ABC on Sunday afternoon drew 2.61 million viewers for the Little League World Series Championship, which saw a team from Tokyo defeat Lufkin, Texas. That figure is up 2% from last year’s 2.56 million viewers, when Maine-Endwell (New York) defeated a squad from Seoul. However, this year’s championship game is down 43% from 4.55 million viewers in ’15, when the same Tokyo team beat Lewisberry, Pa.
A MATTER OF TRUST: CBS kicked off the FedExCup Playoffs last week, drawing 3.14 million viewers for the final round of The Northern Trust, which saw Dustin Johnson defeat Jordan Spieth in a playoff. That figure is up 19% from 2.63 million viewers for Patrick Reed’s one-stroke win over Emiliano Grillo and Sean O’Hair. However, this year is down 8% from ’15, when Jason Day won by six strokes.
3-MAN WEAVE: Fox on Sunday afternoon drew 787,000 viewers for live coverage of the BIG3 championship game, which was the first time this season a BIG3 event aired live on TV. The telecast aired head-to-head with ESPN’s Portland State-BYU game, with that telecast drawing 939,000 viewers. The BIG3 also aired against the U.S. final for the Little League World Series on ABC, which drew 2.85 million viewers.
SUPPORT SYSTEM: HBO’s “Ballers” drew 2.85 million viewers for last week’s episode, marking an all-time high for the football-themed show. The episode had the benefit of airing after the Season 7 finale for “Game of Thrones,” which also drew a series record. Each episode of the six “Ballers” episodes in Season 3 has been above 2 million viewers after only the pilot cracked that mark. The show has four more episodes this season, and the question now becomes how much of the audience will stick with the show without the “GoT” lead-in.
AFTER PARTIES: ESPN’s “SportsCenter” early on Sunday morning from 1:26-3:06am ET drew 1.29 million viewers for what was largely post-fight analysis of Mayweather-McGregor. By comparison, FS1 drew 368,000 viewers for post-fight analysis from 12:56-2:30am. Leading into the PPV telecast from 7:00-9:00pm, Fox drew 2.44 million viewers for prelim matches.
The chart below lists final audience figures from select recent sports telecasts.
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
RAT.
|
VIEWERS
(000)
|
| NFL preseason: 49ers-Vikings |
8/27
|
NBC
|
8:14-11:00pm
|
4.5
|
7,316
|
| NFL preseason: Bengals-Redskins |
8/27
|
Fox
|
4:26-7:15pm
|
3.7
|
5,941
|
| NFL preseason: Chiefs-Seahawks |
8/25
|
CBS
|
8:00-11:11pm
|
3.2
|
5,224
|
| NFL preseason: Bears-Titans |
8/27
|
Fox
|
1:10-4:15pm
|
3.0
|
4,786
|
| NFL preseason: Giants-Browns |
8/21
|
ESPN
|
8:00-11:06pm
|
2.3
|
3,577
|
PGA Tour: The Northern Trust:
Final Round |
8/27
|
CBS
|
2:00-6:30pm
|
2.1
|
3,137
|
Little League World Series:
U.S.
Championship:
Texas-North Carolina |
8/26
|
ABC
|
3:28-6:00pm
|
1.9
|
2,853
|
Little League World Series
Championship: Japan-Texas |
8/27
|
ABC
|
3:00-5:30pm
|
1.6
|
2,605
|
Boxing: Mayweather-McGregor
prelim fights |
8/26
|
Fox
|
7:00-9:00pm
|
1.4
|
2,438
|
| NFL preseason: Chargers-Rams |
8/26
|
CBS
|
8:00-11:10pm
|
1.4
|
2,216
|
NASCAR Xfinity Series:
Johnsonville 180 (Road America) |
8/27
|
NBC
|
3:15-5:45pm
|
1.3
|
2,115
|
PGA Tour: The Northern Trust:
Third Round |
8/26
|
CBS
|
3:00-6:00pm
|
1.4
|
2,038
|
Little League World Series:
Int'l Championship: Japan-Mexico |
8/26
|
ABC
|
12:30-3:28pm
|
1.2
|
1,765
|
| Little League World Series: pool play |
8/23
|
ESPN
|
7:30-9:45pm
|
n/a
|
1,482
|
| "Mayweather-McGregor Prefight" |
8/26
|
Fox
|
6:00-7:00pm
|
n/a
|
1,463
|
| NFL preseason: Dolphins-Eagles |
8/24
|
NFL Net
|
7:00-10:19pm
|
n/a
|
1,377
|
| Track & Field: IAAF Diamond League |
8/27
|
NBC
|
1:00-2:30pm
|
0.9
|
1,306
|
| Little League World Series: pool play |
8/24
|
ESPN
|
7:30:9:38pm
|
n/a
|
1,262
|
| Tough Mudder X Prelims (taped) |
8/27
|
CBS
|
1:00-2:00pm
|
0.8
|
1,169
|
Breeders' Cup Challenge Series:
Travers Stakes (Saratoga) |
8/26
|
NBC
|
4:30-6:00pm
|
0.7
|
1,157
|
| EPL: Manchester United-Leicester |
8/26
|
NBC
|
12:30-2:30pm
|
0.7
|
1,071
|
| "30 for 30": "What Carter Lost" |
8/24
|
ESPN
|
9:38-11:06pm
|
n/a
|
1,027
|
College football:
Portland State-BYU |
8/26
|
ESPN
|
3:03-6:23pm
|
0.6
|
939
|
| MLB: Mets-Nationals |
8/27
|
ESPN
|
8:00-11:29pm
|
0.6
|
914
|
"College GameDay:
Season Preview Special" |
8/26
|
ESPN
|
11:00am-12:00pm
|
n/a
|
871
|
| Liga MX: Tigres-Lobos |
8/26
|
Univision
|
7:55-10:03pm
|
0.4
|
860
|
| "Monday Night Countdown" |
8/21
|
ESPN
|
7:00-8:00pm
|
n/a
|
835
|
| Liga MX: Chivas-Queretaro |
8/26
|
Univision
|
10:03pm-12:06am
|
0.4
|
809
|
| BIG3 Championship |
8/26
|
Fox
|
4:30-6:00pm
|
0.5
|
787
|
| Little League World Series: pool play |
8/21
|
ESPN2
|
6:31-8:07pm
|
n/a
|
782
|
| "World of X Games: Real Moto" |
8/27
|
ABC
|
1:00-2:00pm
|
0.4
|
531
|
| Lucas Oil Off Road Racing (taped) |
8/26
|
CBS
|
1:30-2:30pm
|
0.3
|
500
|
| U.S. Open: Arthur Ashe Kids' Day |
8/27
|
ABC
|
2:00-3:00pm
|
0.3
|
453
|
