ESPN2 drew 539,000 viewers for the debut match of NYC FC and Orlando City last Sunday from 4:36-7:12pm ET, marking the net’s fifth-best MLS regular-season audience ever. The top audience for the net remains Chivas USA-Galaxy from Aug. 23, 2007, which was the first “SuperClasico” after David Beckham joined the Galaxy. Meanwhile, last Friday's MLS season-opening Fire-Galaxy match averaged 341,000 viewers on Univision. It was the first time a major U.S. sports league debuted its season on a Spanish-language net. FS1 had its first two MLS matches of the season last Sunday. Sporting KC-Red Bulls from 6:58-9:26pm drew 268,000 viewers. From 9:26-11:31pm, FS1 drew 289,000 viewers for Sounders-Revolution. In Canada, TSN’s first match of the season -- Whitecaps-Toronto FC -- drew 353,000 viewers, making it the most-viewed MLS game in TSN history.
|
MOST-VIEWED MLS REGULAR-SEASON GAMES ON ESPN2
|
|
DATE
|
MATCHUP
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
|
8/23/07
|
Chivas USA-Galaxy
|
658
|
|
4/23/05
|
Chivas USA-Galaxy
|
573
|
|
8/9/07
|
Galaxy-DC United
|
570
|
|
6/17/09
|
DC United-Sounders
|
550
|
|
3/8/15
|
NYC FC-Orlando City
|
539
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS: Fox saw another uptick for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series coverage last weekend. The Kobalt 400 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway from 3:45-6.45pm drew 7.7 million viewers, up 7% from 7.2 million viewers for the same third race of the season last year. Meanwhile, FS1 drew 1.9 million viewers for the Xfinity Series Boyd Gaming 300, down slightly from 2.0 million viewers for the same race on ESPN2 last year.
CRY FREEDOM: NFL Network on Tuesday had its most-viewed coverage ever for the start of NFL free agency (10:00am-7:00pm). The 10:00am-4:00pm window averaged 230,000 viewers, up 95% from last year, while the 4:00-7:00pm window averaged 406,000 viewers (+19%). From 7:00-10:00pm, “NFL Total Access” averaged 496,000 viewers, up 73% from last year. Meanwhile, ProFootballTalk.com on Tuesday had its best day ever in terms of unique visitors and page views.
FRIENDS WITH THE MONSTER: CBS finished with 3.3 million viewers for the final round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship last Sunday afternoon from Doral, which saw Dustin Johnson win by one stroke over J.B. Holmes. That audience is down 21% from 4.2 million viewers last year, when Patrick Reed won by a stroke over Bubba Watson and Jamie Donaldson. In ’14, Tiger Woods shot the low Saturday round heading into Sunday coverage, but was not ever in contention.
The charts below list final audience figures from recent sports telecasts.
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
RAT.
|
VIEWERS
(000)
|
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series:
Kobalt 400 (Las Vegas) |
3/8
|
Fox
|
3:45-6:45pm
|
4.6
|
7,739
|
| "NASCAR Pre-Race" |
3/8
|
Fox
|
3:00-3:45pm
|
2.8
|
4,723
|
| "Premier Boxing Champions" |
3/7
|
NBC
|
8:30-11:00pm
|
2.1
|
3,374
|
| WGC: Cadillac Championships: Final Round |
3/8
|
NBC
|
3:00-7:00pm
|
2.2
|
3,300
|
| NBA: Clippers-Warriors |
3/8
|
ABC
|
3:29-6:00pm
|
1.8
|
2,847
|
| College basketball: Florida-Kentucky |
3/7
|
CBS
|
2:04-4:08pm
|
1.7
|
2,716
|
| NBA: Bulls-Spurs |
3/8
|
ABC
|
12:55-3:29pm
|
1.5
|
2,264
|
| College basketball: Wisconsin-Ohio State |
3/8
|
CBS
|
4:30-6:30pm
|
1.3
|
2,045
|
| WGC: Cadillac Championships: Third Round |
3/7
|
NBC
|
3:00-6:00pm
|
1.5
|
2,000
|
| College basketball: Stanford-Arizona |
3/7
|
CBS
|
4:08-6:30pm
|
0.9
|
1,309
|
College basketball: MVC Championship:
Northern Iowa-Illinois State |
3/8
|
CBS
|
2:10-4:30pm
|
0.8
|
1,237
|
| College basketball: Syracuse-N.C. State |
3/7
|
CBS
|
12:00-2:04pm
|
0.8
|
1,236
|
| NHL: Red Wings-Bruins |
3/8
|
NBC
|
12:00-3:00pm
|
0.9
|
1,200
|
| Gymnastics: AT&T American Cup |
3/7
|
NBC
|
1:00-3:00pm
|
0.8
|
1,100
|
| "NBA Countdown" |
3/8
|
ABC
|
12:30-12:55pm
|
0.7
|
990
|
| Liga MX: Cruz Azul-Atlas |
3/7
|
Univision
|
5:55-8:00pm
|
0.5
|
948
|
| Figure Skating: "Shall We Dance" |
3/7
|
ABC
|
4:00-6:00pm
|
0.7
|
939
|
| College basketball: Memphis-Cincinnati |
3/8
|
CBS
|
12:00-2:10pm
|
0.7
|
928
|
| "NHL Pre-Game" |
3/8
|
NBC
|
12:00-12:30pm
|
0.7
|
899
|
| Liga MX: Pachuca-Cruz Azul |
3/7
|
Telemundo
|
9:00-11:03pm
|
0.4
|
734
|
| "World of X Games: Real Snow" |
3/7
|
ABC
|
3:00-4:00pm
|
0.4
|
565
|
| College basketball: St. John's-Villanova |
3/7
|
Fox
|
2:15-4:15pm
|
0.3
|
504
|
| College basketball: Seton Hall-Georgetown |
3/7
|
Fox
|
12:00-2:15pm
|
0.3
|
470
|
| "College Hoops Tip-Off" |
3/7
|
Fox
|
11:30am-12:00pm
|
0.3
|
400
|
| Liga MX: Veracruz-Leon |
3/6
|
UniMas
|
7:50-10:00pm
|
0.2
|
375
|
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
RAT.
|
VIEWERS
(000)
|
| College basketball: Duke-North Carolina |
3/7
|
ESPN
|
9:00-11:16pm
|
2.6
|
4,241
|
| College basketball: Kentucky-Georgia |
3/3
|
ESPN
|
9:08-11:24pm
|
1.9
|
2,797
|
| "College GameDay" |
3/7
|
ESPN
|
8:30-9:00pm
|
1.4
|
2,262
|
| College basketball: Virginia-Louisville |
3/7
|
ESPN
|
6:31-8:30pm
|
1.3
|
2,190
|
| NBA: Thunder-Bulls |
3/5
|
TNT
|
8:14-10:43pm
|
1.4
|
2,064
|
NASCAR Xfinity Series:
Boyd Gaming 300 (Las Vegas) |
3/7
|
FS1
|
4:00-6:41pm
|
1.2
|
1,916
|
| College basketball: Michigan State-Indiana |
3/7
|
ESPN
|
12:00-2:12pm
|
1.0
|
1,566
|
| NBA: Mavericks-Trail Blazers |
3/5
|
TNT
|
10:43pm-1:03am
|
1.1
|
1,512
|
| College basketball: Virginia-Syracuse |
3/2
|
ESPN
|
7:00-9:03pm
|
1.0
|
1,369
|
| College basketball: Iowa-Indiana |
3/3
|
ESPN
|
7:00-9:08pm
|
0.9
|
1,355
|
