — the network’s second-largest audience of the season behind only another “Subway Series” game earlier this summer (912K). Per Sports Business Journal, the game drew an additional 818,000 on SNY in New York, which no doubt benefited from the lack of a corresponding broadcast on YES Network (the Yankee telecast was on Amazon Prime).
FOX posts NFL preseason low last weekend
Last Sunday’s Ravens-Cardinals NFL preseason game averaged a 1.95 rating and 3.22 million viewers on FOX, the least-watched preseason game on broadcast television since CBS drew 2.22 million for Rams-Chargers in 2017. The following night, Falcons-Jets drew a 1.4 and 2.29 million on ESPN — down 30% from last year’s equivalent game (Jaguars-Saints: 2.0, ~3.4M).
In other action, no figures were reported for Thursday’s 49ers-Texans game on Amazon Prime. In a competing window on NFL Network, Packers-Chiefs drew a 1.1 and 1.80 million.
Plus: EPL, racing, PGA Tour, gymnastics
Last Monday’s Manchester United-Liverpool English Premier League match averaged 796,000 viewers on Peacock, according to NBC, the largest streaming audience on record for an English Premier League match. … Last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race from Watkins Glen (NY) averaged a 1.5 rating and 2.56 million viewers on USA, up 19% in ratings and viewership from last year on NBCSN, but the second-lowest figures for the race on record (excluding rainouts). The previous day, USA drew a 0.34 and 553,000 for IndyCar from Gateway Motorsports Park — also up comfortably from last year on NBCSN (0.25, 434K). … Last weekend’s final round of the PGA Tour BMW Championship drew a 1.75 and 2.84 million on NBC, the tournament’s smallest final round audience since the FedEx Cup moved away from NFL season in 2019. … Primetime coverage of the US Gymnastics Championships drew a 1.0 and 1.54 million on NBC last Sunday night, the smallest audience for the women’s final in more than a decade.