The following lists preliminary overnight ratings from last weekend's select network sports events. All times are EDT. The numbers are from the networks (THE DAILY).
| EVENT | DATE | NET | TIME | RAT/SHR |
| NCAA Football: (regional games) | 9/12 | ABC | 3:30-7:00pm | 4.7/9 |
| U.S. Open: Moya-Philippoussis | 9/12 | CBS | 11am-2:00pm | 2.5/7 |
| U.S. Open: Davenport-Hingis | 9/12 | CBS | 2:00-3:45pm | 3.6/10 |
| U.S. Open: Rafter-Sampras | 9/12 | CBS | 3:45-7:00pm | 3.6/7 |
| U.S. Gymnastics Championships | 9/12 | NBC | 4:30-6:00pm | 1.8/4 |
| U.S. Open: Rafter-Philippoussis | 9/13 | CBS | 4:15-7:00pm | 3.0/6 |
RATING NOTES: Sunday's U.S. Open men's final was down 25% from last year's 4.0/8. The women's final, shown on Sunday last year, was down 13% from a 4.1/9 (THE DAILY). CBS Dir of Communications LeslieAnne Wade said the all- Australian men's final was one reason for the ratings dip: "While Patrick Rafter may be very attractive to real tennis fans, the larger audience really gets behind American stars" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 9/15)....For its regional NFL coverage on Sunday, CBS averaged an 8.2/19, down 23% from the 10.7/23 that NBC averaged during last year's week two, which included a national Broncos game "broadcast to an atypically high percentage of the country." CBS's numbers were up 3% from its week one 7.9/19 overnight. Fox averaged an 11.8/27, down 15% from a year-ago, but its late game earned a 15.1/31, up 3% from last year (DAILY VARIETY, 9/15).
